(CNN) Members of Congress were left stunned during a briefing from law enforcement about their failure to prepare for the insurrection at the US Capitol earlier this month, two members who attended a House Appropriations Committee briefing told CNN on Tuesday, with one saying it was "dumb luck" more people didn't die.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, said in a phone call with CNN that members were "shaking their heads in disbelief" throughout the briefing about the security breakdown in the lead up to January 6. During that briefing, acting US Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman admitted her department knew there was a "strong potential for violence" targeting Congress, but did not take appropriate steps to prevent it.
DeLauro said the revelation left her stunned and multiple federal law enforcement agencies failed by not acting on the intelligence they had.
"They had the information. They did not act on it. And a question that I have, and one that I think we need to get to the bottom of, is who made the decision not to act?" DeLauro told CNN.
"People said today that there was ample evidence, that the intelligence agencies had ample evidence, that an angry mob was going to descend on Washington with Congress' meeting to certify the election as the intended target," DeLauro added.
Martine_V on January 27th, 2021 at 02:46 UTC »
They are dodging this question, and I think it's one of the most important ones. I've said since day one that I think this was deliberate sabotage. It's just too obvious to be simple incompetence. But I wonder now if the public will ever know. Maybe the investigation will reveal this.
Hey_u_ok on January 27th, 2021 at 02:41 UTC »
If there's no real punishment (prison time) for the insurrectionists and those who incited this attempted coup (traitor45 and his GOP), no doubt there will be another attempt. And this time there will be no "pure dumb luck".
If you read about Hitler, it didn't happen overnight. It was years after his coup attempt to gain power.
skeebidybop on January 27th, 2021 at 02:15 UTC »
It’s insane how there were multiple separate instances where our lawmakers were mere seconds or meters away from physically encountering the violent insurrectionists.
Perhaps most notable of these is when Officer Eugene Goodman baited the mob away from the unsecured Senate Chamber, where dozens of lawmakers, their staffers, and the VP was. His quick thinking and tactical brilliance likely saved many lawmakers’ lives. It was so close to being breached — literally by one minute.
This attack nearly ended up unimaginably worse on multiple levels. It’s a chilling event in our history, and we must never let anything like this happen again. Somewhere in an alternative universe, we weren’t as lucky.
May history never forget that the modern Republican Party is responsible for this by aiding and abetting Donald Trump and propagating his Big Lie.
Edit - for anyone that wants a vivid step-by-step recounting of the Capitol being breached and the most notable close calls, I highly recommend watching this WaPo video.