The Senate intelligence committee is asking US spy agencies for information on threats to next week’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
Committee chairman Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and ranking member Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) are seeking the information citing the flat-footed law enforcement response to last week’s Capitol riot.
“What scenario planning are you conducting in advance of inauguration day?” the senators write in a five-question query sent to National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe.
Ratcliffe oversees spy agencies including the CIA and the National Security Agency. The FBI, which monitors most domestic threats, is part of the Justice Department.
Rubio and Warner ask for information about potential foreign threats and about the “capabilities” that the intelligence community plans on “deploying during inauguration day.”
And they ask, “To what extent is the IC working with and/or supporting law enforcement agencies in tracking any threats to the inauguration, and what is the IC’s current assessment of such threats?”
The senators also request information on plans “to provide indications and warning of any potential unrest, whether foreign or domestic in origin, before and during the inauguration.”
In advance of the inauguration, most of downtown Washington is surrounded by anti-riot fencing and National Guard barricades. The public is banned from accessing the National Mall on Biden’s Inauguration Day.
Although many rattled legislators are concerned about more violence after the unexpected break-in and riot at the Capitol, which resulted in five deaths, civil libertarians are expressing concern about suppression of online speech and a push for new domestic surveillance.
