Kamala Harris revealed to have not been in Capitol building during January 6 unrest

"[T]he government incorrectly stated that Vice President-Elect Harris was present in the U.S. Capitol at the time of the attack," prosecutors wrote in a court filing in one January 6 case Tuesday. "In fact, Vice President-Elect Harris was not present at that particular time, though she was present earlier in the day and was present later that day."

According to Politico, another prosecutor disclosed the mistake in a sentencing hearing last week for Eric Torrens. "After Chief Judge Beryl Howell said Torrens' actions contributed to the disorder that prompted Pence and Harris to be evacuated from the Senate chamber," Assistant US Attorney Jamie Carter interjected that the government had "recently learned" that Harris was not present in the Capitol when it was breached.

The revelation may have limited legal significance. Harris was one of two Secret Service protects in the building that day, the other being then Vice President Mike Pence.

"Many of the 650-plus defendants arrested for breaching the Capitol are facing charges that they illegally entered a 'restricted' area where someone under Secret Service protection was visiting. But because Pence remained in the Capitol complex for the duration of the attack, there's likely to be minimal impact on the criminal cases," wrote Politico.

A source familiar with Harris' movements on that day told Politico that she exited the Capitol after a Senate Intelligence Committee briefing that morning. They added that she had been planing to leave at that time regardless of the events that were to follow.

Associates of Harris stated that Harris has a history of declining to share her whereabouts when asked, often citing safety concerns.

With interviews and news accounts indicating that Harris had left the building earlier that day, it is unclear why the DOJ included erroneous information and continued to do so for months.

The Washington Post reported on January 14 that Harris "had received an intelligence briefing in the morning and had not returned to the Senate before rioters broke in. She was kept away from the Capitol until the facility was secured."

In a January 16 interview with the LA Times, Harris "declined, for security reasons, to say where she was during the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters."

"She said she had been at the Capitol earlier that day for a meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee and was working elsewhere in Washington when she was evacuated," the LA Times reported. "She said she watched the mob enter the Capitol on television from a secure location, while texting with colleagues who shared their commitment to return to complete the election certification process."

Despite these news reports and others, in a series of charging documents and other court filings, the DOJ has cited Harris' presence in the building at the time the building was broken into.

"On January 6, 2021, at approximately 1:00 p.m., Vice President Michael R. Pence, in his constitutional duty as President of the Senate, presided over the Joint Session," prosecutors wrote in a March filing looking to keep UCLA student Christian Secor in pretrial detention. "Vice-President-Elect Kamala D. Harris, in her role as a Senator representing the State of California, was also present."

"At approximately 2:20 p.m., members of the House and Senate (including Vice President Pence and Vice-President Elect Harris)—who had withdrawn to separate chambers to resolve an objection—were evacuated from their respective chambers," the submission says, although Harris' office says she wasn't there at time and was never evacuated.

In recent cases, prosecutors have changed their wording, stating that Harris was "temporarily visiting" the Capitol during the events that day.

Randall Eliason, who spent more than a decade in the US Attorney’s Office for Washington DC, said the mistake doesn't undercut charges because Pence's presence would trigger the same potential violations, according to Politico. He added that Harris' anticipated return to the Capitol later in the day is another basis for prosecution.

"Absolute worst case for the government, if the defense makes a stink and a judge buys it, is that the reference to Harris is stricken from the indictment and the case proceeds," said the former prosecutor, who now teaches at George Washington University's law school. "Frankly, I don't think it should even come to that, at least in most cases. The fact that she was expected to be there should be enough."