Thread by @ChadPergram

1) Prepared testimony from fmr Hse Sgt at Arms Irving: I want to help the staff and Members make changes and improvements to the security of the U.S. Capitol, and to ensure the tragedies of January 6 never happen again.

2) Irving: Intelligence and Security Planning in Advance of January 6, 2021 The U.S. Capitol Police Department (USCP) began planning in December 2020 for the January 6 Joint Session and the associated demonstrations and marches.

3) Irving: The large rallies in support of former President Donald J. Trump in November and December 2020 informed the USCP’s judgments about the intelligence for the January 6 events.

4) Irving: On January 3, 2021, the USCP issued its special event assessment for January 6—it specifically concluded that the protests were expected to be similar to the two prior First Amendment marches in November and December.

5) Irving: Intelligence reported that some groups encouraged protesters to come armed, that violence was a possibility as it had been in November and December, and that Congress would be the focus.

6) Irving: The intelligence was not that there would be a coordinated assault on the Capitol, nor was that contemplated in any of the inter-agency discussions that I attended in the days before the attack.

7) Irving: The USCP’s intelligence component relied on intelligence reporting from various state and federal agencies to draft its special event assessment.

8) Irving: Those sources included the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, neither of which assessed or forecast a coordinated assault on the Capitol like the one that took place.

9) Irving: And for each of the days leading up to January 6—and indeed, on January 6 itself—the USCP issued a daily intelligence report in which it assessed the potential for civil disobedience and arrests as “remote” to “improbable.”

10) Irving: On January 4, I spoke with USCP Chief Sund and Senate Sergeant at Arms Stenger about a National Guard offer to incorporate 125 unarmed troops into the security plan to work traffic duty near the Capitol

11) Irving: Certain media reports have stated that “optics” determined my judgement about using those National Guard troops. That is categorically false. “Optics” as portrayed in the media did not determine our security posture;

12) Irving: We did discuss whether the intelligence warranted having troops at the Capitol, and our collective judgment at that time was no—the intelligence did not warrant that. The intelligence did warrant the plan that had been prepared by Chief Sund.

13) Irving: Chief Sund’s plan was for “all hands on deck,” whereby every available sworn USCP employee with police powers was assigned to work on January 6.

14) Irving: In the course of the January 4 call, we agreed that Chief Sund would ask that the National Guard have the 125 troops standing by as an asset in reserve.

15) Irving: Had I thought for an instant that the intelligence called for the presence of 125 unarmed National Guard troops to work traffic duty (as was contemplated in the January 4 discussion), I would not have hesitated to do everything necessary to ensure their presence.