According to Donoghue, at the end of the January 4th call, "[i]t was clear that everyone understood what everyone else's responsibility was, and everyone understood what was available to them if they needed more resources to meet their responsibilities."[102] The calls had also given local and Federal law enforcement entities the chance to "voice any issues, concerns, or requests for Department of Defense support if they felt that they were incapable of handling at their level. So, institutionally, there was agreement on the threat assessment and the plan going forward."[103] The DoD's leading role during the January 3rd and 4th calls had, in fact, left Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf with the impression that DoD was the lead agency, as they were "coordinating phone calls, they were setting agendas for phone calls, and they were calling out different people, okay, what do you need . . . So they were quarterbacking the situation and the response."[104]
AGENCY ACTIONS ON PERMITTING
Three organizations in the National Capitol Region handle permits for organized activities depending on where the planned activity is to occur. The USSS issues permits for the Ellipse, while the DC MPD issues permits for the area around the Ellipse. The USCP handles permitting for activities on the Capitol campus. All three entities, as well as other law enforcement agencies, communicate about applications for permits and the expected number of attendees. They are reluctant to deny permits for what appears to be First Amendment-protected protests.[105] The USCP received, evaluated, and approved six group permit requests for January 5th and 6th activity on Capitol Grounds.[106]
On December 19th, the day of President Trump's "will be wild!" tweet, Cindy Chafian, spokesperson from the "Eighty Percent Coalition," applied to the MPD and USCP for a permit to hold a rally.[107] On December 29th, Chafian applied to USPP for a permit for a January 5th rally in Freedom Plaza.[108] The next day, Kylie Kremer filed for a permit for "Women for America First" to hold a rally for up to 5,000 people on the Ellipse.[109] On December 31st, the National Park Service (NPS) held two meetings with Chafian as well as the MPD and USCP.[110] Then, on January 1st, the USSS confirmed that President Trump would attend the January 6th rally at the Ellipse, prompting USPP to provide additional support for the rally.[111]
On January 4th, "Women for America First" requested that the NPS increase the authorized attendance at its rally to 20,000 from the 5,000 in the original application. The same day, reacting to the USPP briefing that 5,000 people were expected, Joseph Roth, the USSS site lead, commented that he found it "funny that this permit says 5,000 people when they have said 30k repeatedly."[112] On January 5th, the NPS issued a permit for 30,000
