Kamala Harris was ‘INSIDE’ DNC headquarters when a pipe bomb was found outside on January 6: Report
Vice President Kamala Harris was inside the Democratic Party‘s National Headquarters on January 6 last year when a pipe bomb was discovered outside the building, a new report claimed on Thursday.
She was evacuated just minutes after the Capitol Police began investigating it, according to documents obtained by Politico.
The explosives were reportedly placed there the night before, meaning Harris would have entered the building while a bomb was nearby.
The newly-revealed account of the United States Capitol Police’s timeline of events when Donald Trump‘s supporters stormed the Capitol building raises fresh questions about the extent of security failings that day.
Exactly one year to the day of the insurrection, the FBI is still looking for the suspect who placed two of the explosive devices outside of both the Republican and Democrat headquarters.
At 1:07 p.m. on January 6, law enforcement reportedly began probing the pipe bomb placed outside Democrats’ building.
Just seven minutes later at 1:14 p.m. an unnamed ‘protectee’ was escorted out by Capitol Police and the Secret Service.
Four sources including a White House official and a former law enforcement official told Politico that ‘protectee’ was Harris.
Harris acknowledged during her Capitol address today that she wasn’t in the building when rioters broke in but didn’t elaborate on where she was
Previously revealed timelines show protesters had broken into the Capitol and shattered the glass windows less than an hour later.
According to the timeline viewed by the outlet, the DNC bomb threat was neutralized at 4:36 p.m. The bomb found outside of the RNC was neutralized about an hour earlier.
Harris, who was a sitting senator at the time, remarked on her absence from the Capitol but did not elaborate further in her speech marking one year since the riot on Thursday morning.
She and her colleagues were meant to be attending a Joint Session of Congress to certify her and Joe Biden’s electoral victory when Trump’s supporters broke into the building in a bid to stop the process.
‘I had left, but my thoughts immediately turned not only to my colleagues, but to my staff who had been forced to seek refuge in our office, converting filing cabinets into barricades,’ the vice president said this morning.
Law enforcement and intelligence officials have been criticized for not being better prepared for the mob that overwhelmed officers and shattered glass to get into the Capitol complex.
To date the FBI still has not named a suspect in their investigation into who placed ‘viable’ pipe bombs outside of Democrat and Republican Headquarters the night before the riot
Forces that had to be diverted to the bomb threats further added to the strain on law enforcement trying to keep Trump’s supporters out.
The FBI has since said the explosives were ‘viable’ and ‘could have been detonated, resulting in serious injury or death.’
Early accounts of Harris’ timeline during riot were also highlighted in Thursday’s report. Although little has been reported about her specific movements before now, she had been scheduled to attend an intelligence briefing at the Capitol that morning before departing for a previously-planned engagement.
She later returned after the riot when lawmakers resumed the election certification process.
The FBI put out its latest call for help in identifying the pipe bomb suspect in September.
A person wearing a light hooded sweatshirt and dark pants carrying a backpack was identified as having placed the explosives at the DNC and RNC on the evening of January 5.
Capitol Police reportedly began investigating the DNC pipe bomb at 1:07 p.m. on January 6 last year, and Harris was rushed out seven minutes later
National Republican figures have been criticizing federal investigators in recent days for not yet having found the suspect.
‘A year later, congressional Democrats have focused on political theater, have not explained why they left the Capitol vulnerable, and have never mentioned the pipe bombs placed at RNC and DNC headquarters,’ RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told DailyMail.com for a separate story on Wednesday.
‘To date, the terrorist who placed the bombs has still not been found. As we have said repeatedly, violence cannot be tolerated, but for Democrats, this is all about politics and primetime headlines, and has nothing to do with justice or democracy.’
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham echoed a similar call on Twitter Thursday.
‘Those responsible for Capitol security including our political leaders must also be held accountable’ for the riot,’ the GOP senator wrote.
‘We still do not know who planted pipe bombs on Capitol Hill the night of Jan 5. We still do not know why our Capitol was not adequately defended before President Trump spoke.’
