FBI Director Kash Patel has disputed President Donald Trump’s claim that undercover bureau agents, under former FBI Director Christopher Wray, provoked the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying instead that they were deployed on a crowd control mission that breached bureau protocol but did not amount to instigation.
By Emma Marsden
Newsweek contacted Trump via online form, the FBI via email, and was unable to contact Wray for comment on Sunday outside of usual working hours.
Why It Matters
Patel’s comments show a rare split from Trump’s narrative as the president continues to shift blame for the riot away from his supporters. The remarks also reopen scrutiny of how the FBI managed its presence during the attack, with Patel accusing his predecessor Wray of misleading Congress about the bureau’s role. The dispute highlights ongoing political battles over the legacy of January 6 and how responsibility is framed.
Testifying before a House Committee on 15 November 2023, as reported by Fox News, Wray said, “If you are asking if the violence at the Capitol was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources or agents, the answer is no,” but declined to say whether agents or informants had been embedded in the crowd.
What To Know
Following Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden, a mob of the Republican's supporters attacked the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. Following the attack, Congress formed the January 6 Committee, a bipartisan entity tasked with investigating what led to the events of the attack. The committee published its full report on December 22, 2022, with a unanimous recommendation to the U.S. Department of Justice to look into Trump and lawyer John Eastman for prosecution.
Following a recent report from Blaze Media, Trump claimed on Truth Social Saturday that Wray had placed “274 agents…in the crowd” as “agitators and insurrectionists,” suggesting they were there to provoke violence. Patel, in interviews, declined to support that characterization, but admitted the decision to insert agents after the riot had been declared by police broke FBI standards. He has defended his stance by pointing to whistleblowers and saying that previous leadership failed to be transparent with Congress.
Independent reviews contradict Trump’s allegation. A 2024 Justice Department Inspector General’s report found that while 26 FBI confidential informants were present on January 6, none were directed to incite violence, nor was there evidence of undercover bureau staff participating in the attack.
On Saturday, Patel posted a screenshot of an article from Fox News to his X account, which stated that he had clarified the role of the FBI on January 6, saying they were sent in after it was declared a riot, which directly contradicted Trump's claim that they were in the crowd prior to the events unfolding. Patel has nonetheless accused Wray of lying and argued that the former FBI director's handling of questions from lawmakers obscured key facts.
Patel captioned the post: "274 FBI agents were thrown into crowd control on Jan. 6 against FBI standards. That failure was on corrupt leadership. Thanks to agents stepping up, the truth is coming out. Transparency. Justice. Accountability." The post has since had over 906,000 views.
Several MAGA accounts jumped on the initial line, with some on the left now calling them out over it. An FBI official told Fox News Digital there is no evidence that any agents took part in events connected to Trump’s speech at the Ellipse on the morning of January 6, but added that Wray should have informed Congress of their presence when questioned.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump posted to his Truth Social account: "It was just revealed that the FBI had secretly placed, against all Rules, Regulations, Protocols, and Standards, 274 FBI Agents into the Crowd just prior to, and during, the January 6th Hoax. This is different from what Director Christopher Wray stated, over and over again! That’s right, as it now turns out, FBI Agents were at, and in, the January 6th Protest, probably acting as Agitators and Insurrectionists, but certainly not as “Law Enforcement Officials.” I want to know who each and every one of these so-called “Agents” are, and what they were up to on that now ''Historic'”' Day…Christopher Wray, the then Director of the FBI, has some major explaining to do. That’s two in a row, [former FBI Director, James] Comey and Wray, who got caught LYING, with our Great Country at stake."
FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital: "Agents were sent into a crowd control mission after the riot was declared by Metro Police–something that goes against FBI standards. This was the failure of a corrupt leadership that lied to Congress and to the American people about what really happened. Thanks to agents coming forward, we are now uncovering the truth. We are fully committed to transparency, and justice and accountability continues with this FBI."
What Happens Next
Investigations into January 6 continue to take place. While independent reviews have dismissed claims of FBI orchestration, Patel’s criticism of Wray keeps pressure on the bureau, and his contradictory comments to Trump's regarding January 6 highlight divisions within the Republican Party over how to interpret the events at the Capitol.
