None of the thousands of people who joined protests in Washington, D.C., and stormed the halls of Congress on January 6, 2021 were undercover FBI agents, according to the results of a lengthy probe from a Department of Justice watchdog.
The findings deal a blow to persistent right-wing conspiracy theories that federal law enforcement agents provoked a riot or a “false flag” attack to entrap Donald Trump’s supporters to break into the Capitol.
But the report’s discovery that roughly two dozen confidential sources were on the ground at the time is likely to continue fueling a false narrative that federal agents had something to do with instigating the assault.
There is “no evidence” that undercover FBI employees joined the crowds at the Capitol in the days leading up to and on January 6, and none who were in Washington at the time were authorized to enter the building, according to a report from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Howoritz.
“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,” according to the report which was published Thursday.
Three sources in Washington at the time were dispatched to observe domestic terror suspects, Horowitz found.
Of those 26 confidential sources, four entered the Capitol, and 13 others entered a restricted area around the building’s perimeter. Nine did not enter the restricted area or the Capitol “or otherwise engaged in illegal activity,” according to the report.
One of the four sources testified during a trial for members of the far-right Proud Boys gang, which resulted in guilty verdicts on charges of seditious conspiracy against several leaders.
But the FBI failed a “basic step” of canvassing its field offices for critical intelligence that could have better prepared law enforcement for the attack, the agency’s deputy director Paul Abbate told investigators.
The FBI reported to Congress that it had directed its field offices to canvass sources for information leading up to January 6, but the inspector general discovered that “no canvassing of field offices for source information had occurred.”
Horowitz found that the FBI’s statements to Congress “were not intentionally inaccurate, and that confusion and lack of coordinated communications contributed to the inaccurate reporting.”
But the inspector general found that the FBI “recognized the potential for violence” in the days leading up to the attack, and the agency ultimately took “significant and appropriate steps” despite playing only a “supporting” role in preparation and response.
More than 1,500 people have been charged in connection with the attack, fueled by Trump’s false narrative that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” and “rigged” against him.
Trump himself was charged with four charges of conspiracy and obstruction for his attempts to overturn the results and his failure to stop the mob, though special counsel Jack Smith moved to dismiss the charges, for now, after Trump’s victory in the 2024 election.
The president-elect intends to grant sweeping pardons for January 6 defendants he has called “patriots” and “hostages.” He told TIME that he will grant pardons on a “case-by-case basis” as soon as the “first hour” or even “the first nine minutes” that he enters office on January 20.
“If they were non-violent, I think they’ve been greatly punished,” he said. “And the answer is I will be doing that, yeah, I’m going to look if there’s some that really were out of control.”
