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Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said there were more than two dozen confidential human sources (CHS) to the crowd outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021, but only three were assigned by the FBI to be present at the event, although it stressed that none of the sources were authorized or directed by the office for “breaking the law”. ” or “encourage others to commit illegal acts,” Fox News has learned.
Horowitz on Thursday released his long-awaited report on the FBI’s handling of its confidential human sources and intelligence-gathering efforts ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, election certification.
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“Today’s report also details our findings about the FBI CHS who were there Washington, DC, on January 6,” the report states. “Our review determined that none of these FBI CHSs were authorized by the FBI to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or to 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 report revealed that the FBI played a minor supporting role in responding on January 6, 2021, largely because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not consider the event to be at the level of higher security
A scene from the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol in Washington, DC (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, file)
Horowitz, however, said the FBI took significant and appropriate steps to prepare for the role.
According to the report, there were a total of 26 confidential human sources in the crowd that day, but only three of them were assigned by the bureau to be there.
One of the three confidential human sources assigned 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 indicated to be at a particular event, the FBI pays them for their time.
“An FBI field office tasked a CHS to travel to DC to report on the activities of a domestic terrorism subject who was planning to travel separately to DC for the Jan. 6 election certification; a second FBI field office assigned 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 the 6th. of January and a third CHS, who had informed his managing agent that he intended to travel to DC on his own initiative for the January 6 events, was similarly tasked by his field office to potentially inform about two DT subjects from other FBI field offices who planned to travel to DC for the events of January 6,” the report. states
Horowitz emphasized that the FBI did not encourage or authorize any source to enter the Capitol or any restricted areas and emphasized that they were not encouraged or authorized to commit any illegal acts.
Twenty-three of the confidential human sources present on January 6 arrived in Washington, DC, at the Capitol on their own. Of this group, three entered the Capitol during the riot, and an additional 11 sources entered the restricted area around the Capitol.
But Horowitz said investigators “found no evidence in the materials we reviewed or in the testimony we received that showed or suggested that the FBI had undercover employees at the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on the 6 January”.
Regarding reimbursements to confidential human sources, Horowitz claimed that at least one was “reimbursed” for his trip, even though CHS “was only tasked with attending the Inauguration and not the election certification of the January 6″.
The FBI, in reaction to Horowitz’s report on Thursday, said the bureau “did not have primary responsibility for intelligence gathering or the security of the events on January 6, but nevertheless, ” recognized the potential for violence and took significant and appropriate steps to prepare for this support role.” Additionally, the report includes the OIG’s analysis of the FBI’s use of confidential human sources (CHS) and concludes that no FBI CHS “was authorized to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or break the law on January 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6 January”.
The FBI said it accepts Horowitz’s recommendations moving forward, specifically that the FBI “evaluate 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 clearly establish the division of responsibilities between and within the appropriate FBI field office and FBI headquarters.”
The FBI said DHS has since designated the upcoming certification of the 2025 election as a special national security event and said the bureau is “coordinating closely with DHS, the Secret Service of USA, the US Capitol Police and other responsible agencies in preparation for 2025.” electoral certification and the subsequent presidential investiture”.
“However, the FBI is committed to evaluating our policies and procedures for future events other than NSSE, as recommended, to ensure that they clearly establish the division of labor between field offices and divisions of the FBI,” the FBI said.
Horowitz had testified on Capitol Hill earlier this year before the House Select Subcommittee on Armaments of the Federal Government, a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee.
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During the hearing, Horowitz did not deny that confidential federal government human sources were in the crowd during the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
“This report confirms what we suspected,” said the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, he told Fox News Digital. “The FBI had encouraged and instructed confidential human sources to be at the capitol that day. There were 26 present in all. Four entered the capitol and were not charged, which is not the same treatment other Americans received “.
Jordan added, “That’s been our concern all along: The agencies were weaponized against the American people. That’s not how our system is supposed to work.”
Jordan recalled that there were two inspector general reports released this week: that report focused on the CHS on Jan. 6 and one earlier in the week about the FBI spying on congressional staff during its investigation into Trump and Russia, including President-elect Trump’s nominee for FBI Director Kash Patel while on the House Intelligence Committee.
“There were two IG reports this week and I think they may have had something to do with Mr. Wray’s announcement this week,” Jordan said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray announced Wednesday that he will resign next month before Trump takes office.
“When Chris Wray first got there in 2017, the FBI was spying on staffers on Congress Hill, including the guy who’s slated to replace him, and the day after he announced he was leaving, this report comes out and it confirms what many of us suspected that there were these confidential human sources present on January 6,” Jordan said.
