Former Nat. Sec., Military, & Elected Officials | 3 days ago
Dear Members of Congress,
We are former senior national security, military, and elected officials who have represented or served Democrats, Republicans, or administrations of both parties. We write to encourage this Congress to establish an independent and bipartisan national commission to investigate the January 6th assault of the U.S. Capitol Complex and its direct causes, and to make recommendations to prevent future assaults and strengthen the resilience of our democratic institutions.
We also write to you with great urgency in light of what we collectively see as an exigent and growing threat. The events of January 6th exposed severe vulnerabilities in the nation’s preparedness for preventing and responding to domestic terrorist attacks. The immediate security failings that permitted a lethal breach of the Capitol Complex by armed extremists raise serious questions and demand immediate solutions.
But January 6th was also the result of complex national security threats. These include coordinated disinformation campaigns, nontransparent financing of extremist networks, potential foreign influences, and white supremacist violent extremism, which the Department of Homeland Security identified in an October 2020 report as among “the most persistent and lethal threat[s] in the Homeland.” As FBI Director Christopher Wray testified to you recently, “January 6th was not an isolated event. The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country for a long time now and it’s not going away anytime soon.” Understanding how these forces culminated in an attack on the infrastructure of our democracy is critical to preventing future attacks.
In the wake of September 11th, the administration and Congress jointly acknowledged that the attack’s causes were complex and that an independent and well-equipped national commission was an essential tool to aid the federal government. Congressional inquiries, law enforcement activities, and a national commission not only worked in parallel, but critically complemented each other’s necessary work. An independent commission should not supplant the ongoing work by the legislative and executive branches, but it can uniquely support them by providing comprehensive and expert recommendations for Congress to act upon.
Commissions — properly empowered, resourced, and led — can establish a full picture of events and an analysis of their causes, from which nonpartisan recommendations can authoritatively flow. With dedicated time, resources, and expert staffing, they can also exclusively focus on the matter at hand over an appropriate time horizon. Given the gravity of January 6th as a national security matter — the violent disruption to the transition of power and the continuing threat of future attacks — a national commission examining the lead up to the January 6th assault, and the attendant security lapses, is not only appropriate, but a critical component of the national response.
A failure to deploy the full suite of tools available to fully understand January 6th and address its causes will leave the Capitol, and the nation, vulnerable to future attacks. In bipartisan fashion, we have successfully marshaled these tools before, and we implore you to do so once again.
Sincerely,
(Note: All titles are former positions or military ranks held prior to retirement.)
- Javed Ali, Senior Director for Counterterrorism, National Security Council
- Thad Allen, Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard; Commandant of the Coast Guard
- Wendy R. Anderson, Deputy Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of Defense
- Daniel Baer, U.S. Ambassador; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
- Brian Baird, U.S. Representative, 1999–2011
- Daniella Ballou-Aares, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State
- Rand Beers, Acting Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Deputy Homeland Security Advisor
- John Bellinger, Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State; Legal Advisor, National Security Council
- Tatyana Bolton, Cyber Policy Lead — Senior Policy Analyst, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Charles Boustany, U.S. Representative, 2005–2017
- Steven Browning, U.S. Ambassador; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
- Todd F. Buchwald, U.S. Ambassador, Office of Global Criminal Justice, U.S. Department of State
- Sharon Burke, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy
- Daniel Byman, Professional Staff Member, 9/11 Commission
- Piper Campbell, U.S. Ambassador; Head U.S. Mission to ASEAN
- Kevin Carroll, Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Homeland Security; Senior Counsel to the House Homeland Security Committee
- J. E. Cartwright, General, U.S. Marine Corps; Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Steven Cash, Chief Counsel, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein; Intelligence Officer, CIA; Assistant District Attorney, New York
- Michael Chertoff, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Peter Chiarelli, General, U.S. Army, 32nd Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army
- James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence
- William Cohen, Secretary, U.S. Department of Defense
- Tom Coleman, U.S. Representative, 1976–1993
- Gary Corn, Colonel, U.S. Army, Staff Judge Advocate, U.S. Cyber Command
- Thomas Countryman, Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation
- Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador
- George Croner, Litigation Counsel, National Security Agency; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice
- Carlos Curbelo, U.S. Representative, 2015–2019
- John Danforth, U.S. Senator, 1976–1995
- J. Michael Daniel, Special Assistant to President Obama and Cybersecurity Coordinator
- Tom Daschle, U.S. Senator, 1987–2005
- Greg Delawie, U.S. Ambassador
- Charles W. Dent, U.S. Representative, 2005–2018
- Murray Dickman, Chief of Staff to the Attorney General
- David Durenberger, U.S. Senator, 1978–1995
- Eric Edelman, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
- Mickey Edwards, U.S. Representative, 1977–1993; Chair, House Republican Policy Committee, 1989–1993
- Susan Elliott, U.S. Ambassador
- Jeffrey Feltman, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs; U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
- Brenner Fissell, Appellate Counsel, Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions
- Emil Frankel, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, U.S. Department of Transportation
- Charles Fried, Solicitor General of the United States
- Francis Fukuyama, Deputy Director, Policy Planning, U.S. Department of State
- Kim Fuller, U.S. Department of the Army, Director of International Affairs (Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary)
- Larry Garber, USAID Mission Director, West Bank/Gaza
- Richard Gephardt, U.S. Representative, 1977–2005
- Stuart Gerson, Acting Attorney General of the U.S.; Assistant Attorney General; U.S. Air Force Counterintelligence Officer
- Glenn Gerstell, General Counsel, National Security Agency
- James Glassman, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State
- Kevin Green, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy
- Nina Hachigian, U.S. Ambassador
- Chuck Hagel, Secretary, U.S. Department of Defense
- Morton Halperin, Director, Policy Planning, U.S. Department of State
- Jane Harman, U.S. Representative, 1993–1991, 2001–2011
- Gary Hart, U.S. Senator, 1975–1987
- Luke Hartig, Senior Director for Counterterrorism, National Security Council
- Michael V. Hayden, General, U.S. Air Force; Director, CIA; Director, NSA
- Jason Healey, Director, Critical Infrastructure Protection, Homeland Security Council
- Margaret Henoch, CIA Senior Intelligence Service
- Rush D. Holt, U.S. Representative, 1999–2015
- Cameron Hume, U.S. Ambassador
- Gordon Humphrey, U.S. Senator, 1979–1991
- Paul Douglas Humphries, CIA
- Carol Humphries, CIA, Captain, U.S. Navy Reserve
- Bob Inglis, U.S. Representative, 1993–1999, 2005–2011
- Steve Israel, U.S. Representative, 2001–2017
- Jeh Johnson, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Susan Koch, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Threat Reduction Policy
- Jim Kolbe, U.S. Representative, 1985–2007
- David J. Kramer, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights & Labor
- David Laufman, Chief of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section in the National Security Division, U.S. Department of Justice
- J. William Leonard, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Security & Information Operations)
- Jason Lewis-Berry, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of State
- Andrew Liepman, Deputy Director, National Counterrorism Center; Deputy Director, CIA/Counterterrorism Center; Director, Office of Iraq Analysis; Deputy Director, Weapons Intelligence Non Proliferation and Arms Control Center
- Robert Litt, General Counsel, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
- George Little, Press Secretary, Pentagon; Spokesman, CIA
- James Loy, Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard; Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard; Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Lewis Lukens, U.S. Ambassador
- Michael McFaul, Ambassador; Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council
- Steven McGann, U.S. Ambassador
- Dennis McGinn, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy; Assistant Secretary of the Navy
- Joseph Medina, Brigadier General, U.S. Marine Corps
- Christopher Mellon, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
- Connie Morella, U.S. Representative, 2003–2006; U.S. Ambassador
- Janet Napolitano, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Elizabeth Neumann, Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Suzanne Nossel, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
- William Owens, Admiral, U.S. Navy; Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Christopher Painter, Coordinator for Cyber Issues, U.S. Department of State
- William Perry, Secretary of Defense
- Larry Pfeiffer, Chief of Staff, CIA; Senior Director, White House Situation Room
- Annie Pforzheimer, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Afghanistan
- Randal Phillips, Senior Intelligence Service, CIA
- William Piekney, Senior Operations Manager, CIA
- Steven Pifer, Senior Foreign Service Officer; U.S. Ambassador
- Tony Pipa, Chief Strategy Officer, USAID
- Marc Polymeropoulos, Senior Intelligence Service, Directorate of Operations, CIA
- Allison Price, Senior Spokesperson, U.S. Department of Justice
- Deborah Pryce, U.S. Representative, 1993–2009
- Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor
- Thomas Ridge, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Denver Riggleman, U.S. Representative, 2019–2021
- Thomas B. Robertson, U.S. Ambassador
- Tim Roemer, 9/11 Commissioner; U.S. Ambassador; U.S. Representative, 1991–2003
- Michael Rogers, Admiral, U.S. Navy; Commander, U.S. Cyber Command; Director, National Security Agency
- Todd Rosenblum, Deputy Under Secretary of Intelligence, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Paul Rosenzweig, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Nicholas Rostow, Legal Advisor to the National Security Council; Staff Director, U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
- Joel Rubin, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
- Nilmini Rubin, Director, National Security Council
- David Scheffer, U.S. Ambassador
- Robert Shanks, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice; General Counsel, Overseas Private Investment Corporation; General Counsel, Peace Corps
- Christopher Shays, U.S. Representative, 1987–2009
- Douglas Silliman, U.S. Ambassador
- John Sipher, Senior Intelligence Service, CIA Clandestine Service
- Peter Smith, U.S. Representative, 1989–1991
- Suzanne Spaulding, Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Strobe Talbott, Deputy Secretary of State
- Miles Taylor, Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Tomicah Tillemann, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State; Speechwriter to the Secretary of State
- Kurt Tong, U.S. Ambassador
- Olivia Troye, Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor to Vice President Mike Pence
- Stanley A. Twardy, Jr., United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, 1985–1991
- Alexander Vershbow, NATO Deputy Secretary General; Assistant Secretary of Defense; U.S. Ambassador
- Alexander Vindman, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army; Director for European Affairs, National Security Council
- Edward Walker, U.S. Ambassador; Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
- James Walsh, U.S. Representative, 1989–2009
- Zach Wamp, U.S. Representative, 1995–2011
- Thomas Warrick, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism Policy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- William Wechsler, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Special Operations and Combatting Terrorism
- Pamela White, U.S. Ambassador
- Christine Todd Whitman, Governor of New Jersey; Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
- Jonathan Winer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Law Enforcement; Special Envoy for Libya
- Tim Wirth, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs; U.S. Senator, 1987–1993; U.S. Representative, 1975–1987
- Douglas H. Wise, CIA Senior Intelligence Service; Deputy Director, Defense Intelligence Agency
- Tamara Cofman Wittes, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
- Stephen N. Xenakis, Brigadier General, U.S. Army
- Marie Yovanovitch, U.S. Ambassador
- Dov S. Zakheim, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
- Peter D. Zimmerman, Chief Scientist, Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Chief Scientific Advisor, US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; Science Advisor for Arms Control, U.S. Department of State