CAPITOL rioters came within 100 feet of seizing the "nuclear football" last year, sparking fears the strike codes are not secure.

The "football" includes nuclear launch codes and allows the president or a stand-in, such as the vice president, to order a nuclear attack.

The vice president always carries a back-up "football" in case the president is incapacitated.

On the day the Capitol building was attacked last January, footage showed that rioters were within feet of that back-up football.

Surveillance footage played during a presentation by impeachment manager, Rep Stacey Plaskett, after the attack last year showed just how close rioters were to the football, and to then-Vice President Mike Pence as he hid with his family.

In July, the Pentagon's inspector general announced a probe into how secure the football case is in the aftermath of the attack on the Capitol.

However, experts have said that if the Donald Trump supporters had gotten their hands on the case that carries the codes, they would not have been able to initiate any type of launch.

Kingston Reif, an expert on nuclear weapons policy, told CNN that while the rioters wouldn't have been able to launch any attack, the fact that they were so close to the case presents other dangers.

Most read in US News

"Had they stolen the football and acquired its contents, which include pre-planned nuclear strike options, they could have shared the contents with the world," Reif told the outlet.

The "football" contains a card with phone numbers to call and a pass-code that authenticates the caller's identify, according to Slate.

The card also includes encrypted communication gear to make the call and a book describing pre-approved nuclear attack options, according to the outlet.

The person calling, either the president or VP, would need to trasmit a coded message to officials at the Pentagon, who would in turn send orders to missile and/or bomber crews, who would carry out the attack.

A nuclear attack can't be launched by any one button or message, as people often assume.

Aside from the fact that anyone who stole the case would likely not be able to figure out how to use it, or convince officers in the Pentagon that they were the president or VP, the case is also protected by the Secret Service.

If the mob that attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 were to grab for the case, it's likely that the SS officers who were protecting Pence would have taken them down.

After the inspector general’s office opened the investigation, they gave no timeline for completing it.

Security expert Stephen Schwartz told CNN the Capitol riot was "the only recent known event putting the 'football' in significant potential danger to provoke this level of concern."

Source: Read Full Article