“Due to communication challenges and limited contingency planning, [Pence and his] Secret Service protective detail only narrowly avoided rioters,” the report says of the rioters, some of whom directed threats at the then-vice president.
The section of the report discussing that episode includes substantial redactions, though it does say that agents reported “not receiving communications from various entities,” and also mentions “manpower challenges that day.”
“The events of January 6 were unprecedented, and the issues we identified during our review present an opportunity for the Secret Service to be better prepared in the future,” says the report, which makes several recommendations to improve Secret Service agility.
The Secret Service says it is already implementing many of the recommendations.
The report also offers a little more information about two controversial issues stemming from Jan. 6, including Trump’s alleged demands to go to the Capitol after his speech as the situation at the Capitol was escalating.
In June 2022, during dramatic public testimony before the House select committee investigating Jan. 6, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified she had been told by then-White House deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato that Trump was so adamant about going to the Capitol that he grabbed the steering wheel of the presidential limousine and lunged toward the Secret Service detail when his demands were denied.
According to the inspector general’s report, Ornato told Cuffari’s investigators in writing — after refusing an in-person interview — that he does “not recall being made aware of any [such] details,” nor does he “recall speaking with anyone about it.”
Trump’s detail lead, who was seated in front of the then-president, said he could not recall how the president responded when he was told he couldn’t go to the Capitol — but the limousine driver told investigators that Trump was angry about it, according to the report.
