On Thursday December 12, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Michael Horowitz released his report entitled “A Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Handling of Its Confidential Human Sources and Intelligence Collection Efforts in the Lead Up to the January 6, 2021 Electoral Certification.”
The 88-page report details an investigation conducted largely over the past two years into the FBI’s use of informants relative to the January 6th unrest at the US Capitol.
Years of speculation and punditry have cast a negative light on the FBI over its role on January 6th, some of it deserved and some of it not. The OIG report offers important clarification on the number of agents and confidential human sources (informants) and their role on January 6th.
Some of this speculation included reports that the FBI had hundreds of agents and informants dressed as Trump supporters in the January 6th crowd, and pre-positioned in the Capitol, to encourage rally goers to challenge the barricades and enter the Capitol. The OIG report indicates these numbers and actions were not the part of the FBI on January 6th.
The report should put to rest speculation that the FBI conducted a “false flag operation” that incited or entrapped innocent people to commit criminal acts and violence on January 6th.
OIG Horowitz
Horowitz was sworn in as the Inspector General of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on April 16, 2012, after confirmation by the U.S. Senate. He has served this independent role through five Attorney Generals and three US Presidents. His reputation is that of a “straight shooter” and he’s considered non-political.
The mission of the OIG is to is to “detect and deter waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct in DOJ programs and personnel, and to promote economy and efficiency in Department operations.”
The Investigation
On January 15th, 2021, following the Capitol breech, the OIG announced it would investigate the role of the various DOJ components related to their activities leading up to and including the Capitol breech. One of those components was the FBI and it’s handling of informants related to January 6th.
The investigation determined the following:
Given the history of the Congressional electoral certification vote, during which no vote had ever required a significant intelligence or security designation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not issue such a designation for the January 6th, 2021, event.
As such, the FBI’s role was that of a support agency. Had the event been designated a National Special Security Event (NSSE), such as the Inauguration is every four years, then the FBI would have taken a lead role in preparing and securing the event. (As a result of the 2021 violence, the 2025 electoral certification vote at the Capitol has now been designated a NSSE and will be secured as such).
Given its support role status, the FBI focused on intelligence gathering and having a tactical response capability. The FBI shared the intelligence it gathered about threats on January 6th with the Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the US Park Police which were the primary agencies tasked with securing the Capitol grounds on January 6th.
The FBI had a total of three (3) informants that it actively tasked with travelling to Washington DC to monitor specific suspects who were believed to be going to the January 6th event and potentially attempting to disrupt the electoral certification vote. None of these 3 informants were authorized by the FBI to do anything illegal or to enter the Capitol or any restricted area, and none of them were instructed to incite or entice anyone to do anything illegal. They were instructed to observe and report what they observed back to their FBI agent handler.
In addition, 23 other FBI informants decided on their own to travel to Washington DC and attend the January 6th event. None of these informants were given any assignments by the FBI. None of them were authorized to do anything illegal or enter the Capitol or restricted areas. None of them were instructed to incite or entice anyone to do anything illegal.
Of these 23 informants who traveled to DC on their own with no assignment, 13 notified their FBI agent handler, and 10 did not. Of the 13 who notified their agent handler, the Washington Field Office of the FBI (WFO) was informed of just 2. Of the 26 total informants present during the January 6th events, the WFO was aware of 5 – the 3 on active assignment and 2 of the 23 who were there on their own accord.
There were zero (0) FBI agents working undercover in the crowd or in the Capitol on January 6th and no agent acted to incite or entice anyone to do anything illegal at the January 6th event.
Of the 26 total informants in DC on January 6th, 4 informants entered the Capitol on January 6, including 1 of the 3 informants actively working the event. 13 informants entered the restricted area around the Capitol, and 9 attended but did not enter a restricted area or commit any criminal act. None of the 4 informants who entered the Capitol or the 13 who entered the restricted area on January 6 have been prosecuted to date.
Declining to charge entering the restricted area is reportedly consistent with the charging practice followed by the Washington DC United States Attorney’s Office (DC USAO) which stated it “generally has not charged those individuals whose only crime on January 6, 2021 was to enter the restricted grounds surrounding the Capitol, which has resulted in the Office declining to charge hundreds of individuals; and we have treated the CHSs (informants) consistent with this approach.” It should be noted that the scope of the OIG report did not include prosecution decisions made by the DC USAO.
Report –Finding Fault
The FBI’s primary failure according to the OIG report was its failure to order a thorough canvass by it’s Field Offices for all January 6th related intelligence, and its failure to issue a “collection product” summarizing the threats facing the Capitol on January 6th.
Conclusion
There has been significant speculation and reporting in the 4 years since January 6th, 2021, suggesting the FBI had assigned hundreds of agents and informants dressed as Trump supporters during the January 6th rally, and that these agents and informants had taken part in a false flag operation in which they incited and enticed people to commit crimes and storm the Capitol.
The OIG investigation and report, managed by a well-respected and independent Inspector General, determined conclusively that this kind of speculation and reporting was not accurate.
Links:
Complete OIG report: https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/25-011_0.pdf
DOJ Database of all 1500 January 6th cases by Defendant: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/capitol-breach-cases
United States Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia fact sheet on January 6th prosecutions as of August 2024: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/43-months-jan-6-attack-capitol#:~:text=Approximately%20944%20defendants%20have%20had,sentenced%20to%20periods%20of%20incarceration.