The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Inspector General's (IG) report on the FBI's complicity in the January 6 riot reveals that the one-time law enforcement agency-turned-intelligence operation had 26 assets on the ground on the Capitol Complex when a riot broke out. Though this IG report didn't go into it, videos also show that Metropolitan Police, Capitol Police, and likely DHS agents were also in the crowd.
The DOJ-IG also reports that while three of the FBI assets were assigned to be at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, those were the only confidential human sources (CHS) officially tasked "by FBI field offices to report on specific domestic terrorism case subjects who were possibly attending the events of January 6." Indeed, "One of these three CHSs entered the Capitol during the riot. The other two entered the restricted area around the Capitol," according to the report.
The Inspector General said that there were definitely no FBI agents anywhere around the riot that day.
The FBI Did Not Have Any Undercover Employees at the Ellipse, on the National Mall, or at the Capitol on January 6. We 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.
However, the IG does admit that one of the official FBI informants went inside the Capitol Complex.
Laughably, Stephen D’Antuono, the agent brought in to oversee the January 6 information operation after his "successful" Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping operation using agents and assets, told the IG that "FBI policy does not permit the FBI to have undercover employees in crowds at First Amendment-protected events absent some investigative authority, and the WFO CTD ASAC told the OIG that he denied a request from an FBI office to have an undercover employee engage in investigative activity on January 6."
The plans to have some FBI assets in the crowd also defies the testimony of now deposed FBI leader Chris Wray, who told Congress that they were completely surprised about the January 6 events. Obviously, if things were such a big surprise, then why did federal law enforcement of all stripes pre-position assets in the crowd?
Tellingly, the IG did not question Wray or his former deputy director, as reporter Julie Kelly notes.
A few initial thought reading DOJ IG report on Jan 6:
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) December 12, 2024
(1) The IG did not interview Chris Wray. The findings here completely contradict Wray's assertions that the FBI was caught by surprise as to the events of January 6 as well as his prevarications about the use of informants.…
Indeed, during the Proud Boys trial, in which the head of the group, a federal informant who was not at the January 6 event, was sentenced to 22 years in prison, we learned during sworn testimony that there were literally hundreds of federal assets in the crowd on January 6.
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As for the rest of the FBI informants, the IG's report claims that the other 23 CHSs were at the events but weren't there in an official capacity. However, "of these 23 CHSs, three CHSs entered the Capitol during the riot and an additional 11 entered the restricted area around the Capitol."
Although many of the 26 CHSs who attended January 6 events had provided information relevant to the January 6 Electoral Certification before that day, the sources’ information was no more specific than, and was consistent with, other sources of information that the FBI and its WFO had received about the potential for violence on January 6, including from other sources, tips the FBI received, and from social media. A few of the 26 CHSs also provided information about the riot as it occurred. Our review did not identify any potentially critical intelligence in the FBI’s possession as of January 6 that had not been provided to, or was not otherwise known to law enforcement stakeholders prior to January 6.
Some of those informants were with Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, no doubt, who were charged with the most serious crimes from January 6. Yes, they were helping the feds and got the worst punishment.
I've spoken with intelligence pros about January 6, one of whom was there that day and watched the spectacle, and they swear that this was a planned operation, period.
Reporter Darren Beattie, who has followed this story from its inception, says the FBI lied about geofencing January 6 protesters phones and believes the IG's report was a "whitewash." However, he believes it's the reason why Chris Wray left the day before its release.
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