LIHOP?*

Allegations from a former senior officer in the Capitol Police has written a letter stating that deliberately allowed the invasion of the Capitol.

They imply that this was driven by careerism by these officers, though, given the generally pro-insurrectionist proclivities of law enforcement throughout the United States, I have a far less charitable assessment of any potential motivations.

That these individuals now have very senior roles in the Capitol Police indicates the need for a rigorous investigation:

A former high-ranking Capitol Police official with knowledge of the department’s response to the Jan. 6 attack has sent congressional leaders a scathing letter accusing two of its senior leaders of mishandling intelligence and failing to respond properly during the riot.

The whistleblower, who requested anonymity for privacy reasons and left the force months after the attack, [I'm pretty sure that someone could identify them from the descriptions in this article, which is bad journalistic technique] sent the 16-page letter late last month to the top members of both parties in the House and Senate. His missive makes scorching allegations against Sean Gallagher, the Capitol Police’s acting chief of uniformed operations, and Yogananda Pittman, its assistant chief of police for protective and intelligence operations — who also served as its former acting chief. 

The whistleblower accuses Gallagher and Pittman of deliberately choosing not to help officers under attack on Jan. 6 and alleges that Pittman lied to Congress about an intelligence report Capitol Police received before that day’s riot. After a lengthy career in the department, the whistleblower was a senior official on duty on Jan. 6.

The whistleblower’s criticism went beyond Capitol Police leaders to Congress. Without naming specific lawmakers, his letter accuses congressional leaders of having “purposefully failed” to tell the truth about the department’s failures.

………

The letter was sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The House Administration Committee’s Republican staff was also sent a copy.

The whistleblower accused Pittman of lying to Congress about a key intelligence report the department received in late December. That report noted that a blog called "thedonald.win" posted a map of the Capitol campus, and that commenters on the site called for protesters to carry guns and confront members of Congress on Jan. 6. 

Pittman told congressional investigators in April that a cohort of senior officials in the department were also aware of that intelligence before the attack. The whistleblower claimed in his letter, however, that other officials did not receive the intelligence report, and that Pittman lied when she said they did. 

………

In the whistleblower’s view, Gallagher and Pittman had all the intelligence needed to justify demanding reinforcements from the National Guard, closing the doors to the Capitol and using tougher but less-than-lethal weapons on the morning of Jan. 6. But they didn’t share that intelligence with the right people, the whistleblower wrote, and instead approved a woefully inadequate security plan.

………

“It is my allegation that these two with intent and malice opted to not try and assist the officers and officials, blame others for the failures, and chose to try and use this event for their own personal promotions,” he added. “This was done not after the even[t] but while officers and officials were still fighting the demonstrators.”

(emphasis mine)

There needs to be a thorough and independent investigation, because even if his specific allegations are not supported, we can be certain that the events of January 6 were followed by an orgy of ass covering among senior members of the Capitol Police.

^*Let It Happen On Purpose.