Bombshell claims from a top lawyer investigating the January 6th riot at the Capitol indicate the FBI and other intelligence agencies could have prevented the chaos had they acted on the information that had already been gathered.
NBC News reports that former federal prosecutor Tim Heaphy, a Democrat and the committee’s chief investigative counsel, did continue to assert that former President Trump’s words incited the crowd to action.
“But for (Trump’s) words, and deeds, it wouldn’t have happened,” he contends.
However – and this is the biggest however – he also accused the House select committee of leaving out information from their reports and televised hearings that security agencies could have stopped the mob that day regardless.
“That said, what happened at the Capitol was also affected by law enforcement failures to operationalize the ample intelligence that was present before Jan. 6, about the threats of violence,” Heaphy said in an exclusive interview with NBC.
He added, “Law enforcement had a very direct role in contributing to the security failures that led to the violence.”
Exclusive: Top Jan. 6 investigator says FBI, DHS, Capitol Police could have repelled the Capitol mob had they acted on intelligence collected in the weeks before the attack https://t.co/MfzhKUgM7k
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) January 31, 2023
RELATED: Informant Warned FBI That January 6 Was a ‘Big’ Threat Weeks BEFORE Capitol Riot, They Did Nothing
Top Investigator: FBI Could Have Stopped January 6th
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Aside from the admission from a top Democrat investigator that the events on January 6th could have been prevented by the FBI, the NBC News report also indicates the House select committee intentionally shielded the information from the public.
The highly partisan committee voted last month to refer four criminal charges against Trump to the Department of Justice over his alleged actions during the Capitol riot.
When asked about comments by committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) that placed the blame exclusively on Trump, Heaphy responded that “law enforcement could have and should have done a better job of anticipating” potential violence.
January 6 committee “findings about intelligence and security shortcomings were left out of the public hearings and downplayed in the report because committee members wanted to keep the focus on Trump” https://t.co/te9poXIE60
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) February 1, 2023
Additionally, the NBC news report indicates sources “familiar with the committee’s inner workings” have admitted to the intentional withholding of information from the public.
Those sources told NBC News that “the findings about intelligence and security shortcomings were left out of the public hearings and downplayed in the report because committee members wanted to keep the focus on Trump and avoid giving his supporters a talking point.”
Such an acknowledgment should be an embarrassment to the panel that had drawn their conclusions long before they even began any investigation.
An attempt to conceal facts not only fails to take away a talking point – Trump supporters had that knowledge well in advance with or without information from the panel – but it exposes the committee for the sham it was all along.
And they know it. Thompson, along with former congresswoman Liz Cheney, refused to provide NBC with a comment on their report.
“The intel in advance was pretty specific, and it was enough, in our view, for law enforcement to have done a better job.”
What the Jan 6 committee actually found, before leadership decided it distracted from the Trump narrative.
@KenDilanianNBC: https://t.co/K878VHo1pu
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) January 31, 2023
Informant Warned FBI of a ‘Big’ Threat Weeks BEFORE Capitol Riot
Heaphy continued to insist that the FBI’s failures were just as crucial as Trump’s words and actions on and before the January 6th riot.
He notes that committee investigators “reviewed numerous examples of compelling intelligence that appeared to have been downplayed or ignored.”
The NBC News report seems to mesh with previous reporting on an informant who warned the FBI weeks in advance that January 6th posed a “big” threat of violence, but who was ultimately ignored.
Report: Informant Warned FBI That January 6 Was a ‘Big’ Threat Weeks BEFORE Capitol Riot, They Did Nothing – The Political Insider https://t.co/vpET8exLjE
— Kathlin Hawleys (@HawleysJadefav) December 21, 2022
The informant highlighted an uptick in messages speaking of Civil War and a willingness to sacrifice lives prior to the riot.
All of the information was sent to the FBI on December 19th and, as NBC News indicates, “adds to the mounting evidence that the FBI had intelligence warnings that Jan. 6 was a major threat.”
“The bureau saw this coming,” the informant accused.
Exclusive: An informant warned the FBI weeks before Jan. 6 that the far-right saw then-President Trump’s tweet summoning his supporters to a “wild” protest in the nation’s capital as “a call to arms,” according to an email reviewed by @NBCNews. https://t.co/YjcCAwVWA2
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 21, 2022
Not only did the FBI have information weeks in advance, but they allegedly had numerous informants in the crowd that day and still didn’t prevent the riot from getting out of hand.
Court documents examined by the New York Times show the FBI had as many as eight informants embedded with the “Proud Boys” group in the months leading up to the Capitol riot.
Prior to that, the Times publicized that the FBI had another well-placed informant within the Oath Keepers, another group that allegedly took part in the protest.
FBI Director Christopher Wray, when confronted on the possibility of the FBI being embedded in the crowd on January 6th, refused to offer a denial.
Wray instead said he had to “be very careful” about answering questions on whether the bureau had informants dressed as Trump supporters in the crowd.
REP. HIGGINS: “Did you have confidential human sources dressed as Trump supporters inside The Capitol on January 6th prior to the doors being opened?”
FBI DIR. WRAY: “I have to be very careful about what I can say.” pic.twitter.com/COGkWCPCpY
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 15, 2022
The informant told NBC News that the warnings and information given to the FBI regarding riots on January 6th didn’t involve random calls to a tip line or submissions through generic web forms. It came directly from a trusted and vetted source.
They had no excuse not to act and take preventative measures.
“When you make mistakes, ideally, you’ll learn from them,” Heaphy said. “And this was a mistake.”
Making mistakes is one thing. Wholesale incompetence, which the FBI seems to have had a monopoly on for decades, is another.
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The FBI not only had informants embedded in the crowd but they actively encouraged the riot.
Of course, they STILL overlook that Trump himself requested the speaker, one Nasty Pelousy, to bring in the National Guard several days BEFORE 1/6, and she chose to ignore it. For a guy supposedly TRYING to incite an “insurrection”, why would you call in the troops to quell the uprising against the government that you are supposedly instigating. Give me a break!!!
This was a sham and shameless joke from before it happened!!!!
Now that the FIB is realizing they will be sacrificed to the political will of the rule of law and the US Constitution, there is no good reason as to why all those logs and written material cannot be removed from the hands of the 1/6 kangaroo court AND PLACED IN EVIDENCE FOR THE DEFENSE and benefit OF ALL THAT HAVE SUFFERED THRU THIS MAJOR HOAX……
The January 6th committee – another example of the rampant chicanery and subterfuge the Democrats are guilty of in there never-ending quest for power.
If Nancy allowed the demonstration then she is responsible for the ensuing deaths. When will she be indicted, tried, convicted and imprisoned? Or, can we just imprision her without a trial as the J6 demonstrators have been?
The FBI and PELOSI Planned and Carried out the “Insurrection, to try to keep DJT of the 2024 Ballot. Because ALL the other times, they tried to FRAME him failed
If they still held the House they would still be at it….
I say Start over with the FBI– clean it out! Stop the weaponizing of many of our Federal departments! FBI is suppose to work for the American Citizen not attack US.
They Simply “ALLOWED” it to happen…a Classic “FALSE FLAG” event…I was there that day [Most Surreal Day Of My Life]….The only thing that makes any sense based on what I witnessed that day – The breach of our Capital building was ALLOWED to happen! There’s a reason they are not releasing ALL of the video from that day! FYI…I did not go in the building – Thank God!
I was not there John, but “They” must be asked “Who moved the barriers and guided the lawful protesters through it ?” !! It sure was niether Donald Trump nor Ashli Babbitt !
Nancy Pelosi didn’t want it stopped because she wanted something to use against Trump. Put the blame where it belongs…right on Pelosi.
The FBI instigated the Riot at the orders of Nancy Pelosi, of course they could of stopped it, but that was not the goal was it.
The FBI and the Capital Police were under orders from Nancy Pelosi to inflame and allow any violence that they were able to start to give cover for the fraudulent election to be certified by a bunch of cowards too weak to actually fulfill their responsibilities to completely ensure the election was legal and represented the will of the people.
More of deceptive Democrat controlled January 6 investigation chicanery. They know no shame in their quest for power and control.
I believe that God will ensure the real Truth prevails in the end – that the so-called Riot was simply an FBI instigated smoke-screen aimed purely at President Trump with deliberate misdirection from Speaker Pelosi.
Justice for Ashli Babbitt demands that her alleged murderer stand trial in a proper Court of Law and be not hidden and smoke-screened out of sight by pseudo “Committees” in the House of Representatives ( that’s a joke in itself !! )