The FBI worked to identify domestic extremists who planned to be in Washington, D.C., the day of the attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021, but failed to take a "basic step" that could have helped law enforcement prepare ahead of the event, according to a new report from the Justice Department's internal watchdog.
The long-awaited report from DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz's office comes nearly four years after a crowd of Donald Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to prevent Congress from certifying President Biden's election win. The report looks at how the FBI handled its intelligence and informants, known as confidential human sources, ahead of the event.
The report found that the FBI had a supporting role on Jan. 6, with the U.S. Capitol Police and the Washington, D.C., police department in the lead. Still, the FBI "recognized the potential for violence and took significant and appropriate steps to prepare," including trying to identify known domestic extremists who planned to be in the D.C. region for Jan. 6.
But the inspector general's office determined that the FBI failed to canvass its field offices ahead of Jan. 6, 2021, to identify any intelligence, including from informants, about potential threats that day to Congress' certification of Biden's electoral win. Such a step is common practice for the bureau ahead of a large event, and the failure to do so ahead of Jan. 6 was "a basic step that was missed," FBI deputy director Paul Abate told the watchdog.
The FBI in the weeks after the attack initially incorrectly told Congress that it had done that basic step of canvassing field offices about potential threats, the watchdog found.
No undercover employees
The report also found no evidence that the FBI had undercover employees in the protest crowds or at the Capitol on Jan. 6, although the watchdog determined that 26 FBI informants were in D.C. on the day. The report said three of the informants were tasked by the FBI with traveling to Washington specifically to report on domestic terrorism subjects who might be attending the event.
None of the informants, the report said, were authorized to enter the Capitol or a restricted area, nor were they authorized to break the law or encourage others to do so. However, the inspector general's review found that four of them did enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, and an additional 13 entered the restricted area around the Capitol. None of them have faced charges, the report says.
Trump, who is entering the White House for a second term next month, has promised to pardon Jan. 6 defendants. Among those requesting pardons are the leaders of two right-wing extremist groups — the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers — who were convicted of attempting to overthrow the government by using force during the attacks.
Trump, in an interview with Time magazine, said he would look at each situation case-by-case, leaving open the possibility of pardons even for violent offenders.
"We're going to look at each individual case, and we're going to do it very quickly, and it's going to start in the first hour that I get into office. And a vast majority of them should not be in jail," Trump said in the interview, according to a transcript published on Thursday. "A vast majority should not be in jail, and they've suffered gravely."
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