Michael Bolton, the inspector general of the U.S. Capitol Police, told Congress Tuesday that the agency hasn't done enough to improve its activities in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Bolton is testifying at a Senate Rules Committee hearing about Capitol Police's efforts to revamp their procedures. He said that of the 200 security enhancements the department provided to the inspector general, only 61 of those items have supporting documentation to support that enhancements have occurred. He said that there are enhancements that have been implemented, including intelligence briefings for rank and file officers and department leadership.
Bolton said that the department still doesn't have the training infrastructure to meet the needs of the department, the level of intelligence gathering and expertise needed, and the overall cultural change needed to move the department into a protective agency as opposed to a traditional police department.
Bolton said that much work still needs to be addressed at Capitol Police in order to move it from being a traditional police department to a protective agency after Jan. 6. He said Capitol Police lacks the infrastructure for training, intelligence gathering and expertise needed to prevent future attacks and overall cultural change. Bolton said his office plans to release a final report on Capitol Police in relation to Jan. 6 in the next few days.
After the Jan. 6 attack, the hearing will focus on the inspector general's multiple reports. Senators are expected to ask how many reforms and changes recommended by Bolton and the committee in the wake of the attack.
We're going to go over the Inspector General's report and the recommendations that were made and the progress that's been made and the questions that are still out there, Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told NBC News, Things that need to be done and the same with our report. There's still more work to be done when we hire a new police chief. Klobuchar said that this hearing will be the first that the committee will hold in this series, and it will hold another next month, which will feature testimony from Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger.
The House Select Committee on The riot has been escalating its investigation into the riot. Two people familiar with the panel's activities told NBC News that Marc Short, who was chief of staff to then-Vice President Mike Pence, is cooperating with the committee.