U.S. Agencies Saw Risk of Violence Before Capitol Riot, GAO Says

(Bloomberg) -- At least 10 federal agencies were aware of the potential for criminal activity in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, including at least two that identified the U.S. Capitol as a target for an attack, according to a congressional report.

The FBI, Homeland Security Department and U.S. Capitol Police -- among other agencies -- obtained and shared social media posts and other publicly available information prior to the Capitol riot, when a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump launched a deadly attack to stop the election certification of Joe Biden, the Government Accountability Office said Monday.

“All 10 federal agencies in our review obtained open source data about the planned events for January 6, 2021, prior to the attack on the Capitol,” the GAO said in its 57-page report. “Two agencies identified the Capitol or Congress as targets of violent attacks based on election results.”

Testimony before a special congressional committee created to investigate the plot to overturn the election results had previously shown U.S. agencies were aware of the potential for violence. But the new report shows the extent of intelligence that agencies had collected.

Threat information obtained by the agencies included discussions about bringing guns into Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, the report said.

“One agency received data from a social media platform on December 24, 2020, that included a user threatening to kill politicians and coordinate armed forces on January 6,” the report said.

The report is a public version of a sensitive one issued in February and omits some information that agencies determined shouldn't be released.