House Republicans said Thursday that the FBI's “failure” to identify those responsible for planting pipe bombs outside the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters nearly four years ago made Americans “less safe.” “There is,” he warned.
a report House Administration Committee Oversight Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) and Rep. Thomas Massey (R-Ky.) announced that there had been “little meaningful progress” in the investigation into the attempted bombing. It became clear that there was not. He said federal law enforcement agencies “refuse to provide Congress with substantive updates” on the status of the investigation.
Lawmakers said the FBI's investigation “yielded an encouraging body of data and uncovered a number of persons of interest” in the first few weeks of the investigation, but the case was quickly resolved.
“By the end of February 2021, the FBI had begun to divert resources from pipe bomb investigations,” the report said, adding, “One possible explanation for the decline in resources is that the number of reliable leads began to decline and “It is no longer necessary,” he said. We need as many special agents as possible to cover the workload. ”
“Ultimately, however, nearly four years after the pipe bomb was planted, no suspects have been arrested or identified,” the report concluded.
Investigators say two pipe bombs, which the FBI described as “viable explosive devices,” were placed outside the headquarters of two major political parties in Washington, D.C., on January 5, 2021, the night before the riot at the U.S. Capitol. I think it was set up. It shows a person wearing a backpack, a gray hooded sweatshirt, a mask, gloves, glasses, and Nike Air Max Speed Turf sneakers.
The devices were discovered the following afternoon, about the same time Congress convened to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“In the immediate aftermath of January 6, FBI case teams worked aggressively to develop and pursue leads toward the arrest of the pipe bomb suspect,” the lawmakers said, noting that the agency was initially assigned to the case. He noted that he had assigned more than 50 investigators.
“The investigation also included various investigation support teams, including a cellular analysis investigation team, a computer analysis response team, and a digital image and video recovery team,” they added. “As a result, by April 2021, the FBI had collected more than 105 million data points related to its investigations.”
The FBI identified multiple persons of interest during the early stages of the investigation, including:
- Someone searched for the term “pipe bomb DC” online before the device was discovered, but only after the explosives were planted.
- The person who took photos of the area where the bomb was planted the morning before it was planted.
- Minutes after the bomb was planted, a vehicle drove past the RNC with a passenger matching the suspect's description.
- A person who worked near the crime scene owned the distinctive sneakers worn by the suspect.
- and five people whose mobile data matched the suspect's movements on January 5, 2021.
Lawmakers noted that the FBI's actions on several leads, including who searched for “pipe bomb DC” and who owned the Nike Air Max Speed Turf sneakers, “remain unclear.”
“In response to questions about the FBI's inability to use cell phone data to identify suspects, a former FBI official accused cell phone companies of providing 'corrupt' data,” the report states. . “To date, the FBI has refused to respond to multiple requests from the subcommittee regarding this allegation.”
But Congressional investigators have cast doubt on FBI officials' claims.
“The major mobile carriers confirmed that they did not provide the corrupted data to the FBI, and the FBI did not notify them of any issues with accessing cell phone data,” the lawmakers wrote.
The report also stated how dire the situation would have been if the device had exploded.
The bomb was powerful enough to seriously injure or kill innocent bystanders and was placed near commuter train tracks.
The explosion created “large fragments” that could have “jumped through” the outside of the train, causing “serious injury or death.”
As previously reported, Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were both “within a few feet” of the device while traveling to and from DNC headquarters on January 6, 2021.
In Pelosi's case, the report said her motorcade drove past one of the bombs after law enforcement discovered it, and accused law enforcement of not properly securing the perimeter. did.
“This device put many members of Congress, staff, law enforcement, and residents at risk. But nearly four years after the incident, Americans still wonder who planted the bomb and why.” “We have few details about whether or not they were installed,” the report said.
It added: “This lack of information hampers Congress' ability to legislate improvements to the security of the U.S. Capitol and the operations of federal law enforcement.” “Failure to identify, apprehend, and prosecute the bomber ultimately compromises the safety of all Americans.”
FBI officials did not respond to requests for comment.
