No FBI informants were authorized to enter Capitol on January 6, 2021: DOJ report
The FBI didn't authorize any confidential source to enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a Justice Department inspector general report released Thursday.
Some Republicans have tried to shift blame for the January 6 attack away from the Trump supporters who participated in it, suggesting that FBI associates in the crowd were behind it. However, the report repudiates that suggestion. The agency only tasked three confidential sources with reporting on possible domestic terrorists on Jan. 6, 2021. In total, four FBI confidential sources entered the U.S. Capitol that day, none of whom was authorized to do so.
Only one of those four individuals was actually tasked by FBI field offices to report on any potential terrorism that day. The other three were in Washington, D.C. and went to Jan. 6 events on their own initiative, according to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report.
The report sheds light on what the FBI did and what it knew ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Trump supporters stormed the building that day to disrupt the process for counting the 2020 presidential electoral votes and certifying Joe Biden won the election.
26 FBI informants at Jan. 6 events, but few on assignment
In total, FBI field offices assigned three confidential sources to report on people under investigation on Jan. 6, and the two who didn't enter the Capitol did enter the restricted grounds surrounding it, according to the report. Twenty-three additional sources attended Jan. 6 Washington events on their own, including the three who entered the Capitol and 11 more who entered the restricted grounds.
The inspector general didn't find evidence that the FBI had any undercover employees in the protest crowds or at the Capitol on January 6.
The findings contradict suggestions that the attack was government-directed. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., claimed at a 2023 House Committee on Homeland Security hearing that there were "ghost buses" that were "filled with FBI informants dressed as Trump supporters, deployed onto our Capitol on January 6th."
In rating Higgins' claim false, nonpartisan fact checker PolitiFact stated that numerous investigations, including a congressional review and court cases, "show the attack was led by and executed by people who believed or perpetuated false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen."
More than 1,500 identified individuals have been criminally charged for their alleged roles in the attack and more than 1,000 have been sentenced, according to the Justice Department.
No FBI confidential source who entered the Capitol or its restricted grounds has been prosecuted, according to the report. The D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office, upon reading a draft of the report, said individuals have generally not been charged if their only crime on Jan. 6 was entering the restricted grounds, and confidential FBI sources were treated consistently with that approach.
FBI took significant steps, but didn't canvass field offices
The FBI recognized Jan. 6 events could become violent and took significant steps to prepare, even though it was only playing a supporting role in preparations, according to the report.
That included trying to identify known individuals involved in potential domestic terrorism who were planning to travel to Washington, and setting up a command post to share intelligence. The bureau was also prepared to deploy its resources to clear the Capitol.
However, the inspector general faulted the bureau for failing to canvass its field offices ahead of Jan. 6 for information from confidential sources about potential threats to the vote certification process. The FBI incorrectly told Congress it had done so – an unintentional falsehood based on confusion and communication failures, according to the report.
The FBI disagreed with some factual assertions about FBI canvassing ahead of the attack on the Capitol that were included in a draft of the report it reviewed in advance, according to a memo included in the report. The memo doesn't clarify what those specific assertions were, but states that multiple field offices provided information ahead of Jan. 6 at the direction of the bureau's headquarters and Washington field office. Asked for clarification, the FBI referred USA TODAY back to the memo.
The FBI did agree to a recommendation by the inspector general to assess the preparation policies it uses for events with potential domestic security issues.
Contributing: Bart Jansen
(This story has been updated with additional information.)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No FBI informants were sent into the Capitol on Jan. 6: DOJ report