U.S. intelligence officials knew there was going to be a problem, likely violence, days in advance of January 6. I know what you’re thinking, tell me something I don’t know. This is a post that will reveal nothing you don’t know; because we had fair warning. It took no intelligence to predict, it only required reading legitimate sources of news, to know Trump was riling his base, planning to try anything to stay in office, to overthrow the government.
Trump was driven by his fear of prison and in the dystopian Qrazy town we call home, it is only fitting that I quote ‘Catching Fire,’ (The Hunger Games book 2), “That if desperate times call for desperate measures, then I’m free to act as desperately as I wish.” And so he did. Five people died, 140 officers were injured, and hundreds of officers are now struggling with PTSD. Unfortunately, so far Trump’s dread of jail has proven to be unfounded.
Intelligence free Donald Trump didn’t like the FBI. James Comey was FBI Director when he took office. When Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8, 2017, he said Trump wanted him to pledge him his loyalty. He also asked him to drop the Michael Flynn Investigation. When Comey refused, he was fired.
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/08/full-text-james-comey-trump-russia-testimony-239295
With Comey gone, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe became Acting FBI Director. McCabe had been investigating Trump, and in March 2018, Trump retaliated by firing McCabe within 24 hours of his eligibility to retire and receive the pension and other benefits he had worked his entire career to earn. That act alone tells us all we need to know about Donald Trump.
Then came our current FBI Director, Christopher Wray. Appointed by Donald Trump and confirmed by a Senate with a Republican majority. Normally, the FBI Director comes from within the ranks. Not so in this case. From 2005 to 2016, Wray was a litigation partner with the law firm King & Spalding. Before that gig, from 2003 to 2005, he ran the criminal division for the Justice Department under George W Bush. Despite Wray’s two-year experience working with the FBI, he did not work within the FBI.
Wray was an outsider appointed by a POTUS who had been attacking the agency since his inauguration. He was more pliant than his predecessors, but despite that, he earned Trump’s ire when he refused to open an investigation into Hunter Biden. Then-Attorney General Barr threatened to quit if Trump fired Wray, so Wray stayed, and now Trump is gone.
Like most of Trump’s appointees, Wray hasn’t garnered the confidence of many. Despite drawing the line with investigating Hunter, Wray made some bad choices in the days leading up to, and on, January 6, 2021. Why did he leave the Capitol vulnerable?
Although Republicans blocked the formation of an independent commission to investigate the insurrection, the House Oversight and Reform Committee began their own inquiry.
On June 10, 2021, and June 15, 2021, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the committee regarding January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.
https://www.c-span.org/person/?christopherwray
On his first day of testimony, Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California questioned Wray about what knowledge the FBI had before the insurrection.
Wray’s response to questions has been characterized as frustrating, stingy, unenlightening, and disappointing. Wray would not provide lawmakers the answers they needed to do their job of oversight. He played dumb; his excuse— “policies.”
“We have very specific policies that have been at the Department for a long time that govern our ability to use social media, and when we have an authorized purpose and proper predication, there’s a lot of things we can do on social media, and we do, and we aggressively do. But what we can’t do…without proper predication and an authorized purpose, just monitor ‘just in case’ on social media.”
New Court documents filed in a lawsuit against a former New York City police officer who attacked an officer from the Metropolitan Police Department during the insurrection prove the FBI was aware of plans to attack the U.S. Capitol. The Feds ignored THOUSANDS of social media posts threatening violence. The FBI knew militia groups strategies, coordinated, and even planned to “bring guns to the Capitol to start a revolution,” and despite all that, the FBI did nothing.
Still, the FBI failed to adequately protect members of Congress, and the Vice President who were all gathered in a single location offered up as easy targets. Their negligence changed the lives of the officers who successfully held back the mob long enough for members of Congress to find shelter.
Wray’s testimony was reminiscent of former Attorney General Bill Barr’s when questioned two years ago by then-Senator Kamala Harris. She asked if Trump suggested he open investigations into his opponents. Barr said,”I’m trying to grapple with the word ‘suggest.’”
Six months ago, on December 23rd, after announcing there was no evidence that the election had been tampered with, Bill Barr stepped down as Attourney General. That was two weeks before the insurrection. What did Barr know?
Christopher Wray had to know Trump anticipated a huge crowd. It was widely reported that Trump raised room rates at his D.C. hotel, exponentially, for the 5th, 6th, and 7th of January. The intelligence community knew, they had to know. Every village idiot knew, including me.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said “It is hard to tell whether FBI headquarters merely missed the evidence — which had been flagged by your field offices and was available online for all the world to see — or whether the Bureau saw the intelligence, underestimated the threat, and simply failed to act.”
Jerry, it is the FBI’s job to identify threats. They are the all-knowing big brother. Now we have proof in the form of court documents that the FBI had possession of thousands of social media posts threatening violence, but they still dropped the ball. The only question is, was their negligence intentional? It had to be. The FBI is not incompetent. They know how to react appropriately to threats, all but the greatest threat to our democracy. Perhaps the time has come for Wray to step down.
A lot from Lydia 
I’ve been interested to read what you thought about the G7 get together and how you think Joe Biden handled it.
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My notes on the G7 never made it out of the file, but these are my thoughts-
He nailed it. Although Biden wasn’t my first choice to be president, he proves every day that he is the right person for the job at this moment in time.
First, the bar for success had been set very low following Trump’s performance. But even had it not, President Biden’s experience in foreign affairs, his genuine kindness, and his self-awareness made me so much less embarrassed to be American. I’m wouldn’t say “proud” for fear of sounding like TFG and his voters.
Biden did as much as could be accomplished to repair alliances in those few days:
He joined allies to take a tougher stance against China,
He worked together with allies to plan the worldwide distribution of covid vaccines,
He reaffirmed our pledge to clean up our emissions,
And his opening statement, a warning to Putin regarding his cyber tampering, set the tone for the week. I also was happy he warned Putin that there would be consequences should *Navalney die.
*Putin’s political opponent, now imprisoned, whom he had poisoned. Biden was as tough as he could be while maintaining peace.
I love him, and I send my condolences into cyberspace on the loss of his pup.
Thanks for asking! How did you think he did?
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Not sure what to think. I remember the Cold War. I didn’t worry nearly as much then as I do now. China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Maybe it’s my age, but it’s an increasingly more hostile world and I worry about where things are heading. It would have been nice to know what Putin and Biden were discussing behind closed doors. I feel that it’s not speeches or even kindness but outcomes that would ease my fears. I have to admit, I was looking out for one of your posts.
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I’m watching the news this morning and hearing Joe Biden speak. The US and German leaders have pledged to stand together against Russian aggression is what I’m hearing. Angela Merkhal is in Washington discussing tactics no doubt. There’s increased tension between Russia and NATO. Both sides have held war games near Russia’s Western border and the Kremlin is alleged to have supported large scale cyber attacks on foreign companies.
Last time when you asked me what I thought, I wasn’t sure, but things are firming up. We will never know what Biden and Putin discussed behind closed doors. They had five hours, so should have been serious stuff, especially as the session was cut back from 5 hours to three. Joe Biden didn’t give much away, but did say some flattering things about Putin and presented him with his trademark sunglasses. You say you love Joe Biden, Lydia. I don’t trust politicians. I only judge them by their actions.
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My response was so long I decided to make it my post for today.
Also, I appreciate your comment because as pointless as I believe my posts have become, regurgitating the news, it’s important for us to continue to pay attention and voice concerns. We have to keep politicians and the media honest by letting them know we’re watching.
I’ll be posting my response soon. 🙂
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