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Republican congressman says intelligence foreshadowed Jan. 6 Capitol attack

Nehls says Capitol police had plenty of intelligence that warned them about the possibility of violence that day, but never shared it.

DALLAS — Before he was pulled from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, Republican Congressman Troy Nehls says he reviewed a Senate report about that day that left him alarmed.  The former Fort Bend County sheriff says Capitol police had plenty of intelligence that warned them about the possibility of violence that day, but never shared it.

“Their intelligence showed that the Capitol, the Capitol building, was going to be on the radar.  They were coming to the Capitol,” Congressman Nehls said on Inside Texas Politics.  “They talked about extremist organizations and groups. They mention the Proud Boys. They mention Oath Keepers. There was an enormous amount of intelligence, but it wasn’t disseminated, and it wasn’t shared.”

The Republican says that intelligence should have warranted having the National Guard activated and ready to go not only on Jan. 6, but also the 4th and 5th.

Congressman Nehls was originally one of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s five Republican picks for the select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol. But after Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of the Republican picks, Representatives Jim Jordan and Jim Banks, Representative McCarthy pulled all five picks in protest, including Congressman Nehls.

“When she rejected two, it’s what she did, she rejected all five,” said the Congressman.  “In the history of this institution, in over 230 years, never, it’s never happened where the Speaker has rejected the picks from the minority.”

Reacting to another huge development in Washington, D.C., a bipartisan infrastructure bill that sailed through its first vote in the Senate, Congressman Nehls says it’s too early for him to say whether he supports or opposes the legislation.  He serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

“I haven’t seen the bill in its current text, so I’m going to reserve judgment on whether I will support this bill or not.  I just haven’t seen it,” he said.

Congressman Troy Nehls: Representative Troy Nehls | (house.gov)

Watch his full interview on Inside Texas Politics below:

More from Inside Texas Politics.

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