Tipsheet

Conspiracy Theory or Not, the FBI Just Refueled a Top January 6 Narrative

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  July 12, 2023 3:45 PM

The FBI faced a grilling on the Hill Wednesday as Director Christopher Wray answered multiple questions about how our nation’s top investigative and domestic intelligence agency has devolved into a rogue security bureau. From questions surrounding a raid on a pro-life activist’s home to whether the FBI is illegally obtaining location data without warrants, it seemed everyone has a question regarding the conduct of this once reputable law enforcement body. 

Katie wrote about how the FBI acquires the personal bank records of Americans who have purchased firearms. Bank of America did that, sending such sensitive information to the FBI. The bureau reportedly sent search inquiries—all done without a warrant: 

There were other points of contention as well, involving the Steele Dossier, which formed the basis for the Russian collusion hoax, and the Hunter Biden laptop, which was the target of interference by top bureau officials who dismissed it outright as a Kremlin-back disinformation effort. We knew they were wrong, and the laptop was eventually confirmed to be authentic. Wray was also asked about the sophisticated censorship and social media monitoring operation it created with Twitter, which appeared whose sole goal was to influence public opinion. 

The FBI director couldn’t answer some questions, though he promised to revisit them, like Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s (D-CA) question about location data. But Wray refused to answer anything about confidential informants embedded with the crowd on January 6. Wray tried the ‘I know nothing, I see nothing’ approach regarding undercover agents but refused to go into any details regarding confidential human sources at the Capitol or in the crowd due to the court filings that have been followed following this event:


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Conspiracy theory or not, it’s a top narrative that many believe happened during the riot: that FBI agents or informants urged the crowd into storming the U.S. Capitol Building.  

And the FBI, not conservative media, or the tin foil hat crew, fanned the flames of that story today. Given the FBI’s shattered credibility, many will take this as an admission. We’re not saying that, but it’s easy to see how one who ascribes to that narrative could take what Wray said as a ‘gotcha’ moment.