Government watchdog gives mixed review on handling of Jan. 6 rally at Ellipse

Organizers of the pro-Trump rally held at the White House Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021, were not forthcoming about their knowledge of plans for a march to the Capitol following a speech by then-President Trump, according to a government watchdog report released Monday.

The Interior Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) report also found that the National Park Service (NPS) did not comply with requirements at the Ellipse on prohibited items like backpacks and bags, did not review the hosting group’s fire and life safety documentation nor did it conduct a site inspection.

The watchdog found the NPS met legal requirements in the issuance of a permit on Jan. 1, 2021, to the group Women for America First (WFAF), which organized the Jan. 6 demonstration at the Ellipse, but it claimed organizers were not forthcoming about plans for a possible march.

The report said the NPS received assurances from WFAF the organization did not plan to hold a march following the demonstration, but it noted after Trump spoke to the rally around noon and called for members to march on the Capitol, some attendees moved toward the Capitol.

“[We] found WFAF intentionally failed to disclose information to the NPS regarding its knowledge of a post-demonstration march,” the report stated.

An NPS official told the Office of Inspector General that a march would not have led to a permit denial but it would have affected NPS’s planning.

The report includes text messages previously released by the House committee that probed the Jan. 6 attack showing rally organizers seemingly confident Trump would call on supporters to march to the Capitol.

A park ranger reportedly told OIG investigators the texts surprised her because the NPS asked organizers repeatedly if there would be a march and a representative “was just adamant there was gonna be no march.”

WFAF founder Amy Kremer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill on Monday. The Interior Department declined to comment.

Trump in his speech at the Ellipse called on supporters to march to the Capitol and cheer on lawmakers who were challenging the 2020 presidential election results as Congress met to certify the electoral results.

At one point, he told supporters to “fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, he told those gathered, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

The OIG report said that although NPS did not comply with protocols surrounding prohibited items at the Ellipse, it indicated supporters did not bring them into the area for Trump’s speech.

“Once attendees realized that bags could not be brought into the Ellipse area, they began abandoning them in various locations on the ground and in trees on the National Mall,” the report stated.

The watchdog also said it found no evidence U.S. Park Police did not comply with requirements in their response to the demonstration at the Ellipse and the subsequent riot at the Capitol, and said NPS also complied with requirements to restrict access at the Washington Monument amid demonstrations.

OIG staff interviewed more than 60 current and former Interior staffers, including then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and then-acting NPS Director Margaret Everson, and it reviewed more than 30,000 pages of documents and communications from NPS and WFAF.

Updated at 4:04 p.m.