Capitol Police Chief Warns of Armed Plot During Biden's First Speech to Congress

By Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News

27 February 21

ar-right extremists are threatening to “blow up” the U.S. Capitol during President Biden’s State of the Union address in hopes of killing dozens of members of Congress, a top security official told lawmakers on Thursday.

Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman made the disturbing revelation in testimony before the House Appropriations Committee while justifying the need for keeping strict security measures in place at the Capitol in the wake of last month’s deadly pro-Trump attack.

“We know members of the militia groups that were present on Jan. 6 have stated their desires that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct nexus to the State of the Union,” said Pittman, who took over as chief after her predecessor, Steven Sund, resigned in the immediate aftermath of the Capitol assault.

Pittman said intelligence agents, likely from the FBI, have come across the threats of mass violence in chatter on encrypted internet forums, underscoring that the prospect of more far-right attacks is of key concern to U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Biden was initially expected to deliver his first State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress this month. However, that timeline now appears unlikely, and the White House has not yet set a date for the annual speech.

As part of her testimony, Pittman also shed new light on the communication breakdown between congressional security officials on Jan. 6.

Sund testified earlier this week that he asked the since-resigned House and Senate sergeants-at-arms to call in National Guard assistance around 1 p.m. on Jan. 6, as a mob of Trump supporters began attacking the Capitol.

Pittman said she had pulled Sund’s phone records and that they confirmed he spoke with former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving at 12:58 p.m. and former Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger at 1:05 p.m. on Jan. 6.

But Irving claimed in testimony this week that he didn’t speak to Sund until after 2 p.m., at which point the rioters had already breached the building.

The discrepancies have gained much attention from lawmakers, who are trying to find out why it took hours before National Guard troops responded to the Capitol riot, which left a police officer and four others dead after then-President Trump told the attackers at a rally to “fight like hell” to stop Congress from certifying his election defeat.

Despite the security failures, Pittman said law enforcement agencies did not receive an early heads up about the scope of the Jan. 6 riot.

“Although we knew the likelihood for violence by extremists, no credible threat indicated that tens of thousands would attack the U.S. Capitol, nor did the intelligence received from the FBI or any other law enforcement partner indicate such a threat,” Pittman said.

Members of the appropriations committee were not convinced.

“Top officials either failed to take seriously the intelligence received, or the intelligence failed to reach the right people,” said Washington Rep. Jaime Herrera-Beutler, the committee’s top Republican.

It was revealed earlier this week that the FBI sent a “critical threat” alert to Capitol Police on Jan. 5 warning that far-right extremists were preparing to unleash “war” the next day if Congress certified President Biden’s election. It has also been revealed that Capitol Police officials distributed a separate internal document warning that armed extremists were poised for violence and could attack Congress because they saw it as the last chance to try to overturn the election.

Congress is likely to continue investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection for months, if not years.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has said Congress will establish an independent 9/11-style commission to investigate the attack, and members on both sides of the aisle support the idea.