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(READ) Sens. Johnson, Grassley demand DOJ IG records on J6 informants
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The following is a press release from Sens. Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley.
US Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), and US Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz highlighting the IG’s failure to respond to the senators’ previous requests about the government’s use of confidential human sources (CHS) and undercover agents on January 6, 2021 (J6).
On Dec. 16, 2024, the senators wrote to IG Horowitz requesting information based on the IG’s review of DOJ’s use of CHSs on J6. Specifically, the senators wanted to know the extent DOJ components, like the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), had tasked and untasked CHSs in the area of the Capitol Building on J6.
On April 7, 2025 IG Horowitz responded, noting that “ATF, DEA, USMS, and BOP did not have any tasked CHSs in Washington, D.C. on January 6 in connection with the events of January 6.”
However, IG Horowitz could not make a similar assertion regarding whether untasked CHSs from DOJ components, other than the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), were in the D.C. area on J6 and connected to events that day. “[U]nlike the FBI, we have no information at this time as to whether the ATF, DEA, USMS, or BOP conducted a post-January 6 canvass to determine if any of their CHSs traveled on their own initiative (untasked) to D.C. in connection with the January 6 events,” IG Horowitz wrote.
In addition, IG Horowitz’s response failed to adequately address whether DOJ components 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 senators added.
Read more about the letter on Fox News.
Read the full letter here or below.
April 14, 2025
VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION
The Honorable Michael Horowitz
Inspector General
Department of Justice
Dear Inspector General Horowitz:
On December 16, 2024, we wrote to you requesting more information about your report that analyzed the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) direction and handling of its confidential human sources (CHS) leading up to and on January 6, 2021 (J6). Because your April 7, 2025 response failed to address all our questions and requests on this matter, we write to you again seeking transparency and clarity about your office’s work.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) December 12, 2024 report revealed that 26 FBI CHSs traveled to Washington, D.C. on J6. Of the 26 FBI CHSs present at the Capitol on J6, a total of four CHSs entered the Capitol, 13 CHSs entered the restricted area, and 9 CHSs attended the event but neither entered the Capitol or the restricted area. The report also found three of the 26 FBI CHSs were tasked by their respective FBI handlers to report on individuals traveling to Washington, D.C. for the J6 event. While the report stated that “[n]one of these three CHSs 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 CHSs entered the restricted area around the Capitol and one entered the Capitol.
Because the DOJ OIG report appeared to be narrowly focused on FBI’s use of CHSs on J6, our December 16, 2024 letter specifically asked whether your office obtained evidence indicating whether other DOJ components had tasked or untasked CHSs in the Washington D.C. area, at the Capitol Building, and in restricted areas on J6. Your April 7, 2025 response provided clarity for part of this request regarding tasked CHSs. You wrote:
ATF, DEA, USMS, and BOP did not have any tasked CHSs in Washington, D.C. on January 6 in connection with the events of January 6. This includes in or around the Capitol or in the restricted area of the Capitol.
However, with respect to our question about whether untasked CHSs from DOJ components other than FBI were in Washington, D.C. on J6 in connection with the events of that day, your response was less definitive. You wrote:
[U]nlike the FBI, we have no information at this time as to whether the ATF, DEA, USMS, or BOP conducted a post-January 6 canvass to determine if any of their CHSs traveled on their own initiative (untasked) to D.C. in connection with the January 6 events. However, based on further conversations with your staff, we have contacted the ATF, DEA, USMS, and BOP to inquire whether they received reporting from any CHSs indicating that any of their CHSs were in Washington, D.C. on their own initiative (untasked) for the events on January 6. We will supplement this response when we receive that information.
In addition to seeking clarity about tasked and untasked CHSs from DOJ components other than FBI in Washington D.C. on J6, we also asked you whether DOJ component agencies had undercover agents in the Washington D.C. area, at the Capitol Building, and in restricted areas on J6. Your response stated:
[W]e can confirm that 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 Washington, D.C. on January 6 in connection with the events of January 6. This includes in or around the Capitol or in the restricted area of the Capitol.
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.
We also reiterate other requests from our December 16, 2024, letter that are still outstanding. 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.
Further, we did not receive all requested records, including text messages and similar communications, as well as the FD-1023 forms connected to your office’s review.
We hope your office will be responsive to our outstanding requests from nearly four months ago and provide all requested records on this matter. Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Ron Johnson
Chairman, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
Charles E. Grassley
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary
Enclosure
cc: The Honorable Richard Blumenthal, Chairman, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
cc: The Honorable Richard Durbin, Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary
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