The Justice Department said Thursday that federal agents arrested a suspect accused of planting pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic national committees on the eve of Jan. 6 in Washington, acknowledging that the break in the case came from evidence the FBI already possessed during Biden administration.
Speaking at a press conference inside the DOJ’s headquarters, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Brian Cole Jr. was taken into custody and charged with using an explosive device. Bondi repeatedly said the case “languished” under former President Joe Biden. Senior officials admitted that President Donald Trump’s FBI did not receive a new tip, witness, or piece of evidence, but rather connected the dots using evidence they said the Biden DOJ withheld. However, the officials provided little information about what led to the breakthrough and offered few details about the suspect.
“This wasn’t a new tip; it wasn’t some new evidence,” Bondi said from the podium. “It was the hard work of President Trump’s administration, Deputy Director Bongino, and Director Patel. I watched them, from Day One, come in here and say, ‘We are going to solve this crime.’ And they did, working hand in hand with us, Attorney Pirro and all of our great attorneys.”
Officials said investigators solved the nearly five-year-old mystery by reexamining material that was long in the FBI’s files, raising significant questions about why the Biden FBI, under former Director Chris Wray, was unable to do the same.
FBI Director Kash Patel reiterated “we did not discover any new information,” stressing that the arrest resulted from a new investigative team “reexamining every piece of evidence” that was inside the FBI’s databases for years. Patel said the Washington Field Office “sifted through all the data, something that the prior administration refused and failed to do,” characterizing the work as a massive forensic scrub of millions of lines of cell-site data, retail records, CCTV footage, and other digital material.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino reinforced the point, saying “this was our internal work, the FBI,” and “there was no new public tip.” He added that the case turned once the new team applied sustained pressure to old leads. Bongino said he alerted Bondi early in the administration, saying, “We’re going to get this guy — and she said, ‘Yes, you are.’”
Cole was arrested early Thursday in Woodbridge, Virginia, after investigators secured search warrants based on the reanalysis. FBI agents were captured on footage on Thursday taking items out of the two-story house where Cole lived.
Officials at the press conference largely declined to delve into specifics, citing the ongoing nature of the case and the need to preserve evidentiary integrity. However, Bongino spoke generally and said it was “forensic evidence” that led investigators to the “aha moment.” They also declined to say when they began to close on the lead that led to Cole. Bondi said more charges “could be coming,” but did not say whether any other suspects are being investigated.
The RNC and DNC pipe bombs, placed the night of Jan. 5, 2021, represent one of the most high-profile unsolved crimes associated with the Jan. 6 security failures. The FBI previously released surveillance images and received thousands of tips, but progress stalled publicly for years. Patel and Bongino cast the new arrest as proof of what they described as a renewed focus inside the Trump FBI, repeatedly contrasting it with what they said was a lack of direction under Biden.
Despite a lack of new information about the defendant, Bondi and other officials standing at the podium Thursday afternoon repeatedly emphasized that the Biden FBI had the same evidence, data, and leads that the current FBI used to solve the case. That revelation is likely to intensify scrutiny over why the investigation dragged on for nearly five years and why previous FBI leadership failed to capitalize on the information that ultimately led to Cole’s arrest.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro called the arrest “a huge win,” describing the effort as “like finding a needle in a haystack” after investigators combed through records of pipe parts, end caps, wires, batteries, and other components, all of which were already catalogued in FBI holdings.
FBI MAKES ARREST IN CONNECTION TO MYSTERY JAN. 6 PIPE BOMBS
Officials stressed that the work is not finished, as search warrant processing will continue and more interviews will be conducted. The FBI said it will “pursue every lead” as the case moves into formal prosecution.
“The American public can rest easier today,” said Pamela Smith, chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia. “The suspect responsible for this act is now in custody.”