Protestors might have breached Capitol security with 'inside assistance,' Congresswoman says

Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said on Friday that protestors might have been able to breach U.S. Capitol security and storm the building with "inside assistance." 

She called for congressional lawmakers and law enforcement to formally investigate the possibility of inside help related to Wednesday's riot at the Capitol.

Wasserman Schultz said she attended an "emergency" Democratic caucus meeting on Friday and there are questions that need to be answered. She also said the law enforcement response to the protest was "horrendous" and the Capitol Police's lack of preparation was "appalling." Wasserman Schultz added that she was the top House Democratic lawmaker in charge of overseeing the Capitol Police for 10 years. 

"We have some really serious structural issues that we need to get to the bottom of," she said during a Jewish Democratic Council of America discussion. "Then we also have to make sure that we answer the questions about how some of the things that happened on Wednesday could have happened without there being inside assistance because I hate to say that, I pray to God that is not what happened, but there were some actions taken that you can't just imagine how they happened without some kind of permissiveness occurring." 

According to the House Appropriations Committee, the FY2021 Capitol Police budget is $516 million. There are roughly 2,300 members of the force, according to the Capitol Police website, which amounts to about $224,348 per individual.