Eliana Willis

A blistering internal report by the US Capitol police describes a multitude of missteps that left the force unprepared for the 6 January insurrection – riot shields that shattered upon impact, expired weapons that couldn’t be used, inadequate training and an intelligence division that had few set standards.The watchdog report released internally last month, obtained by the Associated Press ahead of a congressional hearing on Thursday, adds to what is already known about broader security and intelligence failures that Congress has been investigating since hundreds of Donald Trump’s supporters laid siege to the Capitol.In an extensive and detailed timeline of that day, the report describes conversations between officials as they disagreed on whether national guard forces were necessary to back up the understaffed Capitol police force.It quotes an army official as telling then Capitol police chief, Steven Sund, that “we don’t like the optics of the national guard standing in a line at the Capitol” after the insurrectionists had already broken in.The inspector general, Michael Bolton, found that the department’s deficiencies were – and remain – widespread.Equipment was old and stored badly, leaders had failed to act on previous recommendations to improve intelligence, and there was a broad lack of current policies or procedures for the civil disturbance unit, a division that existed to ensure that legislative functions of Congress were not disrupted by civil unrest or protest activity.That was exactly what happened on 6 January as Trump’s supporters sought to overturn the election in his favor as Congress counted the electoral college votes.The report comes as the Capitol police force has plunging morale and has edged closer to crisis as many officers have been working extra shifts and forced overtime to protect the Capitol after the insurrection.The acting chief, Yogananda Pittman, received a vote of no confidence from the union in February, reflecting widespread distrust among the rank and file.The entire force is also grieving the deaths of two of their own, officer Brian Sicknick, who collapsed and died after engaging with protesters on January 6, and officer William “Billy” Evans, who was killed on 2 April when he was hit by a car that rammed into a barricade outside the Senate.Evans lay in honor in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday.The Capitol police have so far refused to publicly release the report, marked throughout as “law enforcement sensitive”, despite congressional pressure to do so.The House administration committee chairwoman, Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, issued a statement in March that she had been briefed on the report, along with another internal document, and that it contained “detailed and disturbing findings and important recommendations”. Bolton was expected to testify before her panel on Thursday. More

Donald Trump devoted part of a speech to Republican donors on Saturday night to insulting the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell. According to multiple reports of the $400,000-a-ticket, closed-press event, the former president called the Kentucky senator “a dumb son of a bitch”.Trump also said Mike Pence, his vice-president, should have had the “courage” to object to the certification of electoral college results at the US Capitol on 6 January. Trump claims his defeat by Joe Biden, by 306-232 in the electoral college and more than 7m votes, was the result of electoral fraud. It was not and the lie was repeatedly thrown out of court.Earlier, the Associated Press reported that it obtained a Pentagon timeline of events on 6 January, which showed Pence demanding military leadership “clear the Capitol” of rioters sent by Trump.Trump did nothing and around six hours passed between Pence’s order and the Capitol being cleared. Five people including a police officer died and some in the mob were recorded chanting “hang Mike Pence”. More than 400 face charges.In his remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday, amid a weekend of Republican events in Florida, some at Trump properties, the former president also mocked Dr Anthony Fauci.“Have you ever seen somebody who is so full of crap?“ Trump reportedly said about the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Joe Biden’s top medical adviser who was a key member of Trump’s coronavirus taskforce.Trump also said Covid-19 vaccines should be renamed “Trumpcines” in his honour.According to Politico, the attack on McConnell concerned the senator’s perceived failure to defend Trump with sufficient zeal in the impeachment trial which followed the Capitol riot.Trump, who told supporters to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell”, was charged with inciting an insurrection. He was acquitted when only seven Republican senators voted to convict, not enough to reach the super-majority needed. McConnell voted to acquit, then excoriated Trump on the Senate floor.Of the certification of the election result on 6 January, according to the Washington Post, Trump said: “If that were [Chuck] Schumer [the Democratic Senate leader] instead of this dumb son of a bitch Mitch McConnell, they would never allow it to happen. They would have fought it.”Trump also attacked McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, who was transportation secretary until she resigned over the Capitol riot, just before the end of Trump’s term.“I hired his wife,” Trump said, according to the Post. “Did he ever say thank you?”He also ridiculed her decision to resign – “She suffered so greatly,” the Post reported him saying, his “voice dripping with sarcasm” – and said he had won her husband’s Senate seat for him.Trump has attacked McConnell before, in February calling him a “dour, sullen and unsmiling political hack”. On Saturday night he also reportedly called him a “stone cold loser”. McConnell did not immediately comment.The former president remains barred from social media over the Capitol riot but he retains influence and has begun to issue endorsements for the 2022 midterms. Most have been in line with the party hierarchy, including backing Marco Rubio, a Florida senator and former presidential rival many expected would attract a challenge from Trump’s daughter Ivanka.Trump’s acquittal in his second impeachment left him free to run for the White House. He regularly tops polls of Republican voters regarding possible candidates for 2024. On Saturday night, he reportedly left that possibility undiscussed.On Sunday morning, the Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson was asked if Trump’s remarks – and their reported enthusiastic reception by party donors and leaders – helped or hindered the Republican cause.“Anything that’s divisive is a concern,” Hutchinson told CNN’s State of the Union, “and is not helpful for us fighting the battles in Washington and at the state level.“In some ways it’s not a big deal what he said. But at the same time whenever it draws attention, we don’t need that. We need unity, we need to be focused together, we have … slim numbers in Washington and we got battles to fight, so we need to get beyond that.”At Mar-a-Lago, the Post said, the former president told Republicans to stick together.“We can’t have these guys that like publicity,” he said. More

Joe Biden unveiled what he called a ‘once-in-a-generation’ investment in American infrastructure, promising the nation his $2tn plan would create the ‘strongest, most resilient, innovative economy in the world’. Biden’s proposal to the nation still struggling to overcome the coronavirus pandemic would rebuild 20,000 miles of roads and highways and repair the 10 most economically significant bridges in the country. Biden added other projects would confront the climate crisis, curb wealth inequality and strengthen US competitiveness

Biden unveils ‘once-in-a generation’ $2tn infrastructure investment plan
Biden’s $2tn infrastructure plan aims to ‘finally address climate crisis as a nation’
Biden’s big infrastructure bet could define his legacy – for better or worse More

Two US Capitol Police officers have filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump, accusing him of inciting the deadly 6 January insurrection and saying he was responsible for physical and emotional injuries they suffered as a result.James Blassingame, a 17-year veteran of the force, and Sidney Hemby, an 11-year veteran, filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in US district court for the District of Columbia seeking damages of at least $75,000 each.“This is a complaint for damages by US Capitol Police officers for physical and emotional injuries caused by the defendant Donald Trump’s wrongful conduct inciting a riot on January 6, 2021, by his followers trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,” the lawsuit said.Trump has denied responsibility for the rioting, which left five people dead, including a police officer. His office did not immediately return a call for comment on the lawsuit.Before the January insurrection occurred, Trump encouraged his supporters to “fight like hell” and march to the US Capitol building during a rally in Washington held on the same day. The former president was impeached, for a historic second time in his presidency, over his incitement of the insurrection – but was acquitted by the Senate in a 57 to 43 vote.The lawsuit cites the former Republican president’s conduct before and beyond the November presidential election, which Joe Biden won, including comments in speeches, on Twitter and during presidential debates.It said Trump stoked violence throughout the 2020 presidential campaign and escalated his false assertion that the election was rigged after the election was called for Biden.“During his 2016 campaign, and throughout his presidency, Trump had threatened violence towards his opponents, encouraged his followers to commit acts of violence, and condoned acts of violence by his followers, including white supremacists and far rightwing hate groups,” it said.The lawsuit also cited Trump’s encouragement to supporters to come to the Capitol on 6 January and so-called “Stop The Steal” campaign in the months after the election, including a tweet on 19 December: “Big protest on DC on January 6th. Be there, will be wild.“The lawsuit states: “Trump’s December 19th tweet about the January 6th rally was taken by many of his supporters as a literal call to arms.”Both officers suffered physical injuries and emotional injuries during the insurrection, according to the complaint. Hemby suffered neck and back injuries and was sprayed with chemicals, and remains in physical therapy, according to the complaint. Blassingame also suffered head and back injuries during the attack and has since experienced depression.“He is haunted by the memory of being attacked, and of the sensory impacts – the sights, sounds, smells and even tastes of the attack remain close to the surface,” the complaint states. “He experiences guilt of being unable to help his colleagues who were simultaneously being attacked; and of surviving where other colleagues did not.”The lawsuit follows other civil lawsuits filed by a handful of Democrats.Eric Swalwell, Democratic congressman and a former impeachment manager in Trump’s second trial, sued over Trump’s conduct during the insurrection. Swalwell’s lawsuit also targets the former president’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and his son, Donald Trump Jr, as well as extremist groups associated with the riot, alleging violations of the anti-terrorism act.The former president and members of his circle have also been sued by the Democrat Bennie Thompson over alleged violations of a post-civil war statute designed against white supremacist violence by the Ku Klux Klan. The suit is being backed by the civil rights advocacy group the NAACP. More

If any of the Texas police officers who came to detain Capitol riot suspect Garret Miller were not sure they had the right man, the T-shirt they found him wearing offered something of a clue: it featured a photograph of Donald Trump and the slogan “I Was There, Washington DC, 6 January 2021”.
Prosecutors say Miller’s attire on the day of his arrest in Dallas was only part of the self-incriminating evidence he provided to confirm his role in the deadly insurrection incited by Trump’s efforts to overturn his election defeat.
Police say they found weapons, ammunition and tactical gear including night vision goggles, ropes and grappling hooks, plus crossbows and arrows, at Miller’s house.
A succession of social media posts by the unemployed 34-year-old on the day of the riot and its immediate aftermath was also highlighted in a federal court filing prosecutors hope will persuade a judge not to release Miller on bond before his trial.
On Facebook on 6 January, Miller allegedly posted a selfie from inside the Capitol, prompting another user to write: “Bro you got in?! Nice!”
Miller replied, “just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol,” prosecutors said.
In an Instagram post on 10 January, Miller allegedly said of the officer who shot dead a female protester inside the Capitol: “He will swing. I had a rope in my bag that day.”
The prosecutors say Miller believed the officer was black and considered him “a prize to be taken”.
“By bringing tactical gear, ropes and potentially, by his own admission, a gun to the Capitol on 6 January 2021, Miller showed that he was not just caught up in the frenzy of the crowd but instead came to DC with the intention of disrupting the democratic process of counting and certifying electoral college votes,” the prosecutors wrote.
Miller later threatened to kill Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York congresswoman, and the Capitol police officer who shot the protester.
“Assassinate AOC,” Miller replied on Twitter, prosecutors allege, after she wrote “Impeach” in her own post about Trump’s actions.
Miller is among more than 300 people facing federal charges for participating in the riot that claimed five lives, including a Capitol police officer. He was indicted by a grand jury in February on 12 counts, including civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.
He denies any role in the violence. According to the court filing, he told his mother in a phone call after his arrest: “I don’t feel that I’ve done anything wrong and now I’m being locked up.”
F Clinton Broden, Miller’s attorney, called for his client’s release, saying he regrets his actions.
“He has no history of violence and he did not engage in any acts of violence in connection with the charged offenses, unlike many others who have previously been released,” Broden wrote.
Miller remains in jail in Oklahoma City, with a trial date yet to be set. He broke his collarbone playing soccer during recreation time, prosecutors say, delaying his transfer to Washington DC. More

The North American voting machine company Dominion has hit Fox News with a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit, accusing the network of spreading election fraud lies in a misguided effort to stop an exodus of enraged viewers after Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss.The complaint accuses some of Fox’s biggest personalities Maria Bartiromo, Tucker Carlson, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro “and their chosen guests” of spreading “defamatory falsehoods” about Dominion.Fox supercharged false conspiracy theories about Dominion, the lawsuit says, by plucking the lies from relatively obscure corners of the far-right internet and broadcasting them to tens of millions of viewers on television and online.“Fox took a small flame and turned it into a forest fire,” the complaint says. “As the dominant media company among those viewers dissatisfied with the election results, Fox gave these fictions a prominence they otherwise would never have achieved.”Fox vowed to fight the case in a statement Friday morning: “Fox News Media is proud of our 2020 election coverage, which stands in the highest tradition of American journalism, and will vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit in court.”Dominion, a large US and Canadian voting machine company, earlier sued Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani for $1.3bn each for spreading election lies during weeks of legal challenges to Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in what officials have called the most secure election in US history.On Tuesday, Powell defended herself against the Dominion suit by arguing in court that “no reasonable person” could have mistaken her wild claims about election fraud last November as statements of fact.A Dominion employee separately sued the Trump campaign after receiving death threats. The company also sued the chief executive of a pillow company, Mike Lindell, a Trump friend who produced a video about election conspiracies.Baseless conspiracy claims about Dominion accusing the company of using technology that flipped votes away from Trump appear to have originated in anonymous comments on a pro-Trump blog.But in an effort to steal the presidential election, Trump himself gave the claims the broadest possible platform, including with a 12 November tweet in which he wrote in part: “REPORT: DOMINION DELETED 2.7 MILLION TRUMP VOTES NATIONWIDE.”Dominion said the lies had threatened its reputation and business.“Dominion brings this lawsuit to set the record straight, to vindicate its rights, and to recover damages for the devastating economic harm done to its business,” the company said in the Fox lawsuit.Fox is fighting a legal battle over spreading election lies on multiple fronts. The voting technology company Smartmatic earlier brought a $2.7bn lawsuit against Fox and network commentators accusing them of a “disinformation campaign”.Fox has filed multiple motions to dismiss the Smartmatic case.Dominion’s lawsuit says that after the 3 November election, “viewers began fleeing Fox in favor of media outlets endorsing the lie that massive fraud caused President Trump to lose the election.“They saw Fox as insufficiently supportive of President Trump, including because Fox was the first network to declare that President Trump lost Arizona,” the complaint continues. “So Fox set out to lure viewers back – including President Trump himself – by intentionally and falsely blaming Dominion for President Trump’s loss by rigging the election.”Dominion brought the suit in Delaware, where Fox is incorporated.“Fox recklessly disregarded the truth,” the lawsuit says. “Indeed, Fox knew these statements about Dominion were lies …“Fox sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process. If this case does not rise to the level of defamation by a broadcaster, then nothing does.” More

Donald Trump has defended some of his supporters who rioted at the US Capitol on 6 January, saying they posed “zero threat” to the lawmakers who had assembled there to certify the electoral college vote that confirmed Joe Biden’s election victory.Trump complained to Fox News’s Laura Ingraham that law enforcement was “persecuting” the Capitol rioters, while “nothing happens” to leftwing protesters. Five people, including a police officer, died in the riot.Trump acknowledged that those who stormed the Capitol “went in and they shouldn’t have done it”. But he added: “Some of them went in and they’re, they’re hugging and kissing the police and the guards. You know, they had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in and then they walked in and they walked out.””It was zero threat, right from the start, it was zero threat” — Trump on the January 6 insurrection that left 5 dead, including a police officer pic.twitter.com/6YBho1bywM— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 26, 2021
More than 300 people have been charged in connection with the riot. Authorities have said they believe at least 100 more could face charges.The attack followed a fiery Trump rally outside the White House in which he urged a group of his supporters to “fight like hell” for him at the Capitol. A week later, the House of Representatives impeached Trump for a second time, but the Senate eventually acquitted him of inciting the attack.During the interview on Fox News, Trump also criticised Dr Anthony Fauci, the US infectious disease expert. “I frankly didn’t listen to him too much,” he said.Fauci was one of Trump’s key advisers at the start of the pandemic, but later fell out with the former president over the handling of the crisis. In January Fauci described the “liberating feeling” of being able to speak scientific truth about the coronavirus without fear of “repercussions” from Trump. More

The US president and first lady hosted members of the US women’s national soccer team at the White House to recognise equal pay day, which symbolises how far into the year women must work on average to make up their pay disparity with men over the year. Earlier in the day, Megan Rapinoe testified in front of a congressional committee examining the economic harm caused by longstanding gender inequalities

‘You want full stadiums? We filled them’: Rapinoe testifies to Congress on equal pay More