Democrats were Responsible for “Complicit Defense” on Jan 6

Updates are listed in the end.

The Jan 6 protection of the Capitol was handled almost exclusively by Democrats (and RINO Roy Blunt). Their actions weakened Capitol defenses prior to the Jan 6 events and handicapped defenses on Jan 6.

In a January 7 interview, Retired General Russel L. Honoré,^[1] called the actions of the USCP at Capitol Hill a “complicit defense”, stating the failures were “complicity by the leadership involved in securing the capitol”. Being a Trump hater, General Honoré blamed this complicity on President Trump and USCP leadership, which he accused of pandering to Trump. However, upon examination of who made the detrimental security decisions, we see that these decisions were made by radical Democrat leaders in Congress and DC, and their political appointees.

Abbreviations & Some Key Personalities

This article is intended for various audiences.

Abbreviations

DC – the District of Columbia

USCP – the US Capitol police

MPD – Metro Police Department (i.e., the DC police]

CDU – Civil Disturbance Unit (police)

NG – National Guard

DCNG – DC National Guard

WFO (FBI WFO) – the Washington Field Office of the FBO; not the same as FBI HQ.

USCP Leadership – here refers to the USCP Chief Steven Sund, House Sergeant-at-Arms (HSAA) Paul Irving, and Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger (RIP).

Some Key Personalities

Positions on Jan 6, 2021.

Nancy Pelosi (D), Speaker of the House

Amy Klobuchar (D), Senator, radical Democrat, and an old friend of disgraced James Comey

Zoe Lofgren (D), Representative

Chuck Schumer (D), Senate Minority Leader, going to become Senate Majority Leader on January 20, 2021. Kelly Fado was his staffer. Sen. Schumer and Sen. Murphy (D), co-sponsored an amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act (10 USC 723), which put another obstacle for deployment NG and other uniformed personnel for defense of the Capitol building on Jan 6.

Muriel Bowser (D), DC Mayor, radical Democrat

Robert Contee, acting MPD Chief, was appointed to his position by Mayor Bowser, and started on January 2, 2021.^[2]

Chris Rodriguez, Director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) and Homeland Security Advisor and State Coordinating Officer for DC.^[3] Appointed by Mayor Bowser in 2017.^[4]

Steve D’Antuono, head of the FBI WFO, appointed on Oct 20, 2020, by the FBI Director Steve Wray. D’Antuono, CPA, disgraced himself as a dishonest Democrat partisan when he headed the Detroit Field Office. His office entrapped four men in a fictitious plot to kidnap Democrat Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer. A few weeks before the 2020 elections, he announced and presented this non-existent plot as far-right extremism, apparently to influence the election in favor of the Democrats.^[5]

Yogananda Pittman, Assistant Chief of USCP for Protective and Intelligence Operations. Promoted to this position in October 2019,^[6] under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. This promotion was highly unusual because it came only 15 months after her previous promotion. Pittman’s career experienced a meteoric rise under the Obama administration, from a Sergeant in the Communications Division to Captain and Inspector of the Office of Accountability and Improvement.

Her performance on Jan 6 was sharply criticized in a whistleblower’s letter.^[7]

In an unprecedented vote of no confidence by the USCP union, she received 92% votes against her.^[8] After Jan 6, when all USCP related decisions were made by Democrats, she was inexplicably promoted to acting USCP Chief. This further shows that she was favored by the Democrats.

Sean Gallagher, Deputy Chief for the Protective Services Bureau. Like Pittman’s, his performance on Jan 6 was sharply criticized in the whistleblower’s letter. In the vote of no confidence, he received 84% votes against him. Yet, he was also inexplicably promoted to acting Assistant Chief after Jan 6.

“Complicit Defense”

Retired General Honoré^[9] based his observations on his professional experience, which included securing Capitol Hill. According to him, USCP should have been supported by other forces, including the MPD, FBI units, and the National Guard. In this matter, his professional opinion, given immediately after the events, is highly valuable evidence. His partisan accusations should be disregarded.

Washington DC is a Democrat district. Mayor Bowser and the DC council are far left, and that was reflected in their nominations for both the MPD Chief and Homeland Security Advisor Rodriguez. In the two years prior to Jan 6, USCP was overseen by Democrats – Nancy Pelosi, Amy Klobuchar, Zoe Lofgren, and RINO Roy Blunt. See Annex A. This allowed Democrats to promote USCP officers of their liking.^[10]

Interestingly, Democrats also received exclusive information about the security plan for Jan 6. Chief Sund:^[11] “In the days leading up to January 6, we briefed a number of Members of Congress who had requested an advance briefing on our security plan and the permitted demonstration activity scheduled for January 6, 2021. The members that were briefed in advance include: Chairman Blunt [RINO], Chairperson Lofgren[D], Chairman Ryan[D], and Representative Waters[D].“ Blunt does not count as a Republican.

Further confirmation of complicit defense is the fact, confirmed by countless witness testimonies and videos, that the police suddenly stopped defending the Capitol Building and simultaneously opened Capitol Building doors to the public around 14:15.

Democrats handicapped Capitol Defenses before Jan 6

Ret. Gen. Honoree specifically questioned the absence of DCNG at the Capitol Hill, and the restrictions on 340 DCNG already present in the city. These soldiers were unarmed, forbidden from maintaining public order, and then spread across the city. The answer is simple – this was done at Mayor Bowser’s request from December 31, 2020!^[12]

Before Jan 6, President Trump offered 10,000 NG troops to help DC and USCP.^[13] This offer was refused by the DC Mayor and USCP supervisors. The Chief of Staff at the Department of Defense stated that they “had offered the capitol police and Mayor Bowser of Washington DC thousands of national guardsmen and women two days before January 6 and they turned us down“.^[14]

Further, on January 5, Mayor Bowser issued a strongly worded letter,^[15] addressed to acting AG Rosen, SecArmy McCarthy, and acting SecDef Miller, objecting to NG deployment (other than 340 disarmed and restricted soldiers already present) and any other federal forces in the DC on Jan 6. This letter is discussed further in The National Guard and Federal Law Enforcement on Jan 6.^[16]

On the same day, Senator Murphy (D-CT) also sent a letter intended to prevent or complicate deployment of NG and other federal units to protect the Capitol, to the same addressees.

This is why neither NG nor uniformed FBI units were present at the Capitol building on Jan 6, and their deployment faced artificial obstacles put in place by Mayor Bowser and Senator Murphy.

USCP chief Sund had repeatedly requested reinforcements in preparation for Jan 6 and was denied.^[17] In light of other evidence, it appears that his requests were denied because the Democrat leadership wanted the Capitol defenses weakened on Jan 6, rather than reinforced.

Senator Murphy

Senators Murphy (D-CT) and Schumer (D-NY) inserted into the National Defense Authorization Act for 2021 a provision requiring the National Guard and federal law personnel to wear “the individual’s name or other individual identifier” when responding to a civil disturbance – i.e., to allow doxing. The Act with this provision became law on January 1, 2021, over President Trump’s veto.

On January 5, Senator Murphy sent a letter to Acting AG Rosen, SecArmy McCarthy, acting SecDef Miller, with a copy to Mayor Bowser, demanding that NG and uniformed federal forces adhere to this rule on January 6. See Annex B. Essentially, Senator Murphy demanded that prior to sending NG, the generals had to equip their soldiers and officers with such IDs, and the latter had to fear doxing and retaliation from D-supporters. This created another obstacle for approval and deployment of DCNG and other federal forces on January 6.

Deliberate Restriction of Information

Mayor Bowser and Senator Murphy did not inform Chief Sund and the rest of USCP leadership that the approved and deployed DCNG is disarmed and restricted, and that on January 5 they erected political obstacles for re-mission it. Chief Sund and other police commanders were shocked on Jan 6, when they learnt they could not use any of them.

Naturally, VP Mike Pence and some of the top Congressional Republicans were unaware of these roadblocks the Democrats had set up, and therefore suspected President Trump of refusing or delaying NG deployment.

Neither Chief Sund nor the rest of the USCP leadership received the so-called Norfolk letter and other intelligence warnings about a threat of violence, but Gallagher did, and forwarded it to Schumer’s staffer Kelly Fado.^[18]

Additional weakening of Capitol defenses

Despite the obvious need for heightened security, the Capitol’s security was lowered on Jan 6. Only ~1,300 out of ~1,900 USCP personnel were available. Also, from the USCP after-action report:^[19]

“There were not enough hard platoons deployed for the day. Analysis: There were only 1.5 platoons [~50 officers – LG] that responded to the Capitol and that was not enough. The rest of the respondents were not CDU hard squad officers, and, therefore, id ‘not have adequate equipment (helmets, gas masks, PR24s, etc) to protect against the incident.”

“HIRD [Hazardous Incident Response Division – LG] broke from usual protocol for staffing at the Capitol. The teams were told expressly to not enter the Capitol unless directed while there is normally a team stationed in the building for joint sessions and Vice President VIP visits”

Congressional Democrats had been briefed on the security plan and remained satisfied with it.

On the evening of Jan 5, someone requested an unexplainable change in the security perimeter, which was implemented the next morning. Defenses were removed from the most important part of the perimeter, the area facing the rally. From an email exchange between the Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton and his Chief Security Officer Valerie Hasberry:^[20]

Jan 5, 2021, 9:10 PM, Hasberry to Blanton, the Architect of the Capitol: “I wanted to pass on last minute changes for the security perimeter for tomorrow’s planned demonstrations. We received a late request to remove approximately 500 bike racks along [the F]irst street NE/SE, and along the south curb of Constitution Ave. between the North Barricade and First Street NE. My team was told the reason for the change was due to USCP’s concern that demonstrators would be trapped on the Eggs. This explanation did not track with past setups including those used in November and December. In addition, the change didn’t make sense from a security perspective.”

Jan 5, 2021, 9:21 PM, Blanton to Hasberry: “This seems absolutely illogical. It removes a zone of defense. If you find out a logical impetus for the change, let me know ASAP.”

The follow up email did not provide any logical explanation.

Also remember that the FBI WFO was headed by the compromised Democrat partisan D’Antuono.

Democrat leaders and their loyalists delayed reinforcements on Jan 6

At 12:58 on January 6, USCP Chief Sund requested reinforcement from MPD and received a positive response. MPD (acting Chief Robert Contee) sent about 100 officers immediately, increasing the number to 1,000 by the time of the breach. ^[21] ^[22]

Director Rodriguez, Bowser’ appointee and Homeland Security Advisor, denied USCP Chief Sund reinforcement request an hour later:^[23]

“2:10 P.M.–Director Rodriguez calls USCP Chief Sund asking what support is needed immediately; Sund replies he needs anything that can be provided. With MPD and FEMS already at the Capitol under the Mayor’s authority, Rodriguez offers to set up a call with DCNG and MPD to outline USCP’s specific needs for DCNG support. This can only be approved by SecArmy and A/SecDef …”

So USCP Chief Sund requests immediate support, but Director Rodriguez offers to set up a conference call “to outline USCP’s specific needs”! One would think this was a sales call.

At that time, Director Rodriguez had access to multiple special force units under the DOJ and DHS. From the Newsweek:

“The contingency units meeting on January 3 included the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, the FBI’s national “Render Safe” team, an FBI SWAT team from the Baltimore Field Office, Special Response Teams from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the U.S. Marshals Service Special Operations Group.

All of these assets were “pre-deployed” and ready to go… The activation of the catastrophic response units, operating under plans already approved by President Trump, entailed an automatic green light…

[also referenced in the article: the National Mission Force, the National Asset Response Unit (NARU), Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC)—including the Delta Force and SEAL Team]”

Director Rodriguez ignored most of them, and selected DCNG – knowing well that DCNG was not preapproved because of the request from mayor Bowser, and the approval would take unacceptably long time.

Operational Command of USCP by Pittman-Gallagher

While Chief Sund was distracted by all these attempts to get reinforcements, Pittman and Gallagher had operational command of USCP.^[24] When he was on this call, someone in the Pittman-Gallagher command ordered USCP to stop defending the Capitol building, to open multiple doors before invaders, and to invite pro-Trump protesters in. At the same time, USCP interrupted Senate and House sessions, and dispersed the Senators despite the protests from some Republicans. Senator Graham (R-SC) yelled at SSAA (according to WaPo):^[25] “What are you doing? Take back the Senate! You’ve got guns. Use them … We give you guns for a reason… Use them.” In those minutes, Senator Tuberville (R-AL) told President Trump by phone:^[26] “Mr. President, they just took our vice president out, they’re getting ready to drag me out of here. I got to go.”

The USCP plan for Jan 6 specified “that projectiles will not be fired indiscriminately into crowds”.^[27] Yet, under the Pittman-Gallagher command, firing projectiles into crowds was the first thing that USCP did, starting at 13:06.^[28] These actions killed Benjamin Phillips (50) and Kevin Greeson (55).^[29]

Starting at 13:15, USCP, under command of Pittman and Gallagher, unnecessary evacuated of multiple congressional buildings because of a very small bomb (1×8” pipe bomb capable of containing less than 200 gram of explosives). The congressional buildings and other buildings around the RNC were evacuated around 13:15. These unnecessary evacuations created panic and required a large part of the USCP force to move away from the Capitol Building.

Curiously, the DNC building, where the second bomb was found, was not evacuated at all.^[30] Why would one bomb require the evacuation of several buildings (including the Library of Congress which was two blocks away), while a similar bomb would not require the evacuation of the DNC, where it was placed?

Conclusion

All the decisions outlined above were surprisingly made by Democrats and intentionally ensured that, on January 6, the USCP was weakened, cut off from immediate reinforcements, and its leadership was distracted trying to get help. Apparently, this left the USCP command decisions in the hands of Democrat loyalists, who conducted the “complicit defense”.^[31]

Even without expert opinions, it should be obvious that the US Capitol should not have fallen to a bare-chested guy with horns and a few hundred unarmed men and women. The Capitol Building did not fall; it was surrendered. But surrendered by who and why?

Around 14:15, on Jan 6, USCP opened Capitol building doors and allowed everybody into the Capitol, from left-wing militants to invited protesters (“tourists”). At the same time, USCP dispersed the Senate and, later, the House. Only after the attackers were allowed in the building and congress had been dispersed, did the Democrats allow substantial reinforcements to arrive and clear the building. While the Democrats and their loyalists in USCP and MPD were delaying or denying reinforcements, the media narratives of “insurrection” and “blaming Trump” were taking hold.

All major security decisions that left the Capitol defenseless were made by Democrats. Democrat leadership – inclusive of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mayor Muriel Bowser, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, appointees Robert Contee and Chris Rodriguez, and favorites Yogananda Pittman and Sean Gallagher – left the Capitol building as defenseless as possible on Jan 6. Then, they allowed or simulated its breach, and used it as a pretext to interrupt the hearing of objections to democrat electoral slates in the contested states. All of this was all effectively blamed on President Trump, even though none of the detrimental security decisions were made by him or his supporters.

See also

1) Marjorie Taylor Greene points finger at Mayor Bowser, Speaker Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer for rejecting NG and otherwise undermining the Capitol building defenses on Jan 6.

2) Did Democrats Deliberately Leave Capitol Defenseless on Jan. 6? ^[32] in the Headline USA.

Annexes

Annex A: Authorities on the top and above USCP on January 6, 2021

House Speaker: Nancy Pelosi

Then:^[33]

Authorizing Committees

Committee on House Administration

Chairman: Zoe Lofgren (California)
Ranking Member: Rodney Davis (Illinois)

Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

Chairman: Roy Blunt (Missouri)
Ranking Member: Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota)

CPB [Capitol Police Board]

Michael C. Stenger, United States Senate Sergeant at Arms
Paul D. Irving, U.S. House of Representatives Sergeant at Arms (Chairman)
Brett Blanton, Architect of the Capitol
Steven A. Sund, Chief of Police (Ex-Officio Member)

The USCP Chief reports to CPB. SAAs are above him.

Annex B. Murphy letter and Murphy – Schumer Amendment

From EXAMINING THE DOMESTIC TERRORISM THREAT, House Homeland Security Committee (February 4, 2021):^[34]

“Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Mayor Bowser is cc’d on a letter from Senator Murphy (D-CT) to Acting AG Rosen, SecArmy McCarthy, A/SecDef Miller that “`calls on officials to adhere to new law requiring all Armed Forces and Federal law enforcement officers to visibly identify”. This is based on a new law authored by Murphy and Senate Minority Leader Schumer and passed as the National Defense Authorization Act.”

From the NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT for 2021,^[35] passed on January 1, 2021, over the President’s veto.

10 USC 723. ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—Whenever a member of the armed forces (including the National Guard) or Federal law enforcement personnel provide support to Federal authorities to respond to a civil disturbance, each individual employed in the capacity of providing such support shall visibly display—“ ‘‘(1) the individual’s name or other individual identifier that is unique to that individual; and ‘‘(2) the name of the armed force, Federal entity, or other organization by which such individual is employed.

Annex C. Miscellaneous

Capitol Hill, including the Capitol building and several other buildings, is under its own jurisdiction, separate from DC, with USCP as its police force. The Speaker of the House (who was Nancy Pelosi on Jan 6) is the equivalent of Capitol Hill’s Mayor. An additional 200 blocks around the Capitol Hill Campus, inclusive of the RNC and DNC buildings, are under a joint jurisdiction of the USCP with the MPD.

Other top USCP officers, who did not resign after Jan 6, also received votes of no confidence: Captain Ben Smith (97%), Assistant Chief Chad Thomas (96%), Deputy Chief Jeffrey Pickett (91%), Deputy Chief Timothy Bowen (85%), and Deputy Chief Eric Waldow (64%).

(added on 2022-12-12) Nancy Pelosi appointed Ret. General Honoré, apparently based on his hostility to President Trump, to lead a partisan inquiry into the Capitol security on Jan 6. The only result was a forward-looking review, which focused on the generalities, such as organization, training, and equipment of the USCP on that day, and avoided any action details.^[36]

See Ret. General Honoré Jan 6 tweets and background information, further supporting this article, in the proposed Congressional Resolution 22.

This Table of Contents provides internal links for the ease of point citing.

Abbreviations & Some Key Personalities

Abbreviations

Some Key Personalities

“Complicit Defense”

Democrats handicapped Capitol Defenses before Jan 6

Senator Murphy

Deliberate Restriction of Information

Additional weakening of Capitol defenses

Democrat leaders and their loyalists delayed reinforcements on Jan 6

Operational Command of USCP by Pittman-Gallagher