(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A copy of DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari’s report about the Secret Service’s security failures related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill uprising has been leaked—and it’s reportedly extremely damning.
ABC News, the Washington Post and other mainstream said they obtained the report, which had been suppressed by leadership at the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service.
According to those mainstream news outlets, the report shows that then Vice President-elect Kamala Harris ended up within feet of a “viable” pipe bomb that had been planted the night before in the bushes right outside the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters.
Harris arrived to the DNC at 11:25 a.m., but the nearby pipe bomb wasn’t discovered until 1:07 p.m. by a plainclothes Capitol Police officer.
The DHS OIG has finally publicly released a redacted version of the January 6th DHS OIG USSS report. This 82-page report details the USSS’s failed response to multiple events on January 6, 2021.
Chairman Loudermilk’s top takeaways and concerns:https://t.co/0OpdjSz3HS
— Oversight Subcommittee (@OversightAdmn) August 2, 2024
“The pipe bomb had been placed near the building the night before, but … advance security sweeps by the Secret Service at the DNC building did not include the outside area where a pipe bomb had been placed,” says the report, which was shared with members of Congress on Thursday, according to ABC.
The mainstream media outlets haven’t reported many other facts from the report, which is apparently heavily redacted.
However, the right-wing site Revolver News said it spoke with officials familiar with the report. Revolver released more details in an article on Friday. In the process, Revolver directly contradicted some of the mainstream reporting.
“The Secret Service did in fact have a canine unit that swept the DNC area prior to then Kamala Harris’ arrival at 11:25 A.M. on January 6th … This we can now confirm based on the OIG report—that there was a canine sweep of exactly two canine teams, and that the canines were Secret Service,” Revolver reported.
“There was an SS agent standing within feet of the pipe bomb for over five hours who managed to miss the bomb. When one takes into account how conspicuous the pipe bomb was, and how close to Kamala’s path to the DNC building (Kamala passed within 20 feet of it as she drove through the DNC parking garage) it is impossible to imagine that two secret service canine units could have missed the bomb,” Revolver added.
Along with exposing the Secret Service’s security failures on Jan. 6, the report also revealed that the agency stonewalled the DHS IG during its investigation—a fact revealed by reporter Julie Kelly. The Secret Service was run by disgraced former director Kimberly Cheatle at the time.
NEW: DHS IG confirms in report that the Biden/Mayorkas DHS significantly stonewalled his J6 investigation.
Texts deleted, cell phones of top officials presumably including Kim Cheatle were wiped.
Data never recovered pic.twitter.com/AzCaiTRgeg
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) August 2, 2024
The DHS IG’s report adds to the mystery of the Jan. 5/6 pipe bombs.
Former Capitol Police head Steve Sund has suggested that the pipe bombs placed outside the DNC and RNC were distractions to divert law enforcement away from the Capitol, right around the time as the election protests were about to become violent. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has also advanced that theory.
“It was specifically at the same precise time to cause maximum distraction from the events going on at the Capitol,” he said last July at a congressional hearing. “It appears to me that that wasn’t a coincidence.”
Why doesn't Director Wray have answers about the January 6th pipe-bomb investigation?
🎥 : @RepThomasMassie pic.twitter.com/mBJUcMQajG
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) July 12, 2023
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.