By Steve Neavling
A former FBI agent who encouraged rioters to kill police officers during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack is now advising a Justice Department task force created by President Trump to pursue his political opponents.
Jared L. Wise, who once served in the FBI’s public corruption and counterterrorism units, was named a counselor to Ed Martin, director of the Weaponization Working Group, according to people familiar with the group’s operations, The New York Times reports.
“Kill ’em! Kill ’em! Kill ’em!” Wise shouted during the Capitol attack as other rioters assaulted police, according to charging documents filed in 2023. Prosecutors said he celebrated after breaching the Capitol, called officers “the Gestapo,” and escaped through a window while wearing a face mask. His case was dismissed on Trump’s first day back in office, part of a sweeping clemency order that pardoned nearly 1,600 people involved in the insurrection.
Wise’s appointment marks an extraordinary twist for a Justice Department already facing criticism for being reshaped around Trump’s political agenda. Once charged with inciting violence against law enforcement, Wise now holds a role in a task force aimed at punishing those who investigated or prosecuted Jan. 6 rioters. One source familiar with the working group said, “If we could genetically design an adviser to Martin, he would look like Mr. Wise.”
Wise’s role within the task force remains unclear, but Ed Martin, a longtime advocate for Jan. 6 defendants whose own nomination for U.S. attorney in Washington fell apart, reportedly welcomed him. The person familiar with the task force said Martin believed there was “no better person to serve” on it than someone who had experienced what he described as the government being weaponized against him.
Before his arrest, Wise worked FBI assignments in Washington, New York, Libya, and Israel, but his career stalled amid dissatisfaction from his supervisors, a former senior official said. He later joined the conservative group Project Veritas under ex-British spy Richard Seddon, training operatives to infiltrate unions and Democratic campaigns. Wise reportedly operated under the codename “Benghazi” and helped run efforts in several Midwestern states.
