Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said he was not told that the Metropolitan Police Department planned to embed more than two dozen undercover Electronic Surveillance Unit officers on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021.
Testifying before the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, Mr. Sund said outside police agencies were always expected to give notice and have permission to operate on Capitol grounds.
Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) questioned Mr. Sund about the presence of undercover MPD officers on Jan. 6.
“We actually have evidence and records indicating plainclothes MPD officers were on Capitol grounds on January 6, and you’re saying you weren’t aware that they would have embedded those officers within the crowd?” Mr. Loudermilk asked. “They didn’t make you aware of that?”
“No sir, they did not make me aware of it,” Mr. Sund replied. “It’s not unusual for agencies to have plainclothes units deployed around major events. But no, I was not made aware that they'd be on Capitol grounds.”
The presence of ESU undercover officers was disclosed earlier this year in the criminal case against protester William Pope of Topeka, Kansas. Mr. Pope filed evidence in federal court that showed a three-man undercover team working its way up the northwest side of the Capitol after 1 p.m.
One of the officers helped protesters climb up onto the balustrade on the northwest steps and urged others to continue moving up to the Capitol, according to the officer’s own GoPro video footage leaked on Rumble. The officer also participated in crowd chants.
“Some of what actually Metropolitan Police provided to us—camera footage, body cam footage—shows that there were undercover agents in the crowd, with one apparently encouraging some of the protesters to enter the Capitol,” Mr. Loudermilk said. “I assume you would think that was uncalled for or unprofessional.”
“I haven’t seen that,” Mr. Sund replied. “If it turned out to be a police officer involved in that, that would be inappropriate.”
Video from another undercover agent—later identified as Officer Anthony Faverio—showed him assisting fellow officers who had been sprayed with mace. He poured a solution over the eyes of one uniformed officer.
“What’s in it?” the uniformed officer asked.
“Baking soda and milk,” the undercover agent replied, then added, “When we go undercover as Antifa in the crowd.”
“I did call Metropolitan Police Department right at 12:55. We were attacked at 12:53. At 12:55, I called MPD and asked them to send in the resources,“ Mr. Sund said. ”I called earlier that morning at 10:55 and asked [Assistant] Chief [Jeffery] Caroll if he could put additional resources on Constitution Avenue in case we needed them.”
After-Action Report
Mr. Loudermilk asked Mr. Sund about the USCP after-action report created after he left the department.“Have you seen the Capitol Police after-action report on January 6?” Mr. Loudermilk asked.
“Yes sir, the 27-page after-action? Yes, sir,” Mr. Sund replied.
Mr. Loudermilk asked Mr. Sund if he was surprised at the brevity of the report.
“So that’s what amazes me is that this after-action report of the ... [2017] baseball shooting, with two officers involved, 15 or 16 Members of Congress, received this comprehensive after-action report,” Mr. Loudermilk said. “But that January 6 after-action report literally is just a handful of pages, and it’s very sketchy.”
Mr. Sund replied, “I would have expected a much larger after-action. I was involved in Navy Yard as the incident commander there. The after-action there was at least three times that length.”
Nancy Pelosi Untruth
Mr. Sund told the House subcommittee that claims made by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Jan. 7—the day she went on national television to demand his resignation—were untrue.“In a press conference on January 7, Speaker Pelosi called for your resignation on national television,” said Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), chairman of the Committee on House Administration. “Speaker Pelosi also stated that she had not talked to you since the initial breach of the Capitol. But according to your transcribed interview, you’re on the phone with Speaker Pelosi a few times. Can you explain that discrepancy?”
Mr. Sund replied: “I spoke to Speaker Pelosi three times that evening, and she went on national TV and said I'd never spoken to her, but I spoke to her three times.”
In the first instance, Mr. Sund said he was preparing to brief Vice President Mike Pence at a secure location after 5 p.m. when House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving asked him to talk to Ms. Pelosi.
“He said he wanted to get Speaker Pelosi on the phone,” Mr. Sund testified. “He made a phone call from his cell phone at approximately 5:34 where I first briefed Speaker Pelosi.”
The second call occurred after he briefed Vice President Pence and was walking with Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger to brief senators at their sequestered location. Mr. Sund said he was handed a cell phone and talked to Ms. Pelosi about information he had just given to Vice President Pence.
“I assure her that information was correct,” Mr. Sund testified. “I could get them back into chambers by 7 p.m.”
At 6:25 p.m., Mr. Sund said he had a third call, giving a briefing to Ms. Pelosi and other congressional leaders.
“So you didn’t have one call, you didn’t have two calls, you had three calls,” Mr. Steil said. “So Speaker Pelosi’s comments that she didn’t speak to you are inaccurate.”
“That is correct, sir,” Mr. Sund responded.
Data Miner
Mr. Loudermilk, citing a book by Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig, said Gen. Mark Milley, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, used a tool called Data Miner to gather intelligence about Jan. 6.“General Milley was using this tool and reached out to Senator Angus King [D-Maine], warning him about violent rhetoric for January 6,” Mr. Loudermilk said. “Some of the intelligence included references to smuggling guns and other weapons into D.C.
“One message said, ‘Let’s burn Senator [Mitch] McConnell’s house down while he’s in it,” Mr. Loudermilk said. “Another one—seemingly addressed to members who supported certifying the election—said, ’We’re coming to kill you. Just wait a few days.’
“Did General Milley ever reach out to you and share these concerns with you of any of this intelligence?” Mr. Loudermilk asked.
“No, sir,” Mr. Sund replied.
“Would this intelligence have helped the Capitol Police prepare for January 6?” Mr. Loudermilk asked.
Mr. Sund’s reply: “Absolutely.”
