In Jan. 6, 2021, Probe, Watchdog Urges Secret Service Improvements

The Department of Homeland Security's watchdog issued its long-awaited findings on the Secret Service's handling of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The report says the protective agency had considered the possibility of protests but "did not anticipate" the extent of the violence that took place that day. The report said the Secret Service did not sweep the bushes at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters, where a pipe bomb had been placed the night before. The explosive did not detonate, but Kamala Harris, then the vice president-elect, walked within 20 feet of the device, the report said. The report praised agents for safeguarding top officials that day but also said it could improve communication with other law enforcement agencies and change other procedures, reports the Washington Post.

The report from the office of Inspector General Joseph Cuffari is based on interviews with more than 100 Secret Service personnel and over 183,000 emails and attachments as well as video footage from the agency. The recommendations in the report urged the Secret Service to update its working agreement with the U.S. Capitol Police to ensure they have adequate support. The office also urged the agency to improve protocols for bomb sweepings and ordnance removal, and to ensure adequate procedures are in place for conducting internal reviews. The report also recommended that the Secret Service develop protocols so that it could more quickly dispatch agents to support local law enforcement in case of an emergency such as Jan. 6. In a response included in the report, the Secret Service agreed with most of the OIG’s recommendations but said it could not commit to providing emergency aid to other law enforcement because that could compromise “its foremost responsibility to protect the White House and the President” as well as others in the region. In one of her final acts as head of the agency, Director Kimberly Cheatle last month wrote Cuffari that she was pleased he acknowledged the agency’s efforts to protect the president, the vice president and other leaders, and to support the Capitol Police.