By Steve Neavling
A top aide to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Wednesday the U.S. intelligence community is investigating whether the FBI was involved in planning the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
“We’re looking into it right now,” said Joseph Kent, Gabbard’s chief of staff, during a Senate intelligence committee hearing on his nomination to lead the National Counterterrorism Center, Reuters reports.
Kent did not say which of the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies is conducting the probe. Gabbard, a former congresswoman, oversees the FBI’s intelligence activities as part of her role as director of national intelligence.
His comments came in response to questions from Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, who pressed Kent on past claims he made suggesting the FBI and other agencies may have played a role in inciting the violence.
A Justice Department watchdog report released in December found no evidence the FBI directed the attack, debunking claims pushed by far-right conspiracy theorists. The report said 26 FBI informants were in Washington that day but none were authorized to enter the Capitol or engage in criminal activity.
Kent, a former Green Beret and CIA officer who has publicly supported former President Donald Trump, said the FBI’s Washington Field Office was “probably” involved and that the matter is “being looked into.”
Kelly also pointed to a post from Kent on X, formerly Twitter, where he claimed informants were “removing barriers” and “directing” protesters. Kelly said such allegations had already been widely investigated.
Asked for comment, Gabbard’s office referred to her recent statement announcing a new task force aimed at rebuilding trust in the intelligence community. The task force, she said, will investigate potential “weaponization,” unauthorized disclosures, and efforts to declassify information in the public interest.
