Three days after the Jan. 6 riot, a Capitol Police intelligence analyst sent a blistering email to supervisors, blowing the whistle on a failure to heed clear intelligence that right-wing rioters planned to storm the Capitol.
Just three days after the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, one of the Capitol Police’s top intelligence analysts sent a blistering email to supervisors, blowing the whistle on what he said was a failure to heed clear intelligence warning that right-wing rioters planned to storm the Capitol.
“We analysts have been reporting for weeks that Patriot groups are commenting on social media their intentions to storm the U.S. Capitol with overwhelming numbers,” Eric Hoar wrote in the Jan. 9, 2021 email to his bosses. “I don’t know what was occurring behind the scenes, but I hope that information was briefed with the veracity it deserved, and not just a one-time Event Assessment.”
Hoar wrote he feared political considerations had overtaken security needs in the lead-up to the riot.
“The notion that valid intelligence is trumped by optics or political decisions is unacceptable and puts lives in danger,” he said. “This is a concept I’ve understood for a long time, and I know you are aware of this as well, and I hope its meaning is now OBVIOUS to ALL Officials, Commanders, and Stakeholders.”
You can read his full memo here:
File
EricHoarIntelligenceFailuresMemo1-9-21RedactedAddresses.pdf
The mention of “optics” appears to be a reference to the language used when House Democratic leadership rejected an offer days before Jan. 6 from the Trump Pentagon to send National Guard troops to assist Capitol Police.
After facing retaliation following the riot, Hoar left the Capitol Police’s intelligence unit and landed at the Homeland Security Department, where he is now assigned to train numerous agencies — including the Capitol Police — on how to avoid future failures like the one he decried in his memo.
Contacted at his home Tuesday night, Hoar declined comment.
By John Solomon
