The Secret Service did not adapt its security plan from its normal five-person detail inside the Capitol used for ordinary congressional visits, leaving agents and officers undermanned as violence surrounded them.

One passage shared with Just the News stated that a site agent explicitly told the IG that the limit on how many Secret Service staff were permitted to enter the Capitol created manpower challenges that day.

Not revealed in the publicly available version was the fact that for almost 12 minutes between the breach and relocation of Pence, only three people were guarding the stairway used for the relocation reroute: the site agent, detail supervisor, and one USCP officer.

Reportedly, the site agent also said that additional personnel would have been helpful while moving the Vice President, as those 3 individuals were the only assets preventing protestors from overtaking the route.

The report also estimated the vice president was without an escape vehicle for nearly a half hour.

The full report – complete with passages showing the most sensitive information about Jan. 6 security blunders was shared with Secret Service management and its Homeland Security overseers in April.

That gave them more than two months to address major issues flagged by the chief watchdog for the Homeland Security Department. Secret Service executives responded to the report in late June, in some cases rejecting some of the recommendations for improved security.

The redacted passages were belatedly shared with House and Senate oversight committees in reent days. The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The emergence of the text behind the redactions provide two stark reminders in Washington:

• Despite a full-scale two-year House Democrat probe into Jan. 6 many revelations about security and intelligence failures remain unresolved.
• The Secret Service had clear warning signs it was slipping on its zero-failure mission well before the July 13 Trump assassination attempt rocked the agency and led to the resignation of its director appointed by President Joe Biden.

The passages exposed problems with even the most basic tools the Secret Service uses to ensure the safety of its VIP protectees, including failures in radio communications.

Delays in radio communications were cited as a reason the Secret Service driver of Pence’s vehicle left the Capitol for nearby loading docks without the detail guarding Pence immediately knowing the vehicle had departed or where he went, redacted portions of the reported stated.

Another passage revealed that the transportation agent moved the motorcade without explicit permission from the detail leader because of delays in communication and a rapidly developing situation in front of the Capitol.

As the motorcade began relocating, protesters stormed through the plaza, breaching the barricades at 1:59 p.m. The transportation agent said some protesters moved toward the motorcade and attempted to block some of the vehicles, the unredacted report said. Those vehicles were ultimately able to get around the protester and rejoin the rest of the motorcade.

The motorcade was uncertain where to vacate because no pre-planned escape location had been chosen by the Secret Service, another planning failure flagged in the report.

The redacted version of the report also said that the full motorcade arrived safely at the loading dock at 2:04 p.m. The transportation agent reportedly said making that quick decision to move the motorcade was the “hardest call I’ve had to make.”

The report described a laissez faire approach to the Secret Service planning for the Jan. 6 event at the Capitol, where Pence was heading to certify the 2020 election results when violence broke out.

Continue Reading: Just The News