House Lawmakers Open Investigation Into Capitol Attack

The U.S. House of Representatives has opened an investigation into this month's attack on the U.S. Capitol. In a letter to the heads of America's leading intelligence and law enforcement agencies, House lawmakers asked for any information that could help them understand whether warning signs were missed.

Lawmakers want to know what the intelligence community and federal law enforcement knew about the threats of violence and whether that information was shared with the right people. Capitol Police have said they were unprepared for the ferocity of the attack, which left one of its officers dead.

"Security and logistical preparations before January 6 were not consistent with the prospect of serious and widespread violence," lawmakers wrote Saturday. "Yet, according to media accounts that have surfaced in recent days, federal and other authorities earlier on possessed — and may have shared with some parties — intelligence and other information forecasting a dire security threat against the Congress's meeting to certify the election results."

"These latter reports, if acted upon, might have prompted more extensive planning for the event, and the infusion of far greater security and other resources," the letter continued. "Tragically that did not happen."