'We were blindsided': Capitol police chief says 'intelligence failed' on Jan. 6

Politico reported Tuesday that retired U.S. Capitol police chief Steven Sund is blaming the intelligence community for failing to share warnings about the potential attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Appearing before the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, Sund said that the violence could have been stopped if information was shared ahead of time.

"We were blindsided. Intelligence failed the operations," Sund said. "The Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol was preventable. If the intelligence had been accurately reported — and the FBI and DHS had followed their policies and established practices — I wouldn’t be sitting here today.”

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Sund continued:

"There was a failure to connect the dots on 9/11 and again on Jan. 6. I'm concerned if we do not identify and correct these issues, we may fail again in the future," he also said.

Sund along with other security officials at the Capitol resigned in the wake of the attack, taking the fall for the security breach.

In a new excerpt of a biography on Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), it was revealed that a senior Pentagon official called Sen. Angus King (I-ME) to warn him that an attack was coming on Jan. 6 and that Romney along with Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) were going to be targeted.

Romney quickly sent a text message to McConnell saying that he hoped there was adequate security to handle it.

“In case you have not heard this, I just got a call from Angus King, who said that he had spoken with a senior official at the Pentagon who reports that they are seeing very disturbing social media traffic regarding the protests planned on the 6th," the text message read. "There are calls to burn down your home, Mitch; to smuggle guns into DC, and to storm the Capitol. I hope that sufficient security plans are in place, but I am concerned that the instigator — the President — is the one who commands the reinforcements the DC and Capitol police might require.”

McConnell reportedly never responded, and there wasn't enough security.

While the biography focuses on the case of Romney, the details about what the Pentagon knew and was telling lawmakers is new information about the attack on the Capitol. The House Select Committee that investigated Jan. 6 and the 2020 election overthrow attempt uncovered that local law enforcement, the FBI, the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Marshal's Service, the White House, and the Pentagon all were aware that violence was coming on Jan. 6.

At no time did the Pentagon contact Vice President Mike Pence or Speaker Nancy Pelosi to warn violence was coming and it was going to be dangerous, said former House Select Committee investigator Tim Heaphy.

Former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann has complained in the past week that FBI Director Christopher Wray has never explained why the agency dropped the ball on Jan. 6.

"I would’ve liked some assistance with getting the military to the Capitol," Sund told ranking member, Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA). "I think there are a lot of people that need to accept some responsibility associated with this."

He also called it "surprising" that the FBI still doesn't know who put the bombs at the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee buildings.

Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) told Sund his problems weren't his fault and he was nothing more than a scapegoat for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It's a comment that Donald Trump has used when asked why the Capitol wasn't warned ahead of time about the threats.