At least 20 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) “assets” were embedded around the U.S. Capitol on January 6, according to a new court filing issued by a January 6 defendant’s defense attorney on April 12.
The revelation was made in a motion aiming to dismiss “seditious conspiracy” and “obstruction” charges for ten members of the Oath Keepers.
The 41-page motion was filed by David W. Fischer, the attorney for Thomas Caldwell on behalf of all Oath Keepers case defendants before U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta in Washington.
Caldwell is not a member of the Oath Keepers, but is still charged in the indictment, according to comment he gave to the Epoch Times last month.
On page 6 of the motion, Fischer wrote that “At least 20 FBI and ATF assets were embedded around the Capitol on J6,” a development that came to light after the defense “combed through a mountain of discovery.”
Part of the documents gained in discovery included FBI form 302 summaries of interviews conducted by FBI agents. The defense attorneys noted that the Oath Keepers “were being monitored and recorded prior to J6.”
This comes as politicians on the January 6 Committee like Rep. Adam Kinzinger insist the FBI was not embedded within the crowds that day, fervently pushing back on the notion that the federal government had any idea that the protest would ultimately turn into a riot that saw citizens making their way into the Capitol building.
“I don’t want there to be any shred of doubt that the FBI and Ray Epps somehow organized January 6 and an insurrection, or it was the Deep State, or it was anything but what it was, which was a Trump-inspired insurrection,” Kinzinger said.
Earlier this month U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden fully exonerated Matthew Martin, a Los Alamos, N.M.-based Energy Department contractor, who was charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing on January 6.
The judge found Martin “not guilty” of the charges due to the fact that U.S. Capitol Police officers had allowed the defendant to enter the Capitol building by waving him in.
McFadden ruled that while U.S. prosecutors had claimed that Martin “more likely than not knew he was not supposed to go in”, there was reasonable doubt about the defendant’s guilt due to the actions of the Capitol Police, which took place at a key entrance to the Capitol building.
45th President Donald Trump has promised to lead Republicans in a push to “demand justice” for the January 6 prisoners, while the Biden administration’s Department of Justice is asking for more than $30 million in additional funding to expand its prosecutions.
