Thread by @Angry_Staffer

Thread:

We really need to talk about how big an intelligence failure Jan 6 was.

This excellent WaPo piece is a good place to start.

How did this all go *so* wrong? 1/16

washingtonpost.com/politics/inter…

“While the public may have been surprised by what happened on Jan. 6, the makings of the insurrection had been spotted at every level, from one side of the country to the other. The red flags were everywhere.” 2/16

On Jan 2, Donell Harvin, head of intelligence at DC’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA), was freaking out enough that he called Mike Sena, his counterpart in San Francisco, who confirmed his office was also awash in warning chatter. 3/16

Sena organized a call for all of the nation’s fusion centers to figure out what they were seeing.

“For the first time, from coast to coast, the centers were blinking red. The hour, date and location of concern was the same: 1 p.m., the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6.” 4/16

2 days before the scheduled protest, Harvin reached out to *everyone* — FBI, DHS, even local hospitals, warning them to prepare for a possible mass casualty event.

“Empty your emergency rooms, he said, and stock up on your blood banks” 5/16

As early as December 20, a tipster called the FBI with a warning: Trump supporters—believing they had orders from the President—wanted to sneak weapons into DC, overrun the police and arrest members of Congress. 6/16

The FBI passed that tip on to local law enforcement, and decided that it didn’t warrant further FBI investigation.

This brings me to an important reminder:

The CIA has recognized one of the biggest intelligence community failures during 9/11 was a failure of imagination. 7/16

“Angry, what is a ‘failure of imagination?’”

Put simply, it’s the failure to look outside of presupposed comfort zones and think about what *could* happen.

Is it likely for a US President to incite a mob to storm the Capitol? Well, no. Is it possible? Well, obviously. 8/16

This alone is a glaring failure from the. The signs that Trump would stoke violence in an attempt to stay in power were there before he was elected.

*I’ve* talked about that possibility on Twitter for over four years — political violence was a Bannon strategy from early on. 9/16

“The FBI… received numerous alerts of people vowing to violently confront Congress, but largely regarded social media posts — even those discussing bringing firearms, arresting lawmakers and shooting police — as protected First Amendment Speech.”

WHAT? 10/16

Apparently, senior leaders at the bureau worried that any public statements by Wray would be “asking for a desperate president to come after him”

Cowardice. Abdication of duty. Incomprehensible. 11/16

Milley suggested locking the city down and revoking protestors’ permits.

Acting SecDef Miller worried about a “Boston Massacre” type event that could be used by extremists.

Miller described briefings with security officials and Cabinet members as a shitshow.

Ya think? 12/16

DHS flew in Border Patrol agents to protect their DC offices, but didn’t bother to issue a security bulletin or declare a National Special Security Event (NSSE).

During NSSEs (think Super Bowl, Inauguration etc.) the Secret Service takes the lead on security. 13/16

NSSEs both expand resources and streamline coordination. A NSSE mandates the full cooperation of federal and local agencies.

Think about the security you’ve seen for inaugurations, state funerals, State of the Union addresses, etc — that’s how locked down NSSEs are. 14/16

Obviously, 1/6 could have benefited enormously from a NSSE designation, and that’s something that’s being considered going forward. 15/16

This isn’t nearly a comprehensive list all the failures that led to Jan 6, but that’s enough for one thread.

I’m going to do at least one more thread to expand further on this, but I’ll leave you with this for now:

These failures should cost a *lot* of people their jobs. 16/16