WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2021) Four US House of Representatives committees have started an investigation into the Capitol violence, the committee leaders said in a letter, asking for intelligence data.
In a Saturday letter to US intelligence bodies, the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee, the Committee on Homeland Security, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Oversight and Reform asked for "relevant documents and briefings as part of a review of the events and intelligence surrounding the insurrection on January 6th incited by President Trump, and related threats against the nation's peaceful transition of power, including the Inauguration."
According to the letter, US federal authorities might have had access to some intelligence information forecasting the possibility of a security threat ahead of the Congress's meeting to certify the election results.
"These latter reports, if acted upon, might have prompted more extensive planning for the event, and the infusion of far greater security and other resources," House committee leaders said in their letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The committee leaders want to find out whether any information relating to the Capitol events was shared with "appropriate personnel" and "whether any information was paused, delayed or withheld" or whether "the insurrection had any nexus to foreign influence or misinformation efforts, and to what degree foreign powers have sought to exploit and aggravate the crisis."
According to NBC news, the FBI is currently investigating whether foreign governments, organizations or individuals provided financial support to those who helped plan and execute the attack on the Capitol. The FBI is investigating payments of $500,000 in bitcoin, apparently made by a French national, to some "key figures and groups," sources told NBC.
On January 6, a group of US President Donald Trump's loyalists stormed the US Capitol building. At least five people, including a female air force veteran, were killed and some 170 cases have been opened by police in connection with the riots.
Washington has beefed up security to prevent similar incidents from happening during the upcoming inauguration of US President-elect Joe Biden.
