Paid Informants Amidst Trump Crowd on January 6 Elude FBI Monitoring

House Judiciary Committee Republicans revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had numerous paid informants within the crowd of Trump supporters on January 6. The FBI lost track of the exact number of informants, raising questions about their ability to manage their sources.

According to the testimony of Steven D’Antuono, the former Assistant Director-in-Charge of the Washington Field Office (WFO), the number of confidential human sources (CHSs) or informants present in the crowd was so high that the FBI couldn’t keep count.

EXCLUSIVE: The FBI had so many paid informants at the Capitol #J6 they lost track of the number, had to do a later audit – and at least one informant was communicating with his FBI handler as he entered the Capitol, says Steven D’Antuono, ex FBI WFO AD https://t.co/MZNudkzgSo

— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) September 19, 2023

Due to the large number of CHSs at the Capitol, the WFO requested assistance from FBI Headquarters to determine the exact count. The responses revealed that one informant from the Kansas City Field Office was present at the Capitol and allegedly communicating with their handler during the event.

These revelations raise concerns about the FBI’s ability to effectively monitor its informants. It appears that the FBI lost control of its informants on January 6, amplifying existing concerns about their use and payment of informants who may fabricate evidence and misrepresent information.

FBI lost count of number of informants at Capitol on Jan. 6: ex-official

SERIOUS QUESTION:

When will the FBI own up to the fact that they had 3 men wearing hoodies – who looked like Antifa – inside the Capitol who were caught on film running down the stairs towards the rotunda… https://t.co/vWSrRTcq9f

— Ann Vandersteel (@annvandersteel) September 19, 2023

These concerns are supported by the findings of Special Counsel Durham, who identified issues with the FBI’s use of informants. The Justice Department Inspector General also highlighted critical problems in the FBI’s informant program, including failure to fully vet informants and ignoring red flags related to their reliability.

The release of this information by the House Judiciary Republicans sheds new light on the events of January 6 and raises serious questions about the FBI’s operations.