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- The Capitol Police officer reported hearing a radio message to only look for anti-Trump protesters on January 6.
- Rep. Zoe Lofgren said in a hearing that the officer made the claim as part of an internal review.
- The force's inspector general, Michael Bolton, said he had no knowledge of the report yet.
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A Democratic congresswoman said Wednesday that Capitol Police officer may have put out a radio broadcast on the morning of January 6 telling officers to only keep an eye out for potential disturbances by anti-Trump and not pro-Trump protestors, according to a review of the insurrection undertaken by the Capitol Police's Office of Professional Responsibility.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the chairwoman of the House Administration Committee revealed the claim in the report in a Wednesday hearing. She questioned Michael Bolton, the inspector general of the US Capitol Police, about whether he had reviewed that report and if he had any knowledge of reports of Capitol Police officers actively undermining the department's response to the riots uncovered through OPR's inquiries.
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In Lofgren and Bolton's exchange, reported earlier by Politico, Bolton said that he hadn't yet reviewed the Office's findings, telling Lofgren he wants to wait until OPR has finished their investigation before examining it.
"In one of those OPR reviews, an officer made specific statements about radio transmissions made to officers outside the Capitol on the morning of January 6. You wouldn't have that information yet?"
Bolton responded that "at this time, no," saying he's planning on reviewing all of OPR's findings concerning communications on January 6.
Directly quoting from an officer's statement made as part of an OPR review, Lofgren read: "A radio broadcast was sent to all outside units, 'attention,' all units on the field were not looking for any pro-Trump in the crowd, were only looking for any anybody anti-pro-Trump who wants to start a fight."
The rioters, who sought to disrupt Congress' counting of Electoral College vote certificates that affirmed former President Donald Trump's election loss, were almost entirely pro-Trump and/or affiliated with right-wing extremist groups.
Bolton said that he planned to review both the OPR reports and the records of radio transmissions from that day.
In the hearing, Bolton confirmed that six Capitol Police officers are under investigation for their conduct during the January 6 siege.
The force's lack of preparation and inadequate response to the January 6 insurrection, including whether any officers actively aided rioters that day, is a key focus of congressional investigators probing the riots.
Over 100 Capitol police officers sustained injuries defending the Capitol and one officer, Brian Sicknick, died the day after of two strokes, the D.C. medical examiner ruled.