The FBI’s Washington Field Office (WFO) affirmed that there may have been “undercover officers” and “confidential human sources” inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to whistleblower testimony obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office requested the Boston Field Office open investigations into 140 individuals who took buses from Massachusetts to D.C. on Jan. 6., but denied the office’s request to see video proving those individuals were inside the Capitol, FBI whistleblower George Hill said during a Feb. 10 interview with the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. The office claimed they needed to “protect” the identity of possible undercover agents, according to Hill.
The Boston office initially opened cases on two individuals that “definitive evidence” showed were in restricted areas of the Capitol, Hill said. Because those individuals organized the buses to D.C., the WFO wanted cases opened on every individual on the bus. (RELATED: Biden DOJ Implores Court To Allow Dems’ January 6th Lawsuit Against Trump To Proceed)
Boston’s Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) declined to open cases on everyone who went to D.C. because they were “going to a political rally, which is First Amendment protected activity,” according to Hill.
“[People] think of the unlawful events that took place later on in the day on January 6th, but up until that time, it was a rally,” Hill said. “People were, you know, either driving to it, flying to it.”
When another SSA asked to see where they were inside the Capitol, the WFO declined to show the footage unless they knew “the exact time and place those individuals were inside the Capitol.”
“Why can’t you [give us access] to the 11,000 hours of video that’s available?” the SSA asked.
The WFO responded that there “may be” undercover officers or confidential human sources “on those videos whose identity we need to protect,” according to Hill, who said he heard the conversation firsthand.
Many have speculated FBI agents were among the crowd on Jan. 6. In November, FBI Director Christopher Wray refusedto say whether or not the bureau had confidential human sources among Jan. 6 protestors when asked by Republican Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins. Executive Assistant Director of the FBI National Security Branch, Jill Sanborn, similarly dodged the question when it was posed by Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at a Jan. 11, 2023 Senate hearing.
“Our whistleblowers are brave individuals who risk their reputations and livelihoods to expose wrongdoing,” House Judiciary Chair and Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “There are already immense obstacles in place deterring whistleblowers from coming forward and we hope Democrat leaks and partisan criticisms don’t chill other whistleblowers from coming forward.”
The FBI declined to comment.
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