Conservative media outlets suggested undercover federal agents incited the insurrection. U.S. President Donald Trump amplified that claim.
By Anna Rascouët-Paz
In late September 2025, a rumor began to spread that, contrary to the assertions of former FBI Director Christopher Wray, the federal law enforcement agency had sent agents undercover in the crowd of protesters on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. and the agents then incited the violence that resulted in the U.S. Capitol riot.
For example, a Sept. 25 X post (archived) claimed "275 undercover agents" were in the crowd of Jan. 6 rioters:
The claim appeared elsewhere on X as well as on Reddit. Further, Snopes readers emailed asking to confirm whether the rumor was true.
The claim was not new. Snopes identified posts from 2024 making the same claim. This rumor circulated widely in an attempt to find attenuating circumstances for Jan. 6 rioters convicted of crimes, including trespassing, assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy.
This time, however, the rumor stemmed from reports by conservative news outlets The Blaze and Just the News, both published on Sept. 25, 2025.
Citing one anonymous congressional source, The Blaze said the FBI had admitted to sending "274 plainclothes agents" in the Jan. 6 crowd. It also reported that 26 FBI informants also joined the crowd, four of whom entered the Capitol.
Just the News linked to an "after-action report" it said it had obtained and also reported that 274 agents were in the crowd.
The reports appeared to suggest that the long-standing rumor that undercover FBI agents had incited the violence was true. Two days later, on Sept. 27,
President Donald Trump relayed the claim on Truth Social, in a post that has since been deleted (archived):
In the post, Trump called Jan. 6 a hoax. He also said these claims directly contradicted Wray's testimony.
After Jan. 6, 2021, a House subcommittee on Jan. 6 began to conduct an investigation. This subcommittee disbanded in January 2023 after 18 months of work. However, in early September 2025 the House voted to open a new subcommittee chaired by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican from Georgia, to reinvestigate the matter, including the conclusions of the first subcommittee. The new subcommittee included Democrats.
Snopes reviewed the after-action report published by Just the News, which did not support the claims in the outlet's story. We could not identify who The Blaze's anonymous source was, therefore we could not confirm its report. We have contacted both the FBI and the new House subcommittee and we will update this report should they respond.
However, we found a Sept. 26, 2025, post on X (archived) by the new subcommittee on Jan. 6, which included the apparent screen capture of a spreadsheet:
The row concerning the deployment of FBI agents during Jan. 6 read:
Deployment date: 1/6/2021
Position type: Agents
Event: 1/6 incident
Field Office/HQ Division: WFO [Washington Field Office]
Total Personnel Count: 274
Notes: This number includes agents that responded to the Capitol grounds as well as inside the Capitol, the pipe bombs, and the red truck that was believed to contain explosive devices as well as CDC/ADCS.
While the number matched the reports by The Blaze and Just the News, the notes did not corroborate the claim that the FBI agents were undercover.
While the exact number of FBI agents deployed had not been publicly reported before, the allegations that the FBI and its former director, Wray, had attempted to keep it secret did not hold up, either. For example, a December 2024 report by the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General acknowledged that in light of the intelligence the FBI was gathering on the Jan. 6 protest, "hundreds of highly trained specialized teams" would "be meeting DC."
It falls under the FBI's responsibility to support a law enforcement response for crowd control should the circumstances call for it, as this DOJ report explained. However, the same report said the investigation had revealed no proof this had been the case. "We found no evidence in the materials we reviewed or the testimony we received showing or suggesting that the FBI had undercover employees in the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on January 6," the report said.
Instead, the FBI deployed agents after the riot began. The report read:
Indeed, after the Capitol was breached by rioters on January 6, the FBI was in a position to deploy tactical assets to help clear the Capitol of protesters and to help USCP secure the perimeter around the Capitol Complex. The FBI told Congress that its posture for January 6 preparations was "extraordinary," and we found that the FBI effectively carried out its tactical support function on January 6.
Citing the DOJ report, The Blaze's story included one sentence that appeared to seed doubt. "Depending how one reads 'undercover' agents versus 'plainclothes agents,' both statements could be true," it read.
It is important to note that most FBI agents do not wear uniforms in the field, unlike local law enforcement. Instead, most wear civilian clothes, except for tactical teams, who instead may wear tactical gear. As a rule, the dress code is business casual. The Blaze's and Just the News' reports did not cite "undercover" agents, but plainclothes agents, which is consistent with FBI standards for dress.
In sum, despite suggestions by these two news outlets and the now-deleted post by Trump, there was no evidence that the FBI agents deployed on Jan. 6 were undercover. We could not independently confirm the number, though it is in line with the DOJ report published in December 2024.
