The United States Capitol Police (USCP) mission is to "Protect the Congress – its Members, employees, visitors, and facilities – so it can fulfill its constitutional and legislative responsibilities in a safe, secure and open environment.," according to its website.[2] The Capitol Police is in the Legislative Branch and is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
According to the New York Times, the U.S. Capitol Police have expanded operations outside Washington “beginning with the opening of field offices in California and Florida” but the plan is to open “several additional regional offices.” They allegedly need to monitor and quickly investigate threats against lawmakers. In September 2020 a peaceful proter livestreamed himself defecating on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's driveway in San Francisco and was arrested by the Capitol Police.[3] In July 2021 The Washington Times reported,
"Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently approved the Capitol Police’s request for eight Persistent Surveillance Systems Ground – Medium (PSSG-M) units. The system provides high-definition surveillance video and is enabled with night vision. The system does not include facial recognition capabilities, according to the Pentagon.
“This technology will be integrated with existing USCP camera infrastructure, providing greater high definition surveillance capacity to meet steady-state mission requirements and help identify emerging threats,” the Pentagon said. The technology, originally used by the U.S. troops during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, allows the user to monitor large areas 24/7 through extremely high-resolution cameras. [...] In a wartime application, the persistent surveillance units were mounted on tethered blimps. The data could be stored, combined with sensor data from other platforms, and later referenced or rewound to track individuals or groups. It could be used by the military to develop a “pattern of life” analysis on suspected enemy combatants or intelligence targets in war zones.[4] |
In an interview with Washington D.C. police chief Steve Sund, Washington Post reported the chief “believes his efforts to secure the premises were undermined by a lack of concern from House and Senate security officials who answer directly to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate leader Mitch McConnell.” WaPo reported, “Two days before Congress was set to formalize President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund was growing increasingly worried about the size of the pro-Trump crowds expected to stream into Washington in protest. To be on the safe side, Sund asked House and Senate security officials for permission to request that the D.C. National Guard be placed on standby in case he needed quick backup. But, Sund said Sunday, they turned him down.” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's chief of staff admitted, “this guy is on the phone, I mean, crying out for help. It’s burned in my memories.”[6]
According to Roll Call magazine, Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman acknowledged to congressional investigators that her department failed to properly act on intelligence before the Capitol protests.[7] Pittman told investigators that although a communication breakdown kept her and other department leaders in the dark about an FBI warning of “war” at the Capitol, they would not have changed the security posture leading up to the events of January 6, 2021 even if they had seen the message. Pittman received an overwhelming vote of no confidence from the union that represents the rank and file, and officers have been critical of Pittman’s role in communicating over the radio during the attack.[8]
The intelligence from the FBI’s field office in Norfolk, Va., was emailed to a Capitol Police lieutenant in the department’s Protective and Intelligence Operations unit on January 5, 2021. “That information was not then forwarded any further up the chain,” Pittman testified.[9] Pittman’s testimony differs from that of her predecessor, former Chief Steven Sund who was on the job during the riot, who testified before a joint Senate panel that the FBI report warned of Antifa violence.[10]
In July 2021 Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd was identified as the gunman who used excessive force against an unarmed white woman.[11]
From the moment the Capital Police found probable cause of lawbreaking, the Awan investigation presented many peculiar and difficult problems. The Capitol Police on their own are not equipped to conduct an international counter-intelligence investigation. And yet the case occurred at a time of serious misuse of the nation's foreign intelligence gathering capabilities by the Executive Branch and civil rights violations by the Obama administration, as well as primary vote rigging by the Democratic National Committee, collusion between the Clinton campaign, the FBI, and foreign actors to meddle in US elections democracy.[12]
During several years of employment of the Awans, the wives have only been seen at work a few times, one drawing $1 million in pay in recent years. The wife of Imran Awan, herself a suspect in the investigation, reportedly has fled to Pakistan with her children permanently "where her family has significant assets and VIP-level protection.
The lead agency conducting the Awan investigation is the United States Capitol Police, which is a law enforcement bureau within the Legislative Branch of the United States. It should not be confused with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the local District of Columbia Police. The Capitol Police is the lone law enforcement bureau directly under the control of the United States Congress. As such, information-sharing arrangements between the Capitol Police and the Intelligence Community of the Executive Branch are somewhat different.[13]
Several congressional staffers have suggested their bosses are being blackmailed, hence Members' reluctance to talk about the breaches and the appearance of a cover-up.
Likewise, the District of Columbia is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress which created a single municipal government for the District and retains veto power over local law. The District of Columbia Police are indirectly under the Congress through the local municipal government.
At some point Executive Branch law enforcement agencies were called in, as evidenced by Imran Awan's arrest on money laundering charges by the FBI at Dulles Airport in June 2017. However, so far as is known, the Capitol Police remain the lead investigative agency.
On July 12, 1947, a former Capitol Police officer attempted to assassinate Sen. John Bricker of Ohio.[14]
Categories: [United States Congress] [Biden Junta] [Police State] [Totalitarianism]