Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., joined "Fox & Friends" Tuesday morning and reacted to a new Senate committee report on the run-up to the January 6th Capitol riot. The Louisiana senator labeled the House's prior investigation of January 6th a "partisan car wreck," highlighting the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's findings that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security downplayed or ignored "a massive amount of intelligence information" before the riot.
CENTRIST GROUP NO LABELS TURNS ON JAN. 6 COMMITTEE: 'PARTISAN EXERCISE'
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: We haven't had an opportunity to have a real objective analysis of what happened on January 6, before and after. What the Democrats in the House did was basically a partisan car wreck. We only got half of the information. Republicans were excluded. There have been no attempts in the Senate, by Senator Schumer. I think what we need is an objective look, if necessary, by some nonpartisan outside experts. The American people would like to know. But it's gotten so politicized. I was there on the sixth [Jan. 6, 2021]. It was an abomination. I'm sorry that it happened. I wish it hadn't happened, but we're entitled to know, the American people are, why it happened. And if [the] federal government had advance notice and if so, why wasn't it better prepared? I just don't think any of that's reasonable. But it's all shot through with politics now.
…. I just don't know why the Justice Department and the leadership in the House and Senate and the FBI won't just tell the American people the truth. The institutions in Washington are not going to regain their integrity in the eyes of the American people until they start telling the truth, and I'm afraid the problem is that all these people think the American people are morons. Now, it's true the American people don't read Aristotle every day because they're too busy earning a living and they may be poorer under Joe Biden, but they're not stupid. They get that something is very, very wrong in all this and it upsets them that they, on both sides, that they can't get any answers.
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security downplayed or ignored "a massive amount of intelligence information" ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S Capitol, according to the chairman of a Senate panel that on Tuesday is releasing a new report on the intelligence failures ahead of the insurrection.
The report details how the agencies failed to recognize and warn of the potential for violence as some of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters openly planned the siege in messages and forums online.
Among the multitude of intelligence that was overlooked was a December 2020 tip to the FBI that members of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys planned to be in Washington, D.C., for the certification of Joe Biden’s victory and their "plan is to literally kill people," the report said. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said the agencies were also aware of many social media posts that foreshadowed violence, some calling on Trump’s supporters to "come armed" and storm the Capitol, kill lawmakers or "burn the place to the ground."
Associated Press contributed to this report.
