by John Solomon
As Congress focuses on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, a key House investigator said Monday he will issue a subpoena to force the release of a long-delayed report on the Secret Service’s earlier failure to detect a bomb that could have endangered Kamala Harris’ life on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, during the Capitol riot.
The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general has completed a report on Secret Service misconduct during the Capitol crisis 3 1/2 years ago, but he is refusing to release it, even though video material Only news published a year ago shows that Secret Service agents took then-Vice President-elect Harris within 10 yards of an undetected explosive device planted at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, said Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Georgia Republican.
“We need to get that … report. We need to see it,” Loudermilk said John Solomon’s Reports podcast. “And it needs to happen soon because we just put together a task force to look into this. And… I think there’s important information in there.”
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Asked if he was prepared to issue a subpoena, Loudermilk replied, “Absolutely.” He said he would like to coordinate a document request with a modern task force appointed by House Speaker Mike Johnson to investigate the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump.
“Perhaps the two-front action will cause them to break apart,” he said,
The Georgia Republican is chairman of the House Administrative Oversight Subcommittee, which is investigating the widespread security and intelligence failures that preceded the January 6 tragedy.
Last week, Loudermilk sent a letter accusing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of withholding the release of two reports from the inspector general, the independent watchdog that oversees the agency, including one titled “The United States Secret Service’s Preparations and Response to the Events of January 6, 2021.”
“We are aware that the Secret Service reviewed and approved this report. Therefore, you alone are preventing the DHS OIG from releasing this report to Congress,” Loudermilk said. “Given the events of July 13, 2024, another security failure by the U.S. Secret Service (“USSS”) to detect and prevent a earnest threat to a protected person, there is absolutely no justification for your delay.”
In a podcast interview, Loudermilk said the delays not only make it harder for Americans to learn about the Jan. 6 bombing failure, but also undermine the legally required independence of the Homeland Security Inspector General and could amount to a cover-up.
“They’re supposed to be independent, but look what happened with this IG. Even the watchdog organization that oversees the IG started investigating this IG. That’s the weapon we see. If you stray from what the Democrats want you to do, they’re going to come after you personally.
“And I believe that’s what happened in this investigation, that he was a Trump appointee. He’s trying to get to the truth. And in order to stop him, they’re investigating him,” Loudermilk said.
Loudermilk said the documented failure to detect the bomb may have been a premonition of the failures the Secret Service made during the attack.
“This was a major failure of the Secret Service. An agent with a bomb-sniffing dog walks past a pipe bomb that was left to be discovered. … And then they bring Kamala Harris in close proximity to it as they’re taking her out of the building. Okay, these are major failures that should never have happened,” he said.
“And then when you turn the clock forward to July 13th, … you see what happened to Donald Trump: another great failure where you failed to secure perhaps the best vantage point for a sniper,” he added.
Loudermilk said he believes the IG report on the Jan. 6 failure contains modern information about why the service failed to detect the bomb, which could have implications for the president’s earnest security issue.
“I think he may have uncovered some areas within the Secret Service that had never been addressed. And that may have led to the problems we saw on July 13,” Loudermilk said.
Loudermilk also reacted to modern Only news story published on monday based on his committee’s investigation that found that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s two top security officials were warned the night before the Capitol riot that there was modern intelligence suggesting protesters might attempt to breach the Capitol through the tunnel system and confront lawmakers.
The warnings were sent on the evening of January 5, 2021, by Capitol Police to the sergeant at arms and his deputy, who then set up a briefing for the next morning with Pelosi’s chief of staff, Terri McCullough.
Loudermilk said he was concerned that Republicans received no warning and that intelligence information apparently did not reach the highest-ranking congressional law enforcement official.
“It goes to Pelosi’s staff, but we don’t see it going to the (Capitol) police chief. So I’m not saying that’s the case. But it does seem like they bypassed the police chief,” he said. “Why wouldn’t you go to the police chief? That tells me they knew what the chain of command was. And it was a political chain.
“They knew who was really responsible and had to get approval from Pelosi’s office before any security decisions were made,” he added.
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John Solomon is an award-winning investigative journalist, author and digital media entrepreneur who serves as CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Just the News.
Photo by “Rep. Barry Loudermilk” Rep. Barry Loudermilk.
