THE FBI reportedly suspects the Capitol siege may have been an inside job given how quickly Trump supporters found House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, among other factors.
MAGA fans navigated a maze of corridors in the Capitol not open to the public in just 10 minutes, leading the FBI to believe that police and staffers aided them, Capitol Police sources told TMZ on Friday.
The FBI thinks the Capitol rioters on Wednesday may have gotten a roadmap of the Capitol that enabled them to find and vandalize Pelosi’s office and steal a laptop, according to the media outlet.
Pelosi’s office is not adjacent to other Congressional offices or off a main hallway.
And the Capitol has been closed to the public since the coronavirus outbreak in March, meaning people who are not part of the staff or police would not have been able to enter recently and scope the grounds.
The FBI is reportedly looking at Capitol Police officers and Capitol staffers including engineers, janitors and plumbers, as possible suspects.
In addition, the FBI is apparently examining videos of several Capitol Police officers removing barricades and opening gates to possibly ease the path in for the mob.
Cops could be charged with cowardice for failing to take proper police action, according to TMZ.
Rioters and individuals who helped them could be charged for menacing Congress because lawmakers were in session to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win when the MAGA fans broke into the chamber.
The FBI is also investigating whether any off-duty cops were inside the Capitol.
FBI and National Security Agency officials are using digital imaging systems and pulling data from cell phone towers to try to identify rioters and even Capitol staff members who were present during the insurrection.
The FBI is reportedly determined to find the individuals who attacked Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died of his injuries on Thursday night.
President Donald Trump has been accused of inciting violence and encouraging his supporters to stop Biden’s confirmation.
Twitter permanently suspended the president’s @realDonaldTrump account on Friday evening, stating that two of his tweets violated its Glorification of Violence policy.
Trump then used his official @POTUS account to tweet that he and the “75,000,000 great patriots who voted for me” would not be silenced.
Twitter quickly deleted that string of tweets by the president.
Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund is resigning, effective Jan. 16, amid criticism over the department’s response to the riot and lack of preparedness given Trump had been encouraging his followers for weeks.
Gus Papathanasiou, the chairman of the Capitol Police Officers' Union, said in a statement on Thursday that officers are “frustrated and demoralized” with the lack of leadership, and praised cops for their work.
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