Ken Klippenstein, an investigative reporter at The Intercept, says that some within the intelligence community were raising concerns about the costs of sending the National Guard to the U.S. Capitol
Speaking on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Klippenstein was discussing how people within the intelligence community felt about sending Guard to protect the Capitol in light of the Jan. 6 riots.
Klippenstein said that people with the “senior executive service” in intelligence and law enforcement agencies agree that more resources need to be spent to guard the Capitol.
However, people in rank-and-file positions described a “much more nuanced story” about the costs, raising concerns about funds not previously being used for what they were designated for.
“They describe funds that were ear-marked for things in the past that weren’t spent on it. When President Trump came into office, he shut down the Homegrown Violent Extremism Branch, just completely shut it down. All those resources ended up being spent on other things,” he said.
“And does the public know about this? No, they never made any sort of public statement about this. As far as we know, that money is being spent on this stuff that we’re debating now,” Klippenstein said. “So, we’re having this Kabuki theatre debate that bears no resemblance to where resources are actually going and how things are being conducted.”
Watch part of Klippenstein’s interview above
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