The Department of Homeland Security found in an internal watchdog report on the events surrounding the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021 that Vice President Kamala Harris came within 20 feet of a "viable" pipe bomb outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee that day.
The report from the DHS Office of the Inspector General, which was obtained by ABC News, showed that the Secret Service on Jan. 6 failed to notice that a "pipe bomb had been placed near the building" that serves as the DNC's headquarters "the night before" the Capitol riot because the advance security sweeps the agency conducted "did not include the outside area where a pipe bomb had been placed."
The report added that on Jan. 6, Harris, while "traveling in an armored vehicle with her motorcade, entered the DNC building via a ramp within 20 feet of the pipe bomb."
The bomb was only discovered by law enforcement about an hour and 40 minutes after Harris arrived at the building, and the report implied that it took the Secret Service about 10 minutes to evacuate Harris, then the incoming vice president, from the building.
"The events of January 6 were unprecedented, and the issues we identified during our review present an opportunity for the Secret Service to be better prepared in the future," the report stated before several recommendations were listed that the agency reportedly has already begun to implement.