FBI, DHS downplayed intel ahead of Jan. 6: Senate panel

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) downplayed intelligence about potential violence ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to a Senate Homeland Security Committee report released Tuesday.

The agencies received multiple tips and were aware of calls for violence online ahead of Jan. 6, 2021, but “failed to fully and accurately assess the severity of the threat identified by that intelligence,” the report found.

“Despite the high volume of tips and online traffic about the potential for violence … these agencies failed to sound the alarm and share critical intelligence information that could have helped law enforcement better prepare for the events of January 6th, 2021,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said in a press release.

While the FBI communicated its intelligence to partner agencies informally, it downplayed the severity of the threat and did not issue “urgent warnings anticipating violence,” according to the report.

The Senate panel suggested the bureau “failed to seriously consider the possibility that threatened actions would actually be carried out,” dismissing each threat as “not credible in isolation” without fully considering the “totality of threats and violent rhetoric.”

DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis and the FBI also did not report concerning posts that were deemed noncredible threats, despite internal guidelines recommending otherwise, the report found.

FBI employees “wrongly concluded” they could not process certain online tips, even though bureau policy required all tips to be logged regardless of credibility.

Analysts in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis similarly “wrongly believed” they could not report concerning posts, despite agency guidelines to report noncredible threats that provide additional information about a known risk of violence.

“My report shows there was a shocking failure of imagination from these intelligence agencies to take these threats seriously, and there is no question that their failures to effectively analyze and share the threat information contributed to the failures to prevent and respond to the horrific attack that unfolded at the Capitol,” Peters added.