Biden news - live: GOP senator claims ‘fake’ Trump supporters caused riot as distracted Ted Cruz taps on phone

Texas senator Ted Cruz appeared to blame Donald Trump and “the media” for the controversy surrounding his short-lived trip to Cancun last Thursday.

The senator admitted afterwards that the trip had been a “mistake”, after he flew from Texas to Cancun, Mexico, with his family on Wednesday during the worst winter storm in three decades, writes The Independent’s Gino Spocchia.

Texas senator Ted Cruz appeared to blame Donald Trump and “the media” for the controversy surrounding his short-lived trip to Cancun last Thursday.

The senator admitted afterwards that the trip had been a “mistake”, after he flew from Texas to Cancun, Mexico, with his family on Wednesday during the worst winter storm in three decades, writes The Independent’s Gino Spocchia.

The Senate is set to hear testimony on Tuesday from four security officials on Capitol Hill who oversaw the response to the 6 January Capitol riot, as lawmakers seek answers on what went wrong leading up to the attack, writes The Independent’s Griffin Connolly.

Providing answers to senators’ questions will be Metropolitan Police Acting Chief Robert Contee, former House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving, former Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger, and former US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund.

Tuesday’s hearing is the first in a series of expected oversight efforts in Washington to identify intel-gathering failures leading up to the security breach at the Capitol on 6 January.

“This is certainly not the last hearing that we will have regarding this attack. Next week we will hear from witnesses from federal agencies including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense,” said Senate Rules Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar.

Senator Rob Portman framed Tuesday’s hearing by laying out four key questions he hopes the witnesses will answer.

• 1. “Some witnesses have suggested there was an intelligence failure. We need to know — was there credible intelligence about potential violence, when was it known, and who knew it?”
• 2. “Our witnesses have different accounts about requests for National Guard assistance — we need to know, did the US Capitol Police request approval to seek National Guard assistance prior to January 6, and if so, why was that request denied? We need to know — was the request for National Guard assistance on January 6 delayed, and why? If that is true, we need to know why it took so long for the National Guard to arrive after their support was requested.”
• 3. “The Capitol was overtaken in a matter of hours — we need to know whether Capitol Police officers were properly trained and equipped to respond to an attack on the Capitol, and if not, why not.
• 4. “And we need to know why the Capitol Complex itself was so vulnerable and insecure that it could be so easily overrun.”

Griffin Connolly, The Independent

Acting DC police chief Robert Contee has offered a breakdown of how officers responded to the violent events that unfolded on January 6.

Mr Contee added: “I was surprised at the reluctance to send the National Guard to the US Capitol.”

A captain in the US Capitol Police force who responded to the 6 January Capitol riot offered a harrowing first-hand account on Tuesday of her experience battling white supremacists and other pro-Trump elements.

Griffin Connolly has the latest

"We all believed that the plan met the threat and that we were prepared. We now know that we had the wrong plan,” says Paul Irving.

“As one of the senior security leaders responsible for the event, I am accountable for that. I accept that responsibility."

Steven Sund told today’s hearing that the rioters at the US Capitol came prepared specifically with equipment like climbing gear, explosives, and chemical spray.

“The group that attacked our west front 20 minutes before the event at The Ellipse ended, which means they were planning on our agency not being at full strength,” he says.

“Also the fact that we were dealing with two pipe bombs that were set right off the edge of our perimeter to, what I suspect, draw resources away. I think there was significant coordination of this attack.”

Robert Contee told the hearing that US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund was “pleading” for deployment from the National Guard and was stunned when there wasn’t an immediate yes.

“The response was more focused on, in addition to the plan, the optics, how this looks with boots on the ground on the Capitol,” Contee says.

“I was stunned. I have officers out there literally fighting for their lives and we’re going through what seemed like an exercise to check the boxes and there was not an immediate response.”

Former US Capitol Police chief Steve Sund and former House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving are clashing on who requested support from the National Guard and when it was approved.

Sund says he made the request to both Irving and the Senate Sergeant at Arms, Michael Stenger, at 1:09 pm.

National Guard approval was not given until 2:10 pm.

Irving claims he didn’t receive the request until shortly after 2 pm, and says the only conversation he had with Sund in the intervening period was about 1:28 pm.

“I recall he was describing conditions outside as deteriorating. He may in fact be submitting a request, and I carried that forward, and that is as much as I can tell you,” Irving says.

“In that conversation, he indicated that conditions were deteriorating, he might be looking for National Guard approval,” he added. “I went to Mike Stenger’s office awaiting an update.”