On Thursday, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a much-anticipated report revealing significant details about the FBI’s handling of its confidential human sources (CHS) in the lead-up to the January 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol. The report confirms that while the FBI officially assigned only three confidential sources to monitor the events surrounding January 6, more than two dozen FBI CHS were present in the crowd that day.
This groundbreaking report raises new concerns about the extent of the FBI’s involvement in intelligence-gathering efforts and its ability to accurately assess and respond to the unfolding events during the certification of the Electoral College vote. Horowitz’s investigation focused on the FBI’s use of confidential informants and its broader intelligence collection activities as federal agencies prepared for January 6. Although the FBI had acknowledged the possibility of violence, the Inspector General uncovered a significant failure in how information from informants was managed and shared with other law enforcement agencies. “The FBI did not canvass its field offices in advance of January 6, 2021, to identify any intelligence, including CHS reporting, about potential threats to the January 6 Electoral Certification,” the report states. Deputy Director Paul Abbate, who was Associate Deputy Director at the time, referred to this oversight as “a basic step that was missed.”
While only three confidential sources were formally tasked with monitoring the rally, the report found that 26 confidential sources—spread across various FBI field offices—were on the Capitol grounds. The majority attended voluntarily or due to pre-existing reporting assignments unrelated to January 6. The report further discloses that among these sources:
- Four entered the Capitol during the breach.
- Thirteen entered restricted areas surrounding the Capitol building.
- The remaining nine did not enter any prohibited zones.
“We determined that of the 26 CHSs who were in DC on January 6 in connection with the events, 4 entered the Capitol during the riot; an additional 13 entered the restricted area around the Capitol, which was a security perimeter established in preparation for the Electoral Certification; and 9 neither entered a restricted area nor entered the Capitol or engaged in any illegal activities. None of the CHSs who entered the Capitol or a restricted area has been prosecuted to date,” the report states. None of the FBI’s confidential sources were authorized to participate in or encourage unlawful actions, and the report found no evidence suggesting that FBI sources incited violence or played an organizing role in the events.
However, the Inspector General’s findings highlight significant gaps in the way intelligence from these sources was collected, analyzed, and disseminated. Horowitz noted that while individual field offices did gather valuable reports from sources—such as discussions about plans to “form a perimeter” around the Capitol or mentions of “storming the building”—this intelligence was not effectively communicated to the FBI’s Washington Field Office (WFO) or other law enforcement agencies.
In the wake of the Capitol breach, FBI officials initially told Congress that the Bureau had taken extraordinary steps to prepare for January 6. However, Horowitz’s findings contradict this narrative, describing the FBI’s approach as reactive rather than proactive. Intelligence products specific to the Capitol certification were never produced, despite similar assessments being made for the January 20 inauguration.
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