A week after a mob breached the halls of Congress to reject the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, the man who is now the deputy director of the FBI received an email with a warning that a “sizeable percentage” of agents among the bureau’s ranks were “sympathetic” to the rioters and unlikely to hold them accountable.
The name of the sender is redacted, and the email came from an external source, not from an email with an address linked to the bureau.
But the message speaks to a looming question throughout the House select committee’s investigation into the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021, as well as a number of the prosecutions – whether law enforcement was reluctant to respond to mounting threats of violence in the days before the assault.
“There’s no good way to say it, so I’ll just be direct: from my first-hand and second-hand information from conversations since [6 January] there is, at best, a sizable percentage of the employee population that felt sympathetic to the group that stormed the Capitol,” according to the email sent on 13 January, 2021.
“Several also lamented that the only reason this violent activity is getting more attention is because of ‘political correctness,’” according to the sender, who suggested that agents could not distinguish between violent opportunists during Black Lives Matter protests and an “insurgent mob” that set out to “prevent the execution of democratic processes” at Donald Trump’s behest.
“One is a smattering of criminals, the other is an organized group of domestic terrorists,” the sender wrote.
In his response, the FBI’s Paul Abbate wrote: “Thank you … for sharing everything below.”
The sender also said agents in one office said they “could understand where the frustration is coming from”, while agents in another office attributed the attack to Covid-19-related economic downturns.
At another office, according to the sender, agents switched from watching Fox News to the far-right network Newsmax because the former was “playing to the left” and “fake news”.
Despite the claims, the US Department of Justice and federal law enforcement have made more than 880 arrests tied to the Capitol attack, resulting in more than 400 guilty pleas, with guilty verdicts in all cases brought to trial thus far.
Dozens of those charged in connection with the attack include current and former law enforcement and military service members.
A statement from the FBI Agents Association to NBC News, which first reported the email, said that while it “does not comment on ongoing investigations,” bureau agents “understand the importance of separating their own personal views from their professional work.”
During its hearing on 13 October, the House select committee revealed that US Secret Service agents shared dozens of messages and emails highlighting threats of violence circulating on social media and elsewhere.
The agency was apparently well aware of potential plans to occupy the Capitol, raising questions about how law enforcement prepared for a violent mob and what measures were communicated to the White House and members of Congress.
A Secret Service field office relayed one tip sent to the FBI warning that members of the far-right nationalist gang the Proud Boys planned to march on Washington.
The message sent on 26 December, 2020 said “their plan is to literally kill people.”
“Please please take this tip seriously and investigate further,” the message read.
The committee also revealed that Secret Service agents were observing violent chatter on far-right social media platforms and message boards in the days after the 2020 election – and that members of the crowd that would later enter the Capitol to block those results were armed.
“Certain White House and Secret Service witnesses previously testified that they had received no intelligence about violence that could potentially threaten any of their protectees on 6 January,” according to committee member Adam Schiff.
“Evidence strongly suggests that this testimony is not credible,” he said.
The congressman said the violence at the Capitol was “entirely consistent with the violent rhetoric circulating in the days beforehand on pro-Trump websites.”
