House Republican Reveals FBI Insider Fears Agents Grabbed Wrong Man in Jan 6 Pipe Bomb Arrest

FBI via AP, File

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) revealed that an FBI whistleblower approached him to warn that the Bureau may have arrested the wrong man in connection with the Jan. 6 pipe bomb investigation.

Brian Cole Jr. was taken into custody last week, nearly five years after surveillance cameras captured a masked figure placing explosive devices outside Democratic and Republican headquarters in Washington. Investigators said they linked him to the scene using licence plate data and cell tower records.

In a lengthy thread posted to X on Friday, however, the congressman poured cold water on any certainty about the suspect, revealing the testimony of an FBI insider as the “third disclosure” he’d received since Cole was arrested.

Massie went on in the thread to lay out the case against Cole’s arrest, explaining that the whistleblower described Cole as a socially isolated and “vulnerable” man, unlikely to be “capable or motivated” enough to carry out the plot.

“He wanders around his neighborhood several times a day while walking a dog,” Massie wrote, adding that Cole “does not interact with anyone” and appears detached from his surroundings. “His demeanor is detached and vacant.”

Massie went further, asserting: “It’s obvious he has a mental disability, and likely lives in a permanently vulnerable, intellectual, and emotional state.” He added that such individuals are “susceptible to providing inaccurate and unwarranted ‘confessions.’”

The congressman also questioned the FBI’s arrest tactics, noting: “If the suspect had in fact been engaged in making bombs and stockpiling bomb materials, the proper safety precautions were not taken.”

“Not only were neighbors not evacuated during the arrest and search of the alleged bomber’s home, they were required to remain in their homes,” he wrote.

“My personal conclusion,” Massie wrote, “The FBI employee disclosing this information to me doesn’t believe the FBI has arrested a person who is capable or motivated, or even interested enough in affairs outside of his own small world, to execute the J6 pipe bomb plot on his own.”