Exclusive: Senate Republicans are demanding answers about whether that is the case Confidential human sources Justice Department agencies outside the FBI were used on January 6, 2021, while also questioning whether Inspector General Michael Horowitz had carefully reviewed classified and unclassified communications between dealers and their sources, warning that without such review, there could be a “significant blind spot.” . “In his findings.
Last week, Horowitz released his book A highly anticipated report That there were more than two dozen confidential FBI human sources in the crowd outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021, but only three were designated by the bureau to be present at the event. Horowitz said the FBI did not authorize or direct any of the sources to “violate the law” or “encourage others to commit illegal acts.”
But now, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, are demanding more information from Horowitz, writing to him in a letter obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital that it is “unclear” whether his office has reviewed the use of Covert human resources by other DOJ components during the Capitol riot.
DOJ IG reveals 26 FBI informants in January. 6
A scene from January 6, 2021 at the US Capitol. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magaña, File)
“The inspector general’s report was a step in the right direction, but Sen. Johnson and I still have questions that the Department of Justice needs to consider,” Grassley told Fox News Digital. “The American people deserve a full picture of whether DOJ sources from its component agencies, as well as the FBI, were present on January 6, what their role was, and whether DOJ was aware of their presence.”
Grassley told Fox News Digital that Horowitz and his team “must redouble their efforts to ensure that they have reviewed all relevant information and provided an adequate response to our inquiry.”
Senator Chuck Grassley at the US Capitol after a Senate luncheon on September 24, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Johnson told Fox News Digital that he believes the report published last week “may have only told a small part of the story regarding the presence and activities of confidential human sources or undercover federal agents in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021.”
“I urge the OIG to be fully transparent about their work to ensure that Congress and the public have an accurate and complete understanding of what it has already reviewed,” Johnson said.
In their letter to Horowitz, Grassley and Johnson noted that the Inspector General's Office received more than 500,000 documents from the Department of Justice and its components as part of its investigation.
“According to the report, your office obtained: CHS reports; thousands of tips submitted to the FBI; investigative and intelligence records from the FBI's case management system; emails, instant messages, and phone records; contemporaneous notes of meetings and phone calls; and a chronology Regarding the period leading up to the events up to January 6, they wrote;
Grassley and Johnson told Horowitz it was “important” that his office more accurately explain the records it requested and received from all of the Justice Department's component agencies.
Grassley and Johnson are demanding answers about whether Horowitz obtained evidence about whether other agencies making up the Department of Justice entrusted or neglected confidential confidential human sources in the Washington, D.C., area or at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
They also ask whether all communications between handlers of DOJ component agencies and confidential human sources or undercover agents located in the D.C. area were obtained, and whether classified and unclassified communications platforms other than email used by the FBI were obtained.
Grassley and Johnson are also demanding that Horowitz share all FD-1023 forms, or confidential human source reporting documents, used in their investigation.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz speaks during a Senate Judiciary hearing on September 15. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
As for his initial report, Horowitz determined “that none of these Essential Human Services Centers were authorized by the FBI to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or otherwise violate the law on January 6, and none of these Essential Human Services Centers were directed by the FBI.” FBI investigation for encouraging others to commit illegal acts on January 6.”
The report revealed that the FBI had a minor supporting role in the response on January 6, 2021, largely because the event was not considered the highest security level by the FBI. Department of Homeland Security (Department of Homeland Security).
However, Horowitz said the FBI has taken important and appropriate steps to prepare for this role.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
According to the report, there were a total of 26 confidential human sources in the crowd that day, but only three of them were designated by the bureau to be there.
One of three confidential human sources assigned by the FBI to attend the rally I entered the Capitol buildingWhile the other two entered the restricted area around the Capitol building.
If a confidential human source is directed to be present at a particular event, he or she will be paid by the FBI for his or her time.
