According to a new report from the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Interior Department, the Jan. 6 Capitol rally organizers concealed information from the National Park Service (NPS).
According to the department’s internal watchdog, the information they withheld would have materially changed the security plans at the event.
The 45-page report, published by the Interior office, includes text messages from Kylie Kremer, the rally’s organizer. It also contains Kremer’s message to a Women for America First representative and a potential event speaker.
The Interior report did not name the individuals. However, it made the exchange between Kremer and Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trump ally, public. “This stays between us. We are having a second stage at the Supreme Court after the ellipse,” the messages read.
“POTUS is going to have us march there/the Capitol,” Kremer wrote to Lindell on Jan. 4. “It cannot get out about the second stage because people will try and set up another and Sabotage it.”
ALSO READ: Former Police Chief Sentenced For Role in Jan. 6 Attack Claims The Government Set Him Up
“It can also not get out about the march because I will be in trouble with the National Park Service and all the agencies, but the POTUS is going to just call for it ‘unexpectedly,'” Kremer continued. “If anyone tells you otherwise, it’s not accurate info.”
The report also shows that Kremer worked with a White House liaison. “Only myself and [White House liaison] know the full story of what is actually happening.” However, the Interior report does not identify the White House liaison in question.
After the Interior Department’s report became public, officials with the National Park Service reportedly expressed shock. “One official stated it ‘blew her mind’ because the NPS repeatedly asked WFAF whether there would be a march.”
POLL — Should Donald J. Trump Be Allowed to Run for Office?
However, the report states that NPS officials claim the WFAF representative repeatedly claimed there would be no march. In addition, the report claims another NPS official the department spoke to said something similar to the first NPS official.
“We asked the WFAF representative repeatedly if she was going to do a march,” the NPS official said. “So, um, basically, she lied to all of us.” Also, the report found that the organizers from WFAF failed to provide information about Trump’s likely attendance at the rally.
In addition, despite a request from the NPS, they concealed their plans to march to the Capitol. The report added that if the rally planners had disclosed the plans, the NPS would deny them permits.
However, the information would have prompted officials to increase security near the planned march. Also, it would drive them to coordinate with nearby jurisdictions and law enforcement.
ALSO READ: Those Behind the Capitol Riot May Get Away With It
In addition, NPS officials claim if they knew about the march, they would have requested information regarding the march route. Despite the warning signs about potential violence, the report concluded that the NPS lacked evidence to deny permits. Also, the report added that the NPS did not consider denying or revoking the permits on safety grounds.
However, the report noted that the NPS failed to inspect the Ellipse site. According to the report, the officials did not do the fire and life safety inspections at the Ellipse. “These failures violated NPS policy,” the report stated.
“And NPS officials acknowledged that the absence of safety inspections put the public and NPS resources at risk.” Although the interior department’s report has opened a can of worms, it is still a developing story.
You Might Also Like:
FBI Warns Israel-Hamas Conflict May Amplify Threats to Public By Terrorists This Holiday
Judge Dismisses Cattlemen’s Request to Halt Wolf Reintroduction in Colorado
Mother of Virginia 6-Year-Old Who Shot a Teacher Bags Two Years in Prison for Child Neglect
Carol Swain Accuses Harvard Of “Redefining” Plagiarism to Protect President Claudine Gay
Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch, Thomas, Barrett, and Kavanaugh Sign Dobbs Opinion Without Revision