No undercover FBI employees were in Washington at the time, the watchdog also said.
The FBI had informants in Washington as the U.S. Capitol was breached on Jan. 6, 2021, according to an inspector general report released on Dec. 12.
Twenty-nine confidential human sources (CHSs) were in Washington on Jan. 6, U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in the report, which is the result of years of work.
The presence of FBI informants in Washington on Jan. 6 had been known, but the exact number had never been confirmed. Confidential informant reports have contributed to the prosecution of members of the Proud Boys and others who took part in the breach.
Horowitz also said that the probe turned up no evidence showing any undercover FBI employees attended the various protests that took place on Jan. 6, or went to the Capitol that day.
All but three of the FBI informants were in Washington on Jan. 6 “in connection with” the protest and other events that took place that day, Horowitz and his team said.
Four of the informants ended up entering the Capitol and 13 others entered the restricted Capitol grounds, despite that none of them received authorization to do so, the watchdog found.
Nine informants did not enter the Capitol or a restricted area or otherwise commit any crimes.
The other three informants just happened to be in Washington for reasons unrelated to the Jan. 6 events, according to the report.
Of the 26 sources who went to Washington in connection with the protest and other events, two were tasked to report on subjects the FBI had learned were traveling to the nation’s capital for the events. A third informant had been tasked with reporting on people traveling to Washington for the events after notifying a handling agent about planned travel to Washington.
The other 23 informants had not been tasked by the FBI with traveling to Washington. Thirteen of this subset informed their handling agent in advance of the trips, while the other 10 did not. None of the 23 were found to have engaged in illegal activity.
