The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington obtained Secret Service emails showing that on January 4, 2021, the agency was aware of a violent threat to Speaker Nancy Pelosi but did not pass it along until late on the day of the insurrection, long after the Capitol had been attacked.
On January 4, Secret Service agents discovered a Parler account, which we’ve chosen not to name, posting a series of violent threats towards lawmakers. Other profiles with the same name appeared on Twitter, MeWe, Bitchute, Youtube and Facebook.
On December 31, the account posted, “January 6 starts #1776 all over again…Fight for EVERYTHING” and listed “Enemies,” including Pelosi. At 5:55 pm on January 6, after hours of defending the United States Capitol from a violent mob, the United States Capitol Police received the post along with a message from the Secret Service:
“Good afternoon, The US Secret Service is passing notification to the US Capitol Police regarding discovery of a social media threat directed toward Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”
I’m sure there are threats like this made against Pelosi all the time. Obviously, the Secret Service thought this one was serious enough to pass along to the Capitol Police. But why did the agency wait so long?
Even worse, CREW also discovered the Secret Service knew about the Jan. 6 threat, including a specific threat against then-Vice President Mike Pence, and dismissed it.
More from CREW:
Groups identified as coming with a potential to cause violence included the Oath Keepers, the 3%ers and neo-Nazi groups Atomwaffen and Storm Front. In spite of this warning, the Secret Service noted “There is no indication of civil disobedience” stemming from the right-wing extremist groups involved in the riot. Upon learning of the Proud Boys’ intent to arrive in DC on January 6, the Secret Service released an internal memo that disclosed no indication of concern—despite the Proud Boys stating they will turn out in “record numbers.”
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“It’s gonna get violent as we charge the federal buildings and drag out corrupt politicians dead or alive!” one [Parler post] before the 6th read, continuing on to reveal the author’s desire to kill politicians. “Now you got weapons I came packing,” read one posted the morning of the riot, “I’m here for justice bang bang.” The posts made clear who their top target was: “Fuck pence sellout traitor we better see him coming out that building in handcuffs or were [sic] going in.”
These documents show government law enforcement receiving clear warnings of the violence bound for DC on January 6. The Secret Service was fully aware that the Trump supporters coming posed a real threat of violence, particularly against Mike Pence, including the possibility of an assault on the Capitol. What they do not show is why the Secret Service downplayed the danger and threats of violence on January 6.
Given the rest of the Secret Service's disturbing behavior surrounding January 6th, including the conveniently disappeared text messages from that day, this points to a need for a serious housecleaning there. Before somebody gets killed.
