Were undercover sources from other DOJ agencies present on January 6th? Grassley and Johnson demand answers

EXCLUSIVE: Senate Republicans are demanding answers about whether confidential human sources of Justice Department agencies beyond the FBI were used on January 6, 2021, while questioning whether Inspector General Michael Horowitz thoroughly reviewed classified and unclassified communications between managers and its sources, warning that without such an overhaul, there could be a “significant blind spot.” “in their findings.

Horowitz last week released his long awaited report that there were more than two dozen FBI confidential human sources in the crowd outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021, but only three were assigned by the bureau to be present at the event. Horowitz said none of the sources were authorized or directed by the FBI to “break the law” or “encourage others to commit illegal acts.”

But now Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., are asking Horowitz for more information, writing in a letter obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital that it is “unclear” whether his office will review the use of confidential human sources by other DOJ components during the Capitol disturbances.

DOJ IG REVEALS THAT 26 FBI INFORMANTS WERE PRESENT ON JAN. 6

Scene from January 6, 2021, at the United States Capitol. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)

“This IG report was a step in the right direction, but Senator Johnson and I still have questions that the Department of Justice needs to answer,” Grassley told Fox News Digital. “The American people deserve a complete picture of whether DOJ sources from its component agencies, in addition to the FBI, were present on January 6, what their role was, and whether the DOJ had knowledge of your assistance.”

Grassley told Fox News Digital that Horowitz and his team “need to redouble their efforts to make sure that he has reviewed all the relevant information and that they provide a sufficient response to our inquiry.”

Senator Chuck Grassley at the US Capitol after Senate luncheons on September 24, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Johnson told Fox News Digital that he believes the report released last week “may have provided only part of the story about the presence and activities of confidential human sources or undercover federal agents in Washington, DC on 6 January 2021”.

“I urge the inspector general’s office to be fully transparent about its work to ensure that Congress and the public have an accurate and complete understanding of what it actually reviewed,” Johnson said.

DOJ INSPECTOR GENERAL DOES NOT DENIE FBI INFORMANTS WERE IN JANUARY 6 CROWD

In their letter to Horowitz, Grassley and Johnson noted that the inspector general’s office received more than 500,000 documents from the Justice Department and its constituents as part of its investigation.

“According to the report, your office obtained: CHS reports, thousands of tips provided to the FBI, investigative and intelligence records from the FBI’s case management system, emails, instant messages and telephone records; contemporaneous notes of telephone calls; chronologies of events up to January 6th,” they wrote.

Grassley and Johnson told Horowitz that “it is vital” that his office “explain more precisely what records it sought and received from all DOJ component agencies.”

Grassley and Johnson are demanding answers about whether Horowitz obtained evidence about whether or not other DOJ component agencies had ordered undercover confidential human sources in the Washington, DC area or the Capitol building on January 6, 2021.

TRUMP SAYS WRAY’S RESIGNATION ‘GREAT DAY FOR AMERICA’, TOUTS KASH PATEL ‘MOST QUALIFIED’ TO LEAD FBI

They also ask whether all communications between DOJ component agency managers and confidential human sources or undercover agents present in the DC area have been obtained, and whether classified and unclassified non-email communication platforms have been obtained. used by the FBI.

Grassley and Johnson are also demanding that Horowitz share with them all FD-1023 forms, or confidential human source report documents, used in the investigation.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz speaks during a Senate hearing on September 15. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Regarding his initial report, Horowitz “determined that none of these FBI CHSs were authorized by the FBI to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or otherwise violate the law on January 6 , nor was any CHS ordered 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 event was not considered the highest security level by the Department of National Security (DHS).

Horowitz, however, said the FBI took significant and appropriate steps to prepare for the role.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

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 three confidential human sources assigned by the FBI to attend the rally entered the Capitol buildingwhile 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.