FBI's failure to cooperate with Committee after recent media reports on J6 pipe bomber raises serious concern

Reports suggest that the FBI may have made significant breakthroughs, raising questions as to why the Bureau has been unable or unwilling to provide updates on the investigation.

by Nick Holt | Thursday May 24, 2023

The Federal Bureau of Investigations is facing significant scrutiny from The Committee on the Judiciary due to their failure to comply with a request for a briefing on the January pipe bomber investigation.

In the strongly-worded letter addressed to FBI Director Christopher Wray, and signed by Chairman Jim Jordan, Chairman Andy Biggs, and Congressman Bill Posey, expressed disappointment over the Bureau's repeated failure to respond to their previous requests for a briefing.

“As part of our oversight obligations, we wrote to you on March 9, 2022, requesting a briefing about the status of the FBI’s investigation into the pipe bombs placed near the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee on January 5, 2021.1 At the start of the 118th Congress, on January 17, 2023, we reiterated this request.2 To date, you have failed to comply.”

The failure of the FBI to fulfil the request for a briefing on the pipe bomb investigation caused profound concern, given the backdrop of recent reports. .

According to at least one report from a former FBI agent who worked on the investigation, the FBI linked the suspected pipe bomber to a MetroRail SmarTrip Card that the subject used to travel through the Washington Metro system to a stop in Northern Virginia.”

Adding to the Committee's growing unease are recent media reports that shed new light on the case.

“Your failure to comply with our request is particularly concerning given recent media reports regarding the pipe bomb investigation.”

These reports suggest that the FBI may have made significant breakthroughs, raising questions as to why the Bureau has been unable or unwilling to provide updates on the investigation.

One noteworthy report features a former FBI agent who claims that the Bureau managed to connect the suspected pipe bomber to a MetroRail SmarTrip Card, which the individual used while traversing the Washington Metro system.

“The FBI used security camera footage from the Northern Virginia Metro stop to identify the license plate of a car that the individual entered.5 Still, the FBI has not identified the subject. One former FBI assistant director observed, “[i]t just doesn’t add up . . . [t]here’s just too much to work with to not know who this guy is.”

Additionally, security camera footage from a Northern Virginia Metro stop was reportedly used to capture the license plate of a vehicle associated with the suspect.

Despite these developments, the FBI has failed to identify the subject, prompting skepticism from former FBI personnel who believe that the available evidence should have led to a swift resolution.

The slow progress in the investigation into the January 6 pipe bombs, coupled with the FBI's failure to provide timely updates, raises significant concerns for the Committee about the Bureau's commitment to resolving the case.

They insisted that this lack of progress contrasts sharply with the Bureau's approach to other investigations stemming from the same events and reiterated their demand for an immediate briefing on the status of the pipe bomb investigation, setting a deadline of June 7, 2023, for Director Wray to provide the requested information.