The security failure that led to the January 6 Capitol riot was always deeply weird. How was it that the vastest, most penetrating surveillance state in human history was taken by surprise? Why was law enforcement ― which responds to just about any gathering at the Capitol as if it were an invading army, and had spent the previous year brutally putting down unarmed protesters ― so undermanned and under-resourced on the day it maybe mattered most?

As more disclosures about the incident come out, it’s only getting weirder.

A congressional hearing on October 13, for instance, revealed yet more evidence that law enforcement knew something dangerous might happen that day. Records obtained by the January 6 committee show that the Secret Service had been keeping tabs on the chatter of pro-Donald Trump websites, knew there were plans to bring arms to engage in political violence, was aware some pro-Trump protesters intended to storm the Capitol, and knew about death threats being made against then vice president Mike Pence, who played what the protesters saw as the key role of officially certifying the election result. In one December 26 email, a Secret Service field office shared a tip it had gotten from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about the plans that day of the Proud Boys, a far-right group notorious for its use of political violence.