The Washington Post on Sunday published an astounding piece of investigative journalism on the Jan. 6 insurrection.<\/p>\n
If you dont already have a subscription, its worth getting one.<\/p>\n
The report represents the work of 75 journalists who interviewed more than 230 people, studied thousands of pages of documents and internal law-enforcement reports and reviewed videos and audio recordings.<\/p>\n
The three-part series concludes the attack was premeditated. Its an indictment.<\/p>\n
This comes as the U.S. House commission on Jan. 6 continues its inquiry, and former President Donald Trump has sued to prevent it from obtaining records, claiming executive privilege.<\/p>\n
It also comes after Trump encouraged others to ignore the commissions subpoenas. Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon is now facing criminal contempt proceedings for doing so.<\/p>\n
The Posts timeline serves as the most complete accounting leading up to the Jan. 6 attack. It details calls, meetings, social media posts, official reports and other events that led to a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.<\/p>\n
Insurrectionists missed by seconds capturing Vice President Mike Pence and other congressional leaders as they certified 2020 election results. One report showed that the life of Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was particularly threatened.<\/p>\n
So was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose homes were vandalized weeks prior to the attack, the newspaper reported.<\/p>\n
The Post investigation puts to rest doubts about the far-right forces that continue to threaten U.S. democracy.<\/p>\n
Among the newspapers investigation findings: Domestic terrorists used social media sites to communicate, plan, arm themselves and execute the attack.<\/p>\n
They took direction from Trump, who did nothing for 187 minutes as the attack unfolded on television.<\/p>\n
The investigation lays out how agencies failed to listen, especially to one another; were consumed by political events; or were unprepared or unwilling to respond to an attack led by white, middle-aged rioters, the newspaper reported.<\/p>\n
The Post concludes the violence wasnt a unique event but part of a long scheme, one battle in a war.<\/p>\n
The newspaper strings together events beginning in spring 2020, when Trump began questioning state elections in which he sensed hed lose.<\/p>\n
The big tell came during the first presidential debate when he was asked to condemn white supremacists and militia groups. He wouldnt.<\/p>\n
Instead, he told the far-right Proud Boys to stand back and stand by.<\/p>\n
The groups leader responded in real time, the Post revealed, saying, Standing by, sir.<\/p>\n
When Pennsylvania went to President Joe Biden, giving him the electoral votes to win, groups like the Three Percenters and QAnon extremists began converging on state capitals, the Post reported.<\/p>\n
They were a prelude.<\/p>\n
Two months before Jan. 6, Proud Boys and other extremists rallied in Washington. A Capitol police officer sensed they were sizing up the force.<\/p>\n
By Dec. 12, Trump supporters were in Washington again with 700 Proud Boys. Some wore earpieces to communicate with each other.<\/p>\n
The FBI believed the principal danger was street clashes. The Post concluded that would prove to be a grave miscalculation.<\/p>\n
The Stop the Steal rally got a permit, applying for it under a different name. The National Park Service later allowed the permit to grow from 5,000 people to 30,000.<\/p>\n
The Proud Boys raised money online for communications equipment and protective gear. Another group, the Boogaloo Boys, coordinated efforts with avowed neo-Nazis, the newspaper reported.<\/p>\n
Members of this unholy alliance traveled to Washington as would other Trump supporters.<\/p>\n
A week before Jan. 6, the FBI lost its third-party monitoring service that alerts agents and analysts to social media posts of note. A new service limited its understanding of what was going on.<\/p>\n
The Post investigation criticizes Capitol Police leadership with a pattern of miscommunication, poor planning and sloppiness that left their officers ill-equipped.<\/p>\n
The FBI got tougher criticism for its long-running institutional unease with investigating domestic extremism. The bureau was accused of tempering its reaction to threats of violence from White, middle-aged and middle-class Americans.<\/p>\n
The consequences of that day are still coming into focus, the report states. But what is already clear is that the insurrection was not a spontaneous act nor an isolated event.<\/p>\n
It was a battle in a war propelled by lies about voting fraud. Its a war against U.S. democracy.<\/p>\n
Whats worse is the man largely responsible remains the leader of the GOP party.<\/p>\n
eayala@express-news.net<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here is the original post:<\/p>\n Ayala: Investigation connects the events that led to Jan. 6 - San Antonio Express-News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Washington Post on Sunday published an astounding piece of investigative journalism on the Jan. 6 insurrection. Continue reading