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J6 FBI Paid Confidential Human Sources or Agent Provocateurs? And How Many Exactly?
Many here on Ricochet have questioned, and still question, what really happened on January 6th, 2021, when people both stormed the Capitol building and were ushered into it by Capitol Police. Given the earlier FBI-created plot to kidnap Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer to entrap wary and less-than-enthusiastic participants, many were also curious if there were agent provocateurs in the crowd that “stormed” the Capitol. To this day, the FBI has refused to answer that question while never emphatically denying it. Well, today we’re getting more of a hint of an answer to the question of FBI-paid “confidential human sources” or agent provocateurs on-site at the Capitol complex on January 6th. “Confidential human sources” could be a deliberate euphemism for “paid agent provocateurs,” because the question remains whether they were brought in to gin up the crowd and actively engage in vandalism to force their way into the Capitol.
In testimony today before the House Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz stated that he has been gathering information for a report and may about to release more precise information on whether the FBI paid individuals to wreak havoc on January 6th, so Democrats and the incoming Biden-Harris administration and the media could immediately lay the blame on the purported insurrection at Donald Trump.
Of course, the media spotlight has really never been turned to the destruction of evidence by the J6 Committee, a committee that violated the rules of the House in its formation, or the destruction of January 6th emails and texts by the Secret Service. How and why was all this communication destroyed? One would think that a real insurrection would have necessitated the preservation of such critical departmental communication to bolster the claim that what happened at the Capitol was indeed an attempt to overthrow the government. But no…this critical information has been destroyed.
A New York Times <cough, choke> “documentary” video was even touted here on Ricochet by an important Ricochet personality, as the definitive explanation of what actually happened at the Capitol. The documentary included highlighted footage of one Ray Epps encouraging the crowd to go into the Capitol building. What wasn’t shown in the video was the crowd shouting back at Epps that he was a Fed plant.
From Fox News moments ago (emphasis mine):
DOJ inspector general does not deny FBI informants were among Jan 6 crowd
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz did not ‘recall the number’ of confidential human sources reimbursed for travel on Jan 6, 2021.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Wednesday did not deny that federal government confidential human sources were in the crowd during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Horowitz was testifying on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning before the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. The Department of Justice watchdog testified alongside an FBI whistleblower and the president of Empower Oversight, Tristan Leavitt.
The hearing was set to focus on how the FBI has used its security clearance adjudication process to allegedly purge its ranks of conservatives and whistleblowers, and allegedly punish those with views contrary to that of FBI leadership.
Horowitz, though, testified that he had “not made such a finding.”
However, Horowitz’s office is currently working on a review of the Justice Department’s actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
Horowitz was forced to answer questions about that review from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who questioned whether federal assets and confidential human sources were present on Jan. 6 at the Capitol.
Horowitz explained his review was put on pause due to ongoing criminal investigations into individuals who participated in the riot but re-initiated his investigation last year.
“Do you have evidence of the number of confidential human sources that were operating on the Capitol grounds on January 6th?” Massie asked.
“Our report will include the information in that regard,” Horowitz replied.
When pressed on “how many” confidential human sources were present, and on whether there were “more than 100,” Horowitz did not disclose the information.
“I’m not in a position to say that, both because it is in draft form, and we have not gone through the classification review,” Horowitz said. “And so I need to be careful.”
Yes, Inspector Horowitz, be careful. Posting evidence that embarrasses the Justice Department and the FBI should not be done in a cavalier fashion. And isn’t it curious that Representative Massie asks if there were more than 100 paid FBI informants present that day? Is Massie getting information from an FBI whistleblower or whistleblowers? Was it more than 100 paid “informants”? Smart lawyers are taught to only ask questions they already know the answers to.
Did any of the “confidential human sources” engage in vandalism? Were the confidential human sources specifically there to incite a riot? If Horowitz viewed the receipts for travel for the paid “confidential human sources” but can’t recall the number of “confidential human sources,” surely the receipts are documents that can be retrieved and then reviewed by members of the committee even in a confidential SCIF? Yes, of course they can, and stop calling me Shirley. Perhaps those serving time or otherwise penalized for parading in the Capitol have a right to know if there were paid FBI “confidential human sources” who engaged in unlawful acts but were shielded from prosecution by the DOJ because that would mean that justice in America is truly blind and meted out equally. Don’t hold your breath. Will the FBI or the DOJ make the receipts available? Their record on cooperating with Congressional committees isn’t exactly stellar and their record of deliberate obfuscation and outright deception to benefit the Biden family specifically and Democrats in general is well documented.
More from Fox News:
Horowitz, though, said he hoped the report would be made public in “the next couple of months,” but likely after Election Day.
“I doubt it would be done in time for the election,” Horowitz said.
When asked if it could be completed before the inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, Horowitz replied: “That is certainly my hope and my sure hope.”
Photo above – Crowd outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021. (Wikimedia Commons)
Published in General
Is this the same weaponization meeting where Stacey blew a gasket?
https://twitchy.com/videos/2024/09/25/stacey-plaskett-loses-her-mind-over-donald-trump-elon-musk-n2401397
Wow. There were at least 100? The Federal Protective Services said 75,000 showed just for permitted events on the Elipse and Freedom Plaza but they were expecting upwards of 120,000. So that would be 1 Fed for every 1,200 people. Is one Fed all it takes to lead 1,200 people astray?
Well, apparently. It only takes one idiot like Kamala or Joey or any late-night “comedian” or pick your lunatic MSNBC journalist to convince millions of all kind of lies.
What is it that makes you trust the DOJ, FBI, SS, etc.?
Editor Note:
Redaction made and rest of the comment restored.That’s all it takes for Trump loyalists to cry foul. It used to be that Democrats were the crybabies wahwahing about unfairness, now it’s the party that I’m supposed to support? [Redacted] I’m not a victim.
This is the “ranking member” on a House subcommittee, and she’s not even a representative from one of the 51 states? Something seems off (including her).
I’ve never thought it was an insurrection. It was a riot.
In May 2020 we had a riot in downtown Santa Monica, our first and so far only one in, oh, 160 years. As the mob closed in, frightened security guards opened the doors and got out of the way. The crowd swarmed in.
Were they invited in? Think they believed they were being welcomed? Really? How naive would one have to be to think J6 was welcomed to the Capitol?
After the first round of smashing and trashing, the later mobs just walked around staring and laughing at the result of the riot.
Would you claim, based on this post, that they were merely parading around, like innocent citizens? Even after the police ordered them out?
Me, I don’t love rioters.
At least i picked up a phone to report what was going on. How come the president took two hours to pick up the phone to stop the riot? I’ve never heard an answer. He had the TV on.
What’s the right number of federal operatives infiltrating a 75K DC gathering? Same ratio as BLM or pro-Palestine events?
She is a “non-voting delegate” from the U. S. Virgin Islands. From wikipedia:
Based on previous rants I’ve watched I think she is a vile, hate-filled, racist witch (<– Not the starting consonant I wanted to use.)
She is all of that, having seen her hectoring before. “Non-voting” members IMO should also encompass “non-committee assignments” and “non-speaking.” Let them be observers if necessary, but silent. Also, “non-federal pensions.”
OK. You can make the argument that liberals are unthinking idiots, but I thought Trump supporters were supposed to be smarter than that. You’re saying they’re not?
Conservatives have long preached individual responsibility. When someone breaks the law or just does something stupid, we don’t blame society or even blame the devil. Everyone is responsible for their own actions. But since J6 all we hear is that these people were just politely waving their signs and protesting peacefully when the Feds made them riot. They were provoked! It’s entrapment! No. They did something stupid and they should take the blame.
You might find the following instructive:
I like the formulation of “the bad leading the mad” — particularly when the “bad” can be both inside the crowd and in the opposing police force if one wants to get conspiratorial. We have footage of Ray Epps stirring up the crowd (stoking the “mad”), we have a few people pushing on the barriers, and we have police shooting non-lethal materials into the crowd. If you had your supposed 1 to 1,200 provocateurs spread evenly through the crowd they would have minimal impact. But move 100 to the expected flash point and things are quite different. Just saying.
So we are not humans with free will? We are really just lemmings waiting to be led off the cliff? (Yes, Uncle Walt is to blame for that myth, but the point stands.) The problem with this argument is that it means you were capable and open to the possibility of the violence and the law breaking beforehand.
When the crowd gets unruly, swivel those hips and walk the other way as quickly as possible. Life is full of choices. And the wrong ones have consequences.
Someone hasn’t been following the news. Lots of people who weren’t even AT the capitol, have been charged, months/YEARS later.
Many have been charged later after they were either identified or caught.
Who were charged and have proof they weren’t there?
I think you may be missing the bigger picture. Yes, members of the crowd should have walked away. But who set in motion the larger structure of the event. A lot of people want to blame Trump (yes he had a rally) but why was his plan for National Guard troops rebuffed? Who actually benefitted from a large enough disturbance to fast track the certification vote rather than listening to the challenges known to be ready to be presented for orderly debate? What were the purposes of the unexploded bombs planted at the DNC and RNC? We have been fed a very edited version of events by original J6 Committee and Horowitz is delaying his final report until after the election. While the facts might well support your contentions, there is an awful lot of reasons to doubt it given the efforts to keep information under wraps. And before you say Speaker Johnson isn’t pushing things (which he doesn’t seem to be doing) so there can’t be anything to it, there was a lot of Republican support for fast tracking the certification which is why when primary season came around the rank and file basically told any (R) other than Trump to “stuff it”. Until a very transparent examination is completed of J6 there are tens of millions of Americans who will not trust the prosecutions to have been fair and just. The Supreme Court ruled that the obstruction of a proceeding charges were faulty and the DOJ and DC Courts are pushing work arounds to keep the resulting sentence enhancements anyway.
Whose number would he have had to dial to get the riot stopped?
Who was Commander-in-Chief that day? Do you know that because it is not a state, the DC National Guard answers directly to the President of the United States? Trump could have put 3,400 troops around Capitol Hill all by his lonesome.
The vote on January 6 was not “fast tracked.” The time and date is set by 3 U.S. Code § 15, passed in 1948.
Completely irrelevant. Unexploded pipe bombs did not cause anyone to storm the Capitol. Who pleaded that in their defense? Nobody, of course.
Again, you can’t “fast track” a date set 72 years ago. Certification does not take place in the Congress. That happens at the state level. Individual states certified their results. Unless it comes up 269-269 the actions in the House chamber are largely ceremonial. The states tell the Congress who they voted for, not the other way around.
As for the Supreme Court ruling, that’s the way our system works. It may be slow and it’s too damn expensive but it does work.
Please inform yourself of how exactly the chain of command process works in regards to the DC National Guard, lest you remain vulnerable to emitting any more silly statements like the above. Wikipedia should suffice:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_National_Guard
What is all of this about?
Transcripts Show President Trump’s Directives to Pentagon Leadership to “Keep January 6 Safe” Were Deliberately Ignored – Press Releases – United States Committee on House Administration
Transcripts: President Trump’s Request for More Troops on January 6th was Denied › American Greatness (amgreatness.com)
Some eye opening details regarding that emerged just a few days ago:
https://cha.house.gov/2024/9/transcripts-show-president-trump-s-directives-to-pentagon-leadership-to-keep-january-6-safe-were-deliberately-ignored
What number did he eventually call to get it stopped? Why do we have accounts of his family all bur begging him to do something? How long did it take for him to flat out tell people in the crowd that they were breaking the law and had to stop?
If Trump is the one person who can avert WWIII, or if there’s a fair chance that in one of history’s twists, he’s the key to stopping it, then he’d be worth voting for, despite J6.
The country is willing to move on, much to Democrats’ discontent. But for God’s sake, people, quit trying to dress this up as some kind of shining patriotic moment. It was a disgrace that will mar, not negate, his record of other accomplishments. Quit trying to put lipstick on J6.
Again, who was Commander-in-Chief? Who has the power of the Executive Order?
Remember Trump’s “Be there, will be wild!” post? That was December 19. Trump had 18 days to secure the Capitol. He literally circled the date for his supporters to riot. I have been told by Trump supporters on this site that it is impossible for a previous president to tie the hands of his successors.
Now please don’t be this way. The fast track referred not to January 6 but to the motion to end debate which short-circuited any discussion of irregularities. Recent transcripts released show that Trump gave directions that DoD deep-sixed and that when they were finally mustered everything was over. Is everything I am saying here new to you, or have you heard of it but are dismissing it as “conspiracy theories”? Unless you think that hanging was too good for all the jailed J6ers are you comfortable that DOJ and the DC courts are acting in good faith?
Trump tweets on Jan 6:
2:38 PM: “Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!”
3:13 PM:”I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!”
4:17 PM (video):”I know your pain, I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt. It’s a very tough period of time. There’s never been a time like this where such a thing happened where they could take it away from all of us—from me, from you, from our country. This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel, but go home, and go home in peace.”
At about 5:30 PM, the Capitol is finally cleared.
That’s still not a “fast track.” That’s called democracy. The election doubters were in the minority and they didn’t have the votes.
Who was president again? Lame duck, but still president? Where were his Constitutional scholars Giuliani and Eastman? Were they advising him on how to get a lawful order followed or were they scheming to dictate to the states who their electors were going to be? You act like this protest was a sudden and unplanned event. It wasn’t. The White House knew for three weeks this was coming. Bottom line, J6 was a failure of leadership. Who failed to lead? Donald Trump.
Again, did these people riot? Did they do so on their own free will? How many people told the court, the FBI or the press they were there because they felt Donald Trump requested that they be there? “Will be wild!” Very much so.
@GPentelie You left out some details.
12:00 PM Trump tells crowd, “We will never give up. We will never concede.
“Mike Pence, I hope you’re going to stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country. And if you’re not, I’m going to be very disappointed in you.”
1:00 Trump supporters break through the outer barriers surrounding the Capitol.
1:05 Trump ends his speech with this, “We’re going to the Capitol. We’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”
1:30 Protesters watching from the sidelines cheer as a mob breaks through the final police barricades.
2:05 Rioters start breaking windows and pushing their way into the Capitol.
2:20 The House is forced into recess. The Senate follows shortly thereafter.
2:24 Trump tweets, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”
2:38 PM: “Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!”
2:55 (approximately) Rioters enter the floor of the Senate.
3:13 PM:”I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!”
3:36 White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweets that Trump has ordered (finally) the National Guard to the Capitol.
4:00: President-Elect Biden addressed the nation on television.
4:17 PM (video):”I know your pain, I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt. It’s a very tough period of time. There’s never been a time like this where such a thing happened where they could take it away from all of us—from me, from you, from our country. This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel, but go home, and go home in peace.”
7:54: The RNC condemns the violence.
You left gaps big enough to drive a rioting mob through. That was your President. That was your “leader.”
The power to issue an Executive Order rests solely in the hands of a President, of course. The implementation part thereof, however, is delegated to others who, hopefully, are both willing and able to do so. Gone are the days when a President himself could just mount a white steed, rouse the Guards out of their barracks and, holding said Executive Order high in the air for all to see, valiantly lead them against rabblerousers despoiling the Capitol’s sacred grounds.
At 3:36 Trump ordered the Guard to the Capitol. How did he do it then?
Even Nixon found somebody to carry out the Saturday Night Massacre. Trump had 18 days to find his Robert Bork.
Yes, he was. And, hopefully, will be again in about 4 months. In which case, our country will have dodged a bullet even more consequential than the one that Florida dodged in 2018, when DeSantis beat Gillum.
You really think the time-frames of both events were equivalent?