Although Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz determined the FBI did not deploy undercover agents at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, he did reveal the agency had 26 confidential human sources from various field offices in Washington, D.C., that day.
Horowitz's assessment was disclosed in a report released Thursday on the FBI's handling of confidential human sources and intelligence gathering in the lead-up to Congress' certification of Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump.
Horowitz wrote that three of the 26 confidential human sources were tasked by FBI field offices before Jan. 6 "to report on domestic terrorism subjects who were possibly attending the event."
He wrote one was tasked "to report on the activities of a predicated domestic terrorism subject who was separately planning to travel to D.C." for the election certification vote; another was "to potentially report" on two domestic terrorism subjects from another FBI field office who were planning to travel to D.C. that day; and a third who informed their handling agent they intended to travel to D.C. on their own initiative and who then was tasked "to potentially report" on two domestic terrorism subjects identified by other FBI field offices who were planning to travel to D.C. that day.
He added none of the three was authorized "to enter the Capitol or a restricted area, or to otherwise break the law on Jan. 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on Jan. 6."
Of the 26, Horowitz wrote four entered the Capitol during the riot, an additional 13 entered the restricted area around the Capitol — a security perimeter established in preparation for the certification vote — and nine neither entered a restricted area nor entered the Capitol or otherwise engaged in illegal activity.
"None of the CHSs who entered the Capitol, or a restricted area has been prosecuted to date," Horowitz wrote. "The WFO [FBI Washington Field Office] did not know that a total of 26 CHSs would be in D.C. for the events of January 6 because only 4 field offices had informed the WFO or FBI Headquarters that CHSs under the relevant field office's jurisdiction — 5 CHSs in total — would be traveling to D.C. on January 6."
Horowitz determined many of the CHSs provided information relevant to the certification vote before Jan. 6 "and that a few CHSs also provided information about the riot as it occurred."
"In addition, FBI field offices collected CHS reporting relevant to the January 6 Electoral Certification from CHSs who did not travel to D.C. for the event," Horowitz wrote.
The report revealed among the information CHSs provided to their handling agents was that "extremist members of the Oath Keepers or other groups may become involved in unplanned violent activity on January 6"; that the number of Oath Keepers headed to D.C. "is 200+ strong"; travel plans being discussed by the Proud Boys; an individual purporting to be the leader of a group that had "500 people willing to storm the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. on January 6th"; and concerns for the safety of members of Congress on Jan. 6.
Horowitz's report referred to the Oath Keepers as "a large but loosely organized collection of individuals, some of whom are associated with militias." It said the Proud Boys "describes itself as a ‘pro-Western fraternal organization for men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world; aka Western Chauvinists.'"
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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