Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department Inspector General, has come out and stated that there were over two dozen confidential human sources within the crowd on Jan. 6, 2021, however, only three of them were assigned by the FBI to present during the protest event. He then attempted to stress that none of those sources were authorized or directed by the agency to “break the law” or “encourage others to commit illegal acts,” Fox News reported.
On Thursday, Horowitz released a highly anticipated report titled the FBI’s Handling of its Confidential Human Sources and Intelligence Collection Efforts in the Lead Up to the Jan. 6, 2021 Electoral Certification.
“Today’s report also details our findings regarding FBI CHSs who were in Washington, D.C., on January 6,” the report goes on to say. “Our review determined that none of these FBI CHSs was authorized by the FBI to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or to otherwise break the law on January 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6.”
One of the three confidential human sources tasked by the FBI to attend the rally entered the Capitol building, while the other two entered the restricted area around the Capitol. If a confidential human source is directed to be at a certain event, they are paid by the FBI for their time.
“One FBI field office tasked a CHS to travel to DC to report on the activities of a predicated domestic terrorism subject who was separately planning to travel to DC for the January 6 Electoral Certification; a second FBI field office tasked a CHS to travel to DC to potentially report on two domestic terrorism (DT) subjects from another FBI field office who were planning to travel to DC for the events of January 6; and a third CHS, who had informed their handling agent that they intended to travel to DC on their own initiative for the events of January 6, was similarly tasked by their field office to potentially report on two DT subjects from other FBI field offices who were planning to travel to DC for the events of January 6,” the report went on to explain.
Horowitz stressed that no sources were encouraged or authorized by the FBI to enter the Capitol or any restricted area and stressed that they were not encouraged or authorized to commit any illegal acts. Twenty-three of the confidential human sources present on Jan. 6 came to Washington, D.C., to the Capitol on their own. Of that group, three entered the Capitol during the riot, and an additional 11 sources entered the restricted area around the Capitol.
Horowitz then revealed that investigators “found no evidence in the materials we reviewed or the testimony we received showing or suggesting that the FBI had undercover employees in the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on January 6.”
As for reimbursements to confidential human sources, Horowitz stated that at least one was “reimbursed” for their travel, even though that CHS “was only tasked with attending the Inauguration and not the electoral certification on January 6.”
The bureau reacted to the report written by Horowitz by saying the FBI “did not have primary responsibility for intelligence collection or event security on January 6 but nonetheless ‘recognized the potential for violence and took significant and appropriate steps to prepare forthis supporting role.’ Further, the Report includes the OIG’s analysis regarding the FBI’s use of confidential human sources (CHSs), and concludes that no FBI CHSs ‘were authorized to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or to otherwise break the law on January 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6.’”
The agency stated that it accepts the recommendations made by Horowitz going forward, pointing specifically to the need for the FBI to “assess the processes and procedures it uses to prepare for events that it determines present potential domestic security issues—but have not been designated as NSSE or SEAR events by DHS—to ensure that its processes and procedures set forth with clarity the division of responsibilities between and within the relevant FBI field office and FBI Headquarters.”
Officials within the bureau said that the Department of Homeland Security has already designated the certification of the 2024 election results as a national special security event, going on to say that the FBI “is coordinating closely with DHS, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Capitol Police and other responsible agencies in preparation for the 2025 electoral certification and the subsequent Presidential Inauguration.”
“The FBI is nonetheless committed to assessing our policies and procedures for other, non-NSSE future events, as recommended, to ensure that they clearly set forth the division of labor among FBI field offices and divisions,” the FBI stated.
“This report confirms what we suspected,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “The FBI had encouraged and tasked confidential human sources to be at the capitol that day. There were 26 total present. 4 entered the Capitol and weren’t charged, which is not the same treatment that other Americans received.”
The Republican congressman then added: “This has been our concern all along—agencies being weaponized against the American people. It’s not how our system is supposed to work.”
Jordan reminded that there were two inspector general reports released this week–this report focused on CHSs on Jan. 6, and one earlier in the week about the FBI spying on congressional staffers during its Trump-Russia probe, including President-elect Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, while he was on the House Intelligence Committee.
“When Chris Wray first got there back in 2017, the FBI was spying on congressional hill staffers, including the guy who is slated to replace him, and then the day after he announces he’s leaving, this report comes out and confirms what so many of us suspected, that there were these confidential human sources present on Jan. 6,” Jordan concluded.
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