Four years after pipe bombs showed up outside the RNC and DNC headquarters in D.C. on January 5, 2021, the FBI finally nabbed the suspect—Brian Cole Jr., a 30-year-old from Woodbridge, Virginia. Federal agents charged Cole Thursday morning under 18 U.S.C. § 844 for using an explosive device. Those bombs were live, viable enough to kill or maim folks nearby, but they never went off, and Cole slinked away covered head to toe, backpack in tow, like some hooded phantom on surveillance video.
“Search warrants are being executed, and there could be more charges to come. I'm gonna let our US attorney discuss that shortly. This was the work of multiple agencies working together. This morning's operation was carried out safely and successfully. We know that there is, there are so many issues when you're issuing search warrants,” Bondi said at a press conference Thursday. “Dangerous things can happen, and this was carried out safely and secure, securely thanks to all of the people standing around me. They have worked tirelessly on this.”
But how was he finally caught, more than four years later? Was it a fresh tip? Brand new evidence? Nope. The Trump administration simply reviewed the evidence and found him. Naturally, this leads to a very disturbing but necessary question: Why didn’t the Biden administration find him first?
Attorney General Pam Bondi made it very clear during a Thursday press conference that the Biden administration bears responsibility for letting this case gather dust.
Related: J6 Pipe Bomber Arrested
“Today's arrest happened because the Trump Administration has made this case a priority. The total lack of movement on this case in our nation's capital undermined the public trust of our enforcement agencies. This cold case languished for four years until Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino came to the FBI. The FBI along with US Attorney Pirro and all of our prosecutors have worked tirelessly for months sifting through evidence that had been sitting at the FBI with the Biden Administration for four long years.”
She hammered home that no magic tip or fresh witness cracked it—just straight-up police work from a Trump team that actually cared.
BREAKING: Bondi says there was NO new tip. NO new witnesses. Just good, diligent police and prosecutorial work.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) December 4, 2025
It was the TRUMP FBI that solved this CRITICAL cold case. 🚨 pic.twitter.com/p7jYCWaVQ9
U.S. Attorney Jeannine Pirro also emphasized how long this case had gone unsolved and credited the combined work of federal and local law enforcement for finally identifying the suspect. She said investigators had to comb through massive amounts of data, including more than 233,000 black end caps like those used in the bombs, tracking every sale to match pipes, wires, and other components. Pirro stressed that the current administration committed the resources needed to break the case open, and she closed by saying the formal push for accountability starts now, with her office prepared to see the prosecution through to the end.
"Make no mistake: it was this administration, it was this president who made the decision that we were going to use all of our efforts to get it done and get it done, they did,” Pirro said.
US ATTORNEY PIRRO: "It is a huge win, because it was like finding a needle in a haystack."
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 4, 2025
"Make no mistake. It was this administration, it was this president who made the decision that we were going to use all of our efforts to get it done and get it done, they did." pic.twitter.com/YMtzyrpPzy
This is a welcome breakthrough, but it forces a question the Biden team won’t like: Why did they sit on a case that clearly had enough evidence to solve it? Maybe it’s because their priorities were wasted elsewhere, with time and manpower spent chasing peaceful protesters on January 6. Perhaps they already knew more about Brian Cole Jr. than they ever admitted and preferred to keep him out of the spotlight for some nefarious reason. It’s too early to guess why, but one thing is for sure: It looks like the Biden administration deliberately let this case go cold.
And I bet Democrats are freaking out that we may learn why.
