By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department’s internal watchdog will review how the FBI and other law enforcement agencies prepared and responded to the storming of the U.S. Capitol by President Donald Trump’s supporters, Inspector General Michael Horowitz said on Friday.
The inquiry will be coordinated with other federal agencies whose law enforcement arms were also involved in responding to the Jan. 6 assault, including the Defense Department, Department of Homeland Security and Department of the Interior.
The Pentagon’s inspector general, meanwhile, said on Friday it was going to review the Pentagon’s role and responsibilities related to the attack on the Capitol.
The review comes after many media outlets, including Reuters, reported that the FBI office in Norfolk, Virginia circulated a bulletin a day before the events at the Capitol warning that extremists were preparing to travel to Washington to commit violence and “war.”
A law enforcement source who spoke anonymously to Reuters said the bulletin was widely circulated among law enforcement agencies planning for possible demonstrations on Jan. 6, but it was considered to be “raw open source” material, meaning it was not validated by the FBI or other government investigators.
Steven D’Antuono, the FBI’s Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington field office, previously told reporters the bureau was aware of the memo and did take steps to address intelligence gathered ahead of the Capitol riots.
At the same time, however, d’Antuono said the FBI could not take action based on mere social media chatter, due to First Amendment guarantees of free speech.
“We have to separate the aspirational from the intentional and determine which of the individuals saying despicable things on the Internet are just practicing keyboard bravado, or they actually have the intent to do harm.”
The information in the bulletin “was a thread on a message board,” he said, noting his office provided a brief to law enforcement partners within 40 minutes of reading it.
D’Antuono also noted that arrests were made ahead of the rally based on intelligence-gathering, including of far-right Proud Boys leader Enrique Barrio.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch with additional reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
