Senators Demand IG Cooperation In J6 Undercover Agents Probe

Two prominent senators sent a letter this week to Inspector General Michael Horowitz, pressing him to fully cooperate with their investigation of undercover “confidential human sources” in the crowd at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.

Horowitz, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2012, has failed to respond to requests for information about confidential human sources on Jan. 6, according to Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

They sent Horowitz a letter on Dec. 16, seeking more information about his Dec. 12 report on how the FBI handled its confidential human sources in advance of J6.

That report showed the FBI sent 26 confidential human sources to Washington, D.C. that day, and of those, four entered the Capitol and 13 went into a restricted area. Three sources were “tasked by their respective FBI handlers to report on individuals traveling to Washington, D.C. for the J6 event,” the senators wrote in their most recent letter. “While the report stated that ‘[n]one of these three [confidential human sources] were authorized by the FBI to engage in illegal activity, including to enter the Capitol or a restricted area, or to otherwise break the law on January 6’ two of the FBI sources entered the restricted area around the Capitol and one entered the Capitol.”

None of the FBI sources were prosecuted for their activities on J6.

It is worth noting that the Office of Inspector General and the FBI are part of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The senators have had questions about what other DOJ arms were involved in J6.

In his April 7 letter, Horowitz said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS); and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP); did not have any “undercover employees” in connection with the J6.

The senators bristled at the new language.

“Although this part of your response seems conclusive, it does not completely satisfy our inquiry. On February 28, 2025, our staff noted in an email to your Counselor that because the term ‘undercover agent’ can mean many things, our offices requested that the DOJ OIG address whether any federal law enforcement components, including FBI, ATF, DEA, USMS, or BOP, had employees or contractors wearing civilian clothing in the Washington D.C. area; at the Capitol Building; and in restricted areas on J6 in an official or unofficial capacity. We reiterate this specific request.”

The senators also want more detail on confidential human sources who were “tasked” (had an assignment)  and “untasked” (traveled to Capitol on their own initiative).

They note that Horowitz failed to adequately address whether DOJ had employees or contractors wearing civilian clothing in the Washington, D.C. area and around the Capitol building on J6.

“We also reiterate other requests from our December 16, 2024, letter that are still outstanding,” the senators wrote.

“For example, in our letter we asked whether your office obtained, during the course of its investigation into this matter, all communications, including text messages, between and among all DOJ component agency handlers and the CHSs/undercover agents. Your April 7, 2025, response confirmed that your office ‘did not request all of the text messages for all of the 26 CHSs and their handlers.’ Your April 7, 2025, response also noted that your office obtained classified communications; however, it failed to answer whether it obtained all classified communications.”

The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is still seeking information about the unsolved J6 pipe bomb case.

More than four years and three months have passed since J6. It is time for all agencies involved to be transparent about their involvement that day.

Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.