NOW WE KNOW HOW MANY SECRET SOURCES THE FBI HAD ON JAN. 6, BUT WHAT DID THEY DO? It took years, but now we know the number of secret informants the FBI had in Washington during the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021. What we don’t know is what they did.
In a long-awaited report, Michael Horowitz, the inspector general of the Justice Department, revealed that 26 confidential human sources, or CHSs, “were in Washington, D.C., on January 6 in connection with the events of January 6.” Of that number, 17 went into the Capitol or into the restricted area around the Capitol. Of them, four went inside the Capitol, while 13 were on the restricted grounds. Beyond that number, there were nine CHSs who did not enter the Capitol or the restricted area. We don’t know where they were.
The FBI told Horowitz that most of the CHSs came to Washington on their own and not at the orders of or request of the FBI. But several of them, 13 in all, informed their FBI handlers that they were traveling to Washington. And three of the CHSs had, in fact, been assigned by FBI field offices to go to Washington. Of that group, one entered the Capitol, while the other two entered the restricted area. The report says that none of them were authorized by the FBI to enter those areas. Of the 23 other CHSs who were not assigned to go to Washington and instead came on their own initiative, three entered the Capitol, and 11 entered the restricted area.
None of the CHSs, including the total of four who went inside the Capitol and the 13 who entered the restricted area, has been prosecuted, the inspector general said.
The report goes through some of the CHSs’ interactions with various FBI field offices around the country. (The FBI has 55 field offices nationwide.) None of the CHSs were identified in the report, but some clearly had close connections inside two groups, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, that have been extensively prosecuted for their activities in the Capitol riot. Many of those CHSs did not travel to Washington for Jan. 6 but instead told their FBI handlers what they knew of the groups’ leaders’ plans. Other CHSs had access to online chats and communications in what the FBI calls “the RMVE and AGAAVE movements.” (RMVE refers to Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism, and AGAAVE refers to Anti-Government or Anti-Authority Violent Extremism.)
By Byron York
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