The FBI released a new batch of records about its Capitol Hill uprising investigation on Monday, revealing that investigators identified a “person of interest” in its Jan. 5/6 pipe bombs investigation within days of the incident.
The record about the FBI’s person of interest is a Jan. 10, 2021, report that summarized the bureau’s J6 investigation up to that point. The extremely faded report is difficult to read, but it appears to state: “FBI WF and USCP have identified a person of interest who may be a match to the description of the individual placing the bombs, and continue efforts to identify through surveillance footage.”
🚨NEW🚨 The FBI released records yesterday, showing that by Jan. 10, 2021, the bureau had "identified a person of interest who may be a match to the description of the individual" who placed the pipe bombs near the RNC and DNC
— Headline USA (@HeadlineUSA) July 9, 2024
What happened to this person of interest?
The… pic.twitter.com/CPbI8VAzIF
The FBI declined to comment in response to Headline USA’s questions about what happened to the person of interest, including whether the person was cleared or is still under investigation.
“We don’t have any comment on the documents. The pipe bomb investigation remains ongoing,” an FBI spokesperson told this outlet.
The FBI has been extremely tight-lipped on its pipe bomb investigation, and most of the revealtions have come via congressional investigations or other agencies, such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Last July, for instance, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., played a video showing a passerby “miraculously” finding a pipe bomb outside of the DNC headquarters on Jan. 6, 2021.
Massie’s revelation followed an interview he and other House Judiciary Committee members conducted with former FBI official Steven D’Antuono, who oversaw the bureau’s pipe bomb investigation until he retired last November. In that interview, D’Antuono disclosed that some of the cell phone evidence from the FBI’s pipe bomb investigation was “corrupted.”
Why doesn't Director Wray have answers about the January 6th pipe-bomb investigation?
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) July 12, 2023
🎥 : @RepThomasMassie pic.twitter.com/mBJUcMQajG
More recently, congressional investigators revealed that the “passerby” pegged by Massie was, in fact, a plainclothes Capitol Police officer.
The latest major development came in March, when the Justice Department released ATF records showing that CIA explosives technicians were part of the response to the pipe bombs placed outside the RNC and DNC headquarters.
Still, the FBI is staying silent on the matter.
“It was 900 days ago when this happened, and you said you had total confidence that you’d apprehend the subject,” Massie said a year ago, to no avail. “It’s 900 days. You need to tell us what you found.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.