Donald Trump has pledged a probe into “dirty cops and crooked politicians” in the wake of the report
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had some 274 “plainclothes agents” present during the January 6 Capitol Hill riot, conservative outlet Blaze News reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed senior congressional source.
The new claim contradicts the bureau’s longstanding denial of its alleged heavy presence during the 2021 unrest. Late last year, the US Department of Justice Office of Inspector General said the bureau had no “undercover employees” in the crowds, but acknowledged that 26 FBI confidential informants were present.
At the time, the DOJ inspector general said that four of the informants had entered the Capitol alongside the crowds. Only three of the informants were summoned to Washington to report on “domestic terrorism subjects who were possibly attending the event” in the aftermath.
Blaze News noted that the new information it had learned from the congressional source does not necessarily contradict the official account, given that “undercover employees” and “plainclothes agents” could be treated differently by the bureau.
The report nonetheless drew the ire of US President Donald Trump, who pledged to investigate the claims and bring “dirty cops and crooked politicians” to justice. The FBI undercover personnel could have been acting as “agitators and insurrectionists” during the January 6 events, Trump alleged.
“I want to know who each and every one of these so-called ‘Agents’ are, and what they were up to on that now ‘Historic’ Day. Many Great American Patriots were made to pay a very big price only for the love of their Country. I owe this investigation of ‘Dirty Cops and Crooked Politicians’ to them! Christopher Wray, the then Director of the FBI, has some major explaining to do,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The January 6 events prompted a massive FBI investigation, as well as a far-reaching probe into the alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. The probe resulted in more than 1,500 people being charged with federal crimes, including Trump himself. Trump granted clemency to everyone who faced charges stemming from the riot, with most receiving full pardons.
