Can shop. Org to preorder your copy today for delivery this next the investigation into bite box outside a republican and Democratic NationalCommittee Headquarters in washington d. C. January 6, 2021. Capital police fbi special agent. Lawmakers on the Share Capital police audio and video footage from the generator six attack and stress concerns about Vice President harris and close proximity to one of the bombs in the Ongoing Investigation. The n hour and a half. The subcommittee on oversight will come to order. The chair may declare a recess at any time. Also without objection the memby submit materials they wish to be included therein. Today we have congressman ryan ing us has waived onto the subcommittee to dissipate in todays drink. He will arrive a little later. As a Army Disposal technician, is wellpositioned to expose any failures of the january 6 responses will analyze today. Will analyze today. I appreciate having him here we look forward to his discussion. Thank you Ranking Member torres, members of the subcommittee and or witnesses for joining us at todays oversight hearing. 3■ n incredibly dark day for our country. Our capitol was overrun some individuals assaulted the u. S. Capitol Police Officers and they breached our halls. Additionally explosive devices were placed at the dnc and the rnc threatening our security. Today, will focus on identifying the numerous security failures that preceded and continue to persist following the discoveryd of explosive devices near the u. S. Capitol complex on january 6, 2021. Although it has been more than three years we still have man q. According to the fbi there are still no suspects as to who planted the devices found near the rnc and the dnc. I know i shared many peoples concerns there has been no additionally the generally sick select committee was meant to dive into the failures and investigations of january 6 completely neglected to january6 completely neglected to despite former Speaker Nancy PelosiHouse Democrats spending millions of dollars in there two years of the select Committee Investigation into the pipe bomb was basically nonexistent. Their 845 page final report only referred to the pipe bomb fivem. These references are situational as far as i can tell no investigation was conducted. In contrast of the term mentionn the report 1901 times. I refused to follow the select committees footsteps and conducting partisan investigation. There were genuine and regrettable security failures on generous six. The response to the devesas one of the most alarming. Here are the facts at approximately 12 42 p. M. The United StatesCapitol Police received reports of an explosive device found rnc. At roughly one oh 5 00 p. M. A second device was discovered at the dnc Vice President lex Kamala Harris was inside the building. The Vice President elect came within feet of the device which if detonated could have caused serious bodily harm. Cctv footage indicates the devices were planted the night before by an individual carrying a backpack and wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a mask, gloves, glasses and a pair of nike air max speed turf sneakers. Despe on numerous u. S. Capitol police tv cameras and the fbi efforts interviewing over 800 individuals in asssingoran 300 t still remains at large. Unfortunately fbi has failed to provide subsidee the investigation despite numerous requests from congressional committees. Today they have declined to participate in our hearing. We are joined by several experts today who will help shed light on the devices response including u. S. Capitol police, assistant chief sean gallagher. On a january 6, 2021 assistant chief gallagher directed a counter surveillance to the dnc following the the device at the rnc. Today it will spend time analyzing the discrepancies of the devices response ultimately this hearing is meant to help us all move forward. I look forward to your testimony assistant chief gallagher into working together so we can ensure shortcomings ofhis nature do not happen again. I salute and apply the capitol Police Officers who day in and day out devote their l protecting the members in the halls of congress and the thousands of visitors who were here every day. We have a lot to morning. I now recognize the Ranking Member ms. Torres for five minutes for the purpose of providing an opening statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman i to join you in welcoming the witnesses to our hearing. Thank you for your many years of service to our community. I understand how important and dangerous sure jobs truly are. Especially when forced to protect us from those who choose ballots to achieve their ends. I also know from many years working at the 911 dispatcher■t÷ that it is usually premature to assess Law Enforcement response to a criminal act while investil active and ongoing. And i am sure my colleagues on the other side of the aisle know this. Which leads me too wonder what exactly is this that we are doing here this mor maybe it is to pedal crazy right wing conspiracy theories about the generally sixth pipe bombspf the internet. Or maybe we are here so this subcommittee can once again tried to model our history. Two of the illinois Law Enforcement and undo the of the bipartisan january 6 select committee. All to distract from the simple fact t f for president orchestrated a corrupt theme to overturn the results of a free d fair election. When that did not work he summoned an armed mob, rattled them up dispatch them to the capitol. Endangering the lives of everyone working here that day, including members of congress not to mention putting at risk the lives of the outgoing and incoming vice i was in the house gallery when the capitol was breached. It is imperative that all of why be held accountable for their actions including and especially whoever placed pipe bombs at the dnc and the rnc. Takeexperts are tasked withy solving a crime, but also identifying potential characteristics to prevent future threats from the Church Bombings that terrorized communities throughout the Civil Rights Movement to the bombing enforcement agencies have always had to work tirelessly, sometimes for years and decadess needed to fully investigate, identify and prosecute domestic violence■ike whomever placed these bombs. Fbi director Christopher Rae ray testified before the january committee, the Judiciary Committee last year that his agents reviewed 40,000 videophiles and assessed more than 500 tips. Law enforcement spent thousands of manhours investigating the crime and i have faith that they will continue to so until the perpetrator is brought to justice. While my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and i disagree on some things, i hope that we can acknowledge and respect the vital work that Law Enforcement including federal Law Enforcement does on behalf. Just last week House Republicans included cuts toureau of alcoho, tobacco and firearms explosive programs in their Appropriations Bills for fiscal year 24. If they were serious about this investigation and supported Law Enforcement efforts, they wouldnt have cut critical funding f Law Enforcement needed to solve these crimes and others. This committee shouldnt be used as a platform to feed into internet conspiracy theorists. Rather i look forward to discussing and learning more about the responsibilities and complexities of the important work the fbi and its partners are engaged in from our witnesses. Thank you once again foring tho justify at the hearing and i yield back. I now recognize the full committee Ranking Member for five minutes for the ppose of providing an opening statement. Thank you mr. Chairman and thanks to the witnesses for joining us to all the brave men and women of the Capitol Police, fbi and other Law Enforcement for the work they do each and every day tohee which is no easy task but we are grateful nonetheless. I must admit i am perplexed as to why we are here for a public hearing on an active criminal investigation especially one in which the fbi has repeatedly told congress including member t discussing an Ongoing Investigation would undermine its integrity and make it more difficult to catch the peet is the goal, to undermine the integrity of an Ongoing Investigation. I certainly hope not, but here we sure what the precise goal is i certainly hope it is treated with the seriousness it deserves and that s niracy theories about the fbi and the United StatesCapitol Police. Throughout this Congress Republicans d to defend agencies like the fbi and the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms and explosives. In fact at least one House Republican has teachers on their websites that same defund the fbi. I must point out the irony of my friendon t criticizing the pace of this investigation while at the same time proudly attempting to defend the fbi, atf and other agencies leading the inquiry. Hows does it make sense to criticize the pace or the resources allocated while simultaneously taking those resources away . Im not the only one confused. The executiveec of police summed it up well, to withhold funding for lawh■ enfor■ucement is at variance with common sense. Yet its not just the funding. This entire congress, house repuic■ pdans echoed theiz accusations that the fbi has weaponize against the American People and that it cannot be trusted in fact before its technical difority of the subcoe from doing so, the command speaker admitted that his allies on the subcommit in the january 6th footage released because, quote, we dont want them to be retaliated against him charged by the department of justice. Imagine that. People who might have broken the lawe dont want to have them be retaliated against for crimes they might have committed. As im sure witnesses can attest Law Enforcement relies on the cooperation of membersf to pere investigations all leveling these baseless accusations against the fbi to discourage witnesses and members of the public who may be helpful and have information from corroboration. Dont get me wrong its key that the individual who placed or individuals who placed bombs at the dnc and rnc ahead of the january 6 attack be i appreciate the majority interest, im not sure how the hearing will help advance that a goal or with the kennedy and hoe possibly do legislatively to speed up in active fbi investigation. Again i thank the witnesses for being here for your service and and i am looking forward to your testimony and with that i yield. The gentleman yields. This hearing is to review the handling of two the safety and security of republicans and democrats and visitors to the city. I w this could and should be a bipartisan hearing and i hope that it will be. The fbi has been years. This hearing is not about the fbi, nor its investigation. Its about the response and the process of responding to three very dangerous devices that provide an eminent risk to people here at the capital. The fbi was invited to be here today but they declined and i believe we have assembled anu8et can help us break down the response. Tg this hearing isnt about the fbi investigation but something this committee does have oversight of which is the capital pole enfot how they respond to incidents like this. Without objection all other members Opening Statements will m they are submitted, if they are submitted by 5 p. M. Today. Pursuant to paragraph b of the commee six the witnesses will please stand and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony that you are to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god . Let the record to show the affirmative, you may be seated in thank you all. I will now introduce the witnesses. The first witnesses the u. S. Capil Police Assistant chief for uniformed operations mr. Sean gallagher. Thank you for your Longterm Service to the u. S. Capitol police and members year. Assistant chief gallagher joined in 2001 and on january 6, 2021 was the deputy chief for the protective service bureau. We are grateful that you are here today, assistant chief calgary and we look forward to your perspective regarding the response and how we can improve in the future. Our next witness is mr. Sean dennis the cofounder, president and ceo zero of the association. Mr. Dennis served at the bomb squad Commander SpecialOperations Sergeant for the county sheriffs offic andyo centennial colorado. I hope i got that name pronounced correctly. Hes been involved in the bomb technician and explosives community for the quarter quartercentury of 25 years. The next witness is a former Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority head canine detection trainer. Did i get that right . Close enough. He spent as an explosive canine trainer and handler and has supervised thousands from explosive devices. Si of the dnc was not available to testify before the subcommittee today, we look forward to hearing the perspective on the canine secuswrity s of the dnc. What went right and what possibly may have gone wrong. The final witness is a big f th. A former fbi special agent and master bomb technician. He was the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, 1996 atlanta bombing and the 9 11 World Trade Center attacks among others. In 2022, he was awarded as an honorary u. S. Commander for his work withity forces and military working dogs. As i said, we have a very impressive panel of experts that i think can help them navigate us here appreciate the witnesses being here today and look forward to your testimony. As a reminder, we read your written statements and it will appearn the full hearing record. Under Committee Rule nine, you are to limit your oral presentation to a brief summary of your written statement unlesn consultation with the Ranking Member. Please remember to turn on your microphones using the button in front of you s hear. If you dont, i will very politely remind you to turn your microphone of you will turn green. After four minutes, it will turn yellow. When the red light comes on, your five minutes has expired. You dont have to stop midsentence, but we would ask that you please wrap up your statements once the red light i illuminated. I now recognize the assistant chief gallagher for five minutes. Members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to testify today about the january 6 pipe bombs. The department greatly appreciates the continued commitment to carry out their duties of protecting the members congress, visitors and the entire capital complex and legislative process each and every day. Congress support has been invaluable as we continue to work on building the Lessons Learned from january 6th while also meeting the dramatic workload increases and increasing volatilehreat environment. As you know, the United StatesCapital Police patrol a campus that is open. The public is a constitutional right to visit and petition and our officers and civilians workr you are here on capitol hill or whether you travel to your home district. Our mission is vast and responsibilities have e■ovhe ye. The threat has morphed from securing the buildings to the threat of a1 scenario and now to be an unprecedented increase to members and their families. January 6, 2021■ however, that safety was threatened in a number of ways including the placement of two pipe bombs, one in an alley behind the capitol grounds, which is adjacent to the republican National Committee, and one is the Democratic NationalCommittee Just off capital grounds. Id likc5e t the events of the day with the pipe bombs and then id like to answer any questions the committee may have. January 6, 2020 ■ when i was in charge of the predicted Services Bureau was the chief and our protective Services Bureau is our dignitary protective vision, and our investigation division. On january 6, that approximately 12 44, one of our officers was notified by the republican secut there appeared to be a pipe bomb located at the rear of the alley. A command post was established by 12 49 into the device is located during the search of the area. Around the same time one of the canine technicians identified a pickup truck parked directlyin k appearing to be weighed down. The pickup truck was parked directly across1j3k the street d assets from the Department Hazardous device section more commonly known as the bomb squad began to assess at approximately 12 52. The pipe bomb was eventually disrupted by the bomb squad and cleared at approximately