The Trump administration’s Justice Department has confirmed what many have long suspected— more than two dozen FBI informants were embedded at the January 6th protests, raising serious questions about the extent of government involvement in the events that unfolded that day.
DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a bombshell report that 26 confidential human sources (CHSs) were planted outside the Capitol building during the January 6 protests. According to the report, three of those informants were assigned to their stations that day by the FBI, emphasizing that none of the CHSs were instructed to “break the law” or “encourage others to commit illegal acts.”
The report states that while some FBI CHSs were present in Washington, D.C., on January 6, none were authorized to enter restricted areas, break the law, or incite illegal activity. Three CHSs were tasked with monitoring specific domestic terrorism subjects who were planning to attend the events. In each case, the CHSs were assigned to gather information, not to participate or provoke unlawful actions.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) said that the report confirmed what they had suspected.
“The FBI had encouraged and tasked confidential human sources to be at the Capitol that day. There were 26 total present. Four entered the Capitol and weren’t charged, which is not the same treatment that other Americans received,” Jordan said. “This has been our concern all along — agencies being weaponized against the American people. It’s not how our system is supposed to work.”
Investigators “found no evidence in the materials we reviewed or the testimony we received showing or suggesting that the FBI had undercover employees in the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on January 6,” Horowitz said.
According to a statement included in Horowitz’s report, the FBI stated it “did not have primary responsibility for intelligence collection or event security on January 6 but nonetheless ‘recognized the potential for violence and took significant and appropriate steps to prepare for this supporting role.’”
An FBI spokesperson said the agency will use the Inspector General's recommendations to review and improve how it prepares for events that pose potential domestic security threats but aren’t officially designated as high-security events by the Department of Homeland Security. The goal is to clarify the roles and responsibilities between the FBI Headquarters and its field offices.
Rep. Thomas Massie (RKY) suggested that former FBI Director Christopher Wray's resignation was strategically timed to avoid fallout from the Inspector General's report revealing the presence of FBI informants at the Capitol on January 6. Massie claimed that this confirms misconduct he has been questioning for years.
