Washington, DC – Last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a non-partisan government watchdog agency, publicly released a new report that continues to document failures in leadership leading up to and on January 6th by the U.S. Capitol Police Board.

The report finds:

  • The U.S. Capitol Police's planning for January 6, 2021, did not reflect the potential for extreme violence aimed at the Capitol and did not include contingencies for support from other agencies.
  • On January 6, the Capitol Police and the Capitol Police Board, which oversees the Capitol Police, used various different authorities to obtain assistance from about 2,000 personnel from outside agencies. However, the Capitol Police and the Board lacked clear, detailed procedures to guide their decisions about which authority to use or the steps to follow in obtaining assistance.
  • The Capitol Police's process for assessing and mitigating physical security risks to the Capitol complex is not comprehensive or documented. Also, how the Capitol Police Board considers and decides which physical security recommendations made by the Capitol Police should be implemented is unclear.
The GAO had made four recommendations to the Capitol Police Board and the Capitol Police as a result of this report. It should be noted that the Capitol Police Board did not take a position on GAO's recommendations. The Capitol Police agreed with GAO's recommendations.

These findings continue to support what House Administration Republicans have been saying about the problems with the Capitol Police Board and the need for reform.

Read the Full Report Here

###