Official congressional records or announcements

DOJ Report: FBI Had 26 Informants on Jan. 6, Four Entered Capitol, But No Agents Present

Dec 13, 2024, 04:40 AM

The Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has released a report on the FBI's intelligence efforts before the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, debunking conspiracy theories that the FBI instigated the violence. The report found no evidence that undercover FBI employees were present at the Capitol or nearby protests on that day. However, it revealed that the FBI had 26 confidential human sources (CHS) in Washington, D.C., on January 6, with four entering the Capitol during the riot. None of these informants were authorized by the FBI to break the law or incite others to do so. The report criticized the FBI for not canvassing all its field offices for intelligence, a step that could have potentially mitigated the violence. The FBI, in its response, accepted the OIG's recommendations for future improvements despite disagreeing with some factual assertions in the report.