Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton testified Monday before the House Administrative Committee that the department’s lack of countersurveillance and threat assessment operations contributed to the Capitol being left largely unprotected during the Jan. 6 riots.
Bolton testified before the committee in the first of three House hearings this week on mistakes made before and during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump sought to disrupt the counting of the Electoral College votes. The process is routine every four years and ended, as expected, with Democratic nominee Joe Biden becoming the president-elect.
“Our third flash report reflects the continuing need for the department to focus on those four areas of intelligence, training, planning, and cultural change,” Bolton told the committee. “Based on our ongoing work, this flash report is designed to communicate any deficiencies with the departments, countersurveillance, and threat assessment operations. Deficiencies included outdated or vague guidance, failure to adequately report stop or contact activities, a lack of dedicated countersurveillance.”
Bolton suggested that a stand-alone entity with a defined mission dedicated to countersurveillance activities in support of protecting the congressional community. He claimed it would improve the department’s ability to “identify and disrupt individuals or groups intent on engaging in illegal activity directed at the congressional community.”
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In a statement released last Friday, the Capitol Police said threats against members of Congress this year spiked 107% when compared to 2020 and that “provided the unique threat environment we currently live in, the Department is confident the number of cases will continue to increase.”
House Administrative Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren in her opening remarks blamed the Jan. 6 attack on Trump and scolded those who “downplayed the events of that day.”
“I continue to believe Congress must establish a commission focusing specifically on the Jan. 6 insurrection,” she said. “Such a review is necessary, even though I agree with Sen. Mitch McConnell, former Speaker John Boehner, and Rep. [Liz] Cheney that former President Donald Trump bears ultimate responsibility for inciting the dangerous and deadly and insurrection.”
Rep. Rodney Davis, an Illinois Republican and the ranking member on the committee, stated in his opening remarks that he is still concerned about the Capitol Police’s “limited intelligence gathering and analysis capabilities.”
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“We have the intelligence about an attack or threat against a member of Congress or against the Capitol complex but do not have the correct policies or people in place to properly gather, interpret, and operationalize that intel, and what’s the point specifically,” Davis said. “Mr. Bolton’s latest report mentioned USCP did not have detailed or up-to-date guidance in place for its countersurveillance throughout assessment operations.”
