Defense officials tell AP they fear possible inside attack at inaug, will have NG troops vetted

[Dennis Donovan]

Last edited Sun Jan 17, 2021, 10:10 PM - Edit history (1)

Link to tweet

Mike Balsamo @MikeBalsamo1

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense officials tell AP they fear possible inside attack at inauguration, will have National Guard troops vetted.

9:27 PM · Jan 17, 2021

https://apnews.com/article/biden-inauguration-joe-biden-capitol-siege-ap-top-news-857bacc273e16ff82dc9fefed1242ae8

FBI vetting Guard troops in DC amid fears of insider attack

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
4 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. defense officials say they are worried about an insider attack or other threat from service members involved in securing President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, prompting the FBI to vet all of the 25,000 National Guard troops coming into Washington for the event.

The massive undertaking reflects the extraordinary security concerns that have gripped Washington following the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters. And it underscores fears that some of the very people assigned to protect the city over the next several days could present a threat to the incoming president and other VIPs in attendance.

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The Associated Press on Sunday that officials are conscious of the potential threat, and he warned commanders to be on the lookout for any problems within their ranks as the inauguration approaches. So far, however, he and other leaders say they have seen no evidence of any threats, and officials said the vetting hadn’t flagged any issues.

”We’re continually going through the process, and taking second, third looks at every one of the individuals assigned to this operation,” McCarthy said in an interview after he and other military leaders went through an exhaustive, three-hour security drill in preparation for Wednesday’s inauguration. He said Guard members are also getting training on how to identify potential insider threats.

-/snip-

Time to do the inauguration in a secure location.

[cilla4progress]

1. My greatest

fear.

[MontanaMama]

23. Me too, sister. 💜

That at the moment it seems all is going as planned, all hell breaks loose. Everything just be done to protect Joe and Kamala. I hope Nancy will not be in attendance. We need her to be alive if the worst should happen. That said, I can’t imagine 20,000 troops would let our worst nightmares come true. But, here we are.

[Glorfindel]

2. Good. Can't be too careful.

Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards.

[getagrip_already]

9. and sadat was killed at a military celebration surrounded by military guards.....

security is only as good as your guards loyalties.

And the guards are still under trumps command.

[2naSalit]

3. Should have done already.

[LuckyCharms]

11. +1

[MontanaMama]

24. Yeah. WTAF?

Why is this even an issue? Looking back, I wonder if we will ever know how many of the people charged with protecting Biden/Harris had other plans.

[2naSalit]

26. Yeah.

The SS switch was a week or two ago. This should have been done already and perhaps it has. The public isn't always the first to know.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Um. Duh.

[brewens]

5. Vetted for what? White supremacy? If so, care to explain why that isn't done on a regular

basis? Near the top of my list is an investigation to root out anything that looks, sounds or stinks like a white supremacist from the military and law enforcement. Those found out should be banned permanently from service as a cop or any other government service.

[Nevilledog]

7. Absolutely agree

[intheflow]

12. I know a librarian who would lose their job if this were enacted.

And I'm okay with that. This person disdains everyone they work with, especially our diverse public. Having white supremacists in civil service seems antithetical to civil service itself, and I can't imagine why this librarian would even be drawn to civil service. I wish I had authority over them to address it.

[dem4decades]

6. There's no way I want Joe, Kamala and Nancy together that day.

[orleans]

15. exactly!

i think it should be on zoom

what if they miss something in vetting -- after all, security seemed to suck on the 6th

i'm glad to hear they are vetting these guards but just the idea that they find it necessary to do so tells me my paranoia is justified.

[Orrex]

16. If the SCOTUS can hear arguments remotely, the POTUS and VPOTUS can be sworn in remotely

The rest is pageantry.

[appalachiablue]

36. +1

[handmade34]

8. that

is the story... I am so saddened by what we have become

[Rhiannon12866]

10. Twitter replies:

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[C Moon]

22. I think Biden is trying to make the U.S. look strong by continuing with the public inauguration.

I wish they wouldn't, though.
First and foremost, get Biden in power. Then worry about how the U.S. looks.

[leighbythesea2]

13. My stomach

Actually hurts. Been trying to be cool all week in spite of insanity. But my body knows better and haven't been able to eat really. This just did me in. Please make it secret and virtual after its over.

[Bear Creek]

14. Time for this to be addressed

Lots of military and police are neo nazis. Most support right wing extremists. The Navy guys are the worst or maybe being surrounded by them was why they seem worse. The guys before Reagan are normal republican and even some democrats. The guys that were in during Reagan and after are usually zealots. Just think these are the ones with security clearances and access to nuclear.

[James48]

17. As a retired Military officer I reject this.

No, “most of the military” don’t support right wing extremists. It’s actually pretty rare in the military.

Those in the military work side by side with people from every political persuasion, from left wing progressives to life long republicans, but those who support extremists at either end are rare.

Does it happen? Sure. Just like the rest of society. But the military is especially aware that there isn’t time nor temperament to have those types in uniform. When they are discovered, they are removed.

Please don’t paint all the military with such a broad brush, because it’s not true.

[Bear Creek]

21. I reject your rejection

When did you retire? I have worked with these guys for 30 years. Maybe they are just concentrated where I worked. Ex Army guy with a security clearance was just arrested for the riot. I am sure there is more of them.

[Redleg]

28. Thank you for that

People here at DU need to be a bit more measured in their critique of the military. I don't know what percentage of military members are far-right extremists and neither most of the people posting here. What I do know is that the active duty military cast more votes for Biden than for Trump in 2020 and that the military is becoming more diverse in terms of race and ethnicity. I also know that the military is aware that some members harbor extremist views and that the services have taken action to address some of these problems. Military commanders know that it is in the best interest of the service to prevent the spread of extreme viewpoints and behaviors because those will break down unit cohesion.

I haven't served since the early 90s so my own experiences aren't relevant nor do they constitute actual data. As a company grade officer, I wasn't aware of enlisted and NCO political attitudes because I didn't discuss such things with them. I did know that many of my fellow officers were Republicans but most political discussions rarely went farther than that. Did any of my units have extremist soldiers? I don't know. I suspect that we had some who harbored racial prejudices but this by itself does not make one an extremist. As anywhere else, the military will have a difficult time guarding against a person's thoughts and beliefs. For the most part, they can take action only when there are explicit actions or words.

I applaud the military for the actions it is taking and I hope they are successful.

[Bear Creek]

34. I have worked with ex-navy mostly

I know that Biden did get military vote. I hope that means the stranglehold the republicans have had is broken. Just like the Southern strategy is now broken.

[Redleg]

41. Let us hope so

I think they'll use the Southern Strategy until it stops working everywhere. It is good that some southern democrats are working so hard to get people registered to vote and to the polls.

[littlemissmartypants]

18. And.....We're in a deadly pandemic, for Pete's sake.

I don't want a public ceremony. Transmit it from a secret location. I am good with that. The whole situation is scary. The fewer people who know the details, the better.

Maybe have a flare shot over the reflecting pool when it's over. That's all I need.

[jalan48]

19. So what happens with these people after the inauguration?

[BobTheSubgenius]

20. When people in positions like that are second-guessing their subordinates and wondering about...

...potential armed treason, the black hats have already won a sort of victory.

Hopefully, just a bloodied nose in an early skirmish.

[Salviati]

27. They won that victory years ago, when the republicans threw a hissy fit...

... at the mere notion that right wing terrorism was a problem in this country worth investigating, and the FBI backed down from it's work on the issue

I hope that is one of the things that gets a priority in the new administration.

[Jon King]

25. Secret Service has this....

This National Guard guys are low level and very perimeter. Secret Service will have a blanket on Biden-Harris, snipers, etc.

No National Guard guy will get close to Biden-Harris.

[Mr. Ected]

29. Thanks, GOP, you let Russia infiltrate our government

This conspiracy is the most heinous case of espionage ever perpetrated in our nation's history.

[panfluteman]

30. Keep Your Fingers Crossed, America!

And whatever happens, happens. History will be made regardless. And whatever happens, we will have to deal with it as a nation.

Just do the math - 47 percent, almost half, of this country voted for that POS Trump - even after four years of constant scandals mistakes and failures. And so, there's probably going to be those in the national guard protecting the inauguration who voted for Trump - that's a virtual certainty. Let's just hope that they put their oath to the country and the constitution above who they voted for.

[Jon King]

31. National Guard can't do anything to Biden....

These guys won't be anywhere near Biden on inauguration day. They are merely a show of force and well on the perimeter.

Secret Service is not stupid, they don't allow any of these guys close enough to do any harm.

[ancianita]

40. Doing the math, 74,222,593 is only 22.5% of this country. Still big enough to worry about, though.

[Baclava]

32. Paranoia will destroy ya, has the FBI been vetted lately? What do we really know about those SS guys

What about those that dont have twitter or facebook accounts? Sleeper cells?

[ancianita]

35. The military's on this because the FBI had a watch list & didn't prevent anything, just watched.

This isn't paranoia. This is state leadership protection, with every watched sleeper cell interrupted on pretext.

[Baclava]

37. So to "vett" 25k guard troops in 3 days they gonna look at their phones and browsing history or what

[ancianita]

39. Dunno. Not needed if they're not near the grounds. But it's outside our clearance level, isn't it.

[ancianita]

33. This is a BFD. If defense officials are concerned, then we need to be. How do they vet?

The military oath requires protecting the Constitution by protecting civilian power transitions.

Arrest and conviction records: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Cal. Lab. Code § 432.7; Cal. Lab. Code § 432.8; Cal. Pen. Code § 290.46(k)(2); 775 ILCS 5/2-103; Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, 820 ILCS 75/15; N.Y. Correct. Law § 752; N.Y. Exec. Law § 296 (15), (16); 18 Pa.C.S. § 9125

Credit/financial checks: Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 1785.13; Cal. Lab. Code § 1024.5; 820 ILCS 70/10 • Health checks/medical screening: Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq.; Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000ff, et seq.; Cal. Lab. Code § 132a

Social media: Cal. Lab. Code § 980; 820 ILCS 55/10(a)

Record disposal: 16 CFR Part 682 • Recordkeeping: 29 CFR Part 160

Records/information obtained from consumer reporting agencies, including but not limited to education and employment records, credit and financial records, and social media: Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681, et seq.; Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 1785.13(a)(6); Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 1786.18(a)(7); Cal. Civ. Code § 1786.53

Political affiliation: D.C. Code § 2–1402.11; Wis. Stat. Ann. § 111.321

*Polygraph tests: Employee Polygraph Protection Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2002, 2006; Cal. Lab. Code § 432.2; 225 ILCS 430/14.1; N.Y. Lab. Law §§ 733–739; 18 Pa.C.S. § 7321

Other searches:
offender registry,
credential verification,
skills assessment,
reference checks,
credit reports and
Patriot Act searches are becoming increasingly common

Patriot Act searches are NSA and 3-letter agency reviews of all data they've got, and they've got every bit an byte of metadata they decide to target.

These vettings should now apply for everyone going anywhere near Biden, Harris and Pelosi.

Everyone. Those at the ceremony, WH, and in The U.S. House, too.

* Yes, the much maligned polygraph is used by AI as a correlate of red flags across vet categories.

[ancianita]

38. We went through this dread with Obama. Why does it feel worse this time?

Joe isn't any more worthy or mortal, but America's darkness of death threat bursts out more now, and surrounds governments to threaten racist fascist death upon them.