House Subcommittee Probes FBI Informants' Role in Jan. 6 Events

The House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, chaired by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., is investigating the presence and activities of more than two dozen paid FBI informants embedded in the crowd during the January 6, 2021, events at the U.S. Capitol, according to reporting by Just the News.

In an interview on "Just the News, No Noise", Loudermilk stated the subcommittee seeks to determine the exact number of informants in the crowd and inside the Capitol, as well as whether they were tasked solely with gathering intelligence or if any instigated violence. He questioned why the FBI, with such extensive informant coverage, failed to anticipate or prevent the breach, asserting, "If they had that many paid informants, I believe they did know it was coming."

The subcommittee's focus stems from a December 2024 Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General report, which confirmed 26 confidential human sources—paid FBI informants—were in Washington, D.C., on January 6 for election-related protests. Of these, three were tasked by FBI field offices to report on domestic terrorism subjects; one entered the Capitol, and two entered the restricted area around it. An additional 11 entered the restricted area, and four total entered the Capitol, though none were authorized to do so or to break the law or encourage others to do so. The remaining nine did not enter restricted areas or engage in illegal activity.

The Inspector General report found no evidence of undercover FBI employees at the protests or Capitol, and noted the informants' pre-event intelligence aligned with other sources but was not more specific. It criticized the FBI for not canvassing all field offices for informant intelligence, a step that could have aided preparations, and for inaccurately reporting to Congress post-event that such canvassing had occurred.

Loudermilk's probe, housed under the House Judiciary Committee, builds on his prior work leading the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, where he released over 44,000 hours of Capitol CCTV footage and internal memos. The new subcommittee, established in September 2025, includes Reps. Morgan Griffith, R-Va.; Troy Nehls, R-Texas; and Clay Higgins, R-La., and aims to recover over one terabyte of data deleted by the Democrat-led January 6 Select Committee.

The investigation also examines whether informant intelligence was withheld for political reasons to implicate supporters of President Trump. Just the News reporting details evidence of instigation, including footage of plainclothes Metropolitan Police Department officers in the crowd. One video, confirmed authentic by MPD, shows an officer helping protesters climb scaffolding and urging "go, go, go." Another recording captures a plainclothes officer stating, "we go undercover as Antifa in a crowd," while aiding colleagues affected by tear gas.

Additional evidence includes a west-side Capitol door left open and unguarded, allowing over 300 protesters to enter unimpeded despite police presence elsewhere. Pre-event intelligence from U.S. Homeland Security and D.C. authorities warned of potential violence, including online threats of a "bloody war" and concealed weapons, two weeks prior. The U.S. Secret Service also assessed a "high potential for violence" but did not share it with agents protecting President Trump, or Vice President Mike Pence.

Loudermilk stated the subcommittee is pursuing multiple theories, including whether events were "allowed to play out for political reasons." The prior Democrat-led Select Committee, which blamed President Trump and his advisors, ignored such evidence, per subcommittee findings.