Thread by @BBuchman_CNS

Today at 10AM ET, the Senate Rules and Senate Homeland Security committees convene for a joint oversight hearing on the security failures at the Capitol on 1/6. Witnesses below. Story later for @CourthouseNews.

You can catch a live stream of today's hearing here: c-span.org/video/?509061-…

What's on the menu today? Senators will zero in on the role of Cap security leadership during the siege. Sund, the former US Capitol police chief as well as Irving and Stenger - the House and Senate sergeant at arms respectively - each resigned after the attack.
@CourthouseNews

What did they do, what didn't they do, what went on as decisions were made around deploying the National Guard - all are questions lawmakers could focus in on today.
Live-tweeting will be very light for me, but keep an eye out for my full report.

Today's hearing w/former Cap security is the first of three hearings on matters related to the 1/6 attack that will unfold this week. Tomorrow, (Wed 2/24 @2pm ET) the House Judiciary Cmte convenes to discuss domestic terrorism with witnesses:

Then later this week on Thursday, Feb 25 @ 10AM ET, the House Financial Services Committee meets for a hearing entitled "Dollars Against Democracy: Domestic Terrorist Financing in the Aftermath of the Insurrection."
That witness list includes:

Amy Klobuchar, chair of the Senate Rules Cmte kicks off today's hearing "We are here today to better understand what was known in advance, what steps were taken to secure the capitol, and what occurred that day. We want to ensure nothing like this happens again."

Klobuchar: Despite our political differences, we will be constructive in this hearing today. We're not just here to make political hay, she adds, but we must figure out what went wrong and figure out what changes must be made.

In his opening statement, former sergeant at arms for the Senate Michael Stenger cautions against the style of "possibility" threat management over "probability".
His full stmt here: beta.documentcloud.org/documents/2049…

And in his opening statement, former sergeant at arms for the House Paul Irving touches on his recollection of the timing of Natl Guard requests. We'll get into this more in my story later.
Irving's full statement here:
beta.documentcloud.org/documents/2049…

Fmr chief of US Cap Police Sund in his opener says 1/6 attack was pre-planned and insurgents "came prepared for war... with weapons, chemical munitions and explosives."
But Sund says, no LEO could have been prepared to respond to 1/6 w/o the proper intel:
beta.documentcloud.org/documents/2049…

In his opening statement, acting chief of police for the Metropolitan PD Robert Contee says he was "stunned" at the reluctant response from the Army to send the DC National Guard to the Capitol on 1/6:
Contee's full statement: beta.documentcloud.org/documents/2049…

All witnesses present for today's hearing agree: the Jan 6 attack was preplanned and was organized, in part, by white supremacist groups.

Discrepancies at the top of today's hearing: former House sergeant at arms Paul Irving saying he wasn't asked for Nat'l Guard backup until 2PM but fmr chief of Cap Police Steven Sund pegging the request closer to 1PM. Sen Johnson asks for phone records. More to come.

When this discrepancy was highlighted, Senator Blunt R-Missouri, remarked: "Whatever happened here, doesn't seem to me to be in agreement with the various timeframes."

For context, Sen. Maggie Hassan asks Contee, acting Metro Police chief, about the "standard process" for protest coordination in D.C.
Contee says typically involved in coordination are: US Park Police, US Cap Police, Secret Service, partners from FBI, all part of talks

Going forward, what must be looked at, Contee says, with respect to specific intel, is putting online an updated notification system for threats.

Former House sergeant at arms Irving says "absolutely not" when asked if he waited for congressional leadership to approve a Natl Guard request on 1/6.

Sen Angus King asks Sund: how do we protect the Capitol from either an angry mob or probably, more likely, 1 or 2 or 3 malignant actors w/o turning it into a fortress?

Sund says "time and distance is our best friend" and the suggestions to preserve security but without a big old fence is something he would want to discuss in a classified setting.

DEVELOPING. Law enforcement & security officials who survived the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol gave their first public accounts of the traumatic details of a day they said unfolded in chaos because of bad intelligence sharing and poor preparation.
courthousenews.com/law-enforcemen…