A Secret Service unit responsible for identifying threats repeatedly downplayed advance warnings of potential violence on Jan. 6, 2021, newly released documents show, a lapse that is now part of the House investigation into the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Secret Service Protective Intelligence & Assessment Division’s preparation and response to Jan. 6 is laid bare in nearly 900 pages of emails, internal reports and threat assessments obtained by Bloomberg News in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
The reports tell of extremist groups heading for Washington, including some that openly discussed employing violence to overturn the 2020 election results. But a series of internal memos circulated among agents repeatedly say “there is no indication of civil disobedience” associated with any of the planned protests.
