Under questioning from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland claimed not to know if any federal agents or assets were present and involved in instigating events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
This comes on the same day the committee released testimony of Garland’s former FBI assistant director in charge of the Washington field office admitting under oath that so many federal assets were on hand that an audit was later required to determine just how many.
During the hearing, Massie asked Garland how many government agents or assets were present, agitating the crowd to enter the Capitol, as well as how many went entered, noting he had asked Garland the same question in an October 2021 hearing. Yet despite having almost two years to learn this information, Garland, dodged, answering “I don’t know the answer to that question.”
Massie pressed Garland further, asking, “You don’t know how many there were, or there were none?”
“I don’t know the answer to either of those questions,” Garland replied. “If there were any, I don’t know how many. I don’t know whether there are any.”
Despite Garland’s claims of ignorance, at least one former member of the DOJ acknowledged under oath that this knowledge was widespread. Wednesday, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) released transcripts of a June 2023 testimony from Steven D’Antuono, now retired but at the time assistant director in charge of the Washington FBI field office, stating under oath that FBI investigations revealed so many confidential human sources (CHS) present that day that “we asked headquarters to do a poll or put out something to people saying was any CHSes involved.”
“I remember particularly there was one [CHS] from like Kansas City or whatever,” said D’Antuono, admitting his belief that there were confidential human sources that the FBI knew ahead of time would be there on January 6.
Notably, the former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) January 6th Committee chose not to seek D’Antuono’s testimony despite interviewing hundreds of other individuals.
Garland, the nation’s top law enforcement officer, oversees a DOJ that has made the prosecution of those present — and some who were not — on January 6 a priority, casting doubts on his claims to be unaware of federal involvement that day. On Tuesday, the DOJ indicted Ray Epps, an individual notable for his prominence in multiple public videos instigating the crowd to enter the Capitol, for a misdemeanor. Yet Garland continued to deny “personal knowledge” on the fundamental question of the government’s presence and involvement on January 6 and the days leading up to it.
Massie made his doubts clear, noting, “I think you may have just perjured yourself, that you don’t know that there were any.”
“You’ve had two years to find out. By the way, that was in reference to Ray Epps, and yesterday you indicted him — isn’t that a wonderful coincidence — on a misdemeanor. Meanwhile you’re sending grandmas to prison, you’re putting people away for 20 years, for merely filming. Some people weren’t even there, yet you’ve got the guy on video, who’s saying go into the Capitol, he’s directing people to the Capitol. Before the speech ends, he’s at the site of the first breach. You’ve got all the goods on him, ten videos, and it’s an indictment for a misdemeanor? The American public isn’t buying it,” Massie concluded.
