Michael Bolton, internal inspector general for the Capitol Police, didn't mince words in his report to Congress, which was released yesterday.
Today there's a Congressional hearing on what went wrong that fateful day when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt democracy.
Lawmakers were given the scathing 104-page report prior to it's release to prepare their questions.
Bolton boldly stated that the Capitol Police failed to prepare properly even though they had intelligence warnings that Trump supporters who believed his claims about the election being stolen posed a threat.
The report revealed that the Police were told to refrain from using their most aggressive crowd control tools such as stun grenades three days before the riot.
Here's the Heart of the Matter
Who ordered the Capitol Police not to use some of their most powerful tools and techniques against an expected crowd of protestors?
There were a multitude of missteps that left the force unprepared, according to the report, which also cited riot shields shattering upon impact (not properly stored), expired weapons that couldn't be used and an intelligence division that had few set standards.
A clue to why the police response was so slow lies with Pentagon officials who were concerned about the optics of sending out the National Guard.
That stunning viewpoint came from Army Staff Secretary Walter Piatt who said "we don't like the optics" when responding to pleas for help."
Hopefully, everyone will learn from the mistakes made and we'll find out who was really behind the ;ack of response in the nation's first coup attempt.
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