The new chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Virginia Democrat Mark Warner, says he wants the panel to investigate the intelligence failures leading up to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who serves on the committee, says she supports that effort.
Collins says the failure of the nation’s intelligence agencies to warn Congress and law enforcement agencies of the attack must be thoroughly investigated.
“One of the reasons that I support having our intelligence committee do a deep dive into this area is to find out what did the various intelligence agencies know,” she says.
Collins says a report from a field office of the FBI that the Jan. 6 rally in support of President Donald Trump could turn violent was not passed on to local law enforcement agencies responsible for Capitol security, including House and Senate security staff.
“We need to find out which agencies had information, did they share it with the Capitol Police, with the sergeant at arms at the Capitol,” she says.
She says she wants the probe to not only failures in domestic intelligence efforts, but also the possibility of foreign involvement in the attack.