FBI hands over information of 5,000 Capitol riot investigators

The FBI has complied with a request from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to hand over information on more than 5,000 employees involved in investigations into the January 6 riots, CNN reported on February 5. In response, FBI agents have filed a lawsuit seeking to protect their identities, citing fears of retaliation.

The Capitol Hill riot on January 6, 2021 involved thousands of supporters of US President Donald Trump gathering in Washington DC to prevent the certification of the 2020 election results.

Five people were killed as a result of the riots, about 140 police officers were injured, and more than 1,500 people were indicted on federal charges following investigations.

On the first day of his second term, US President Trump signed two executive orders, commuting the sentences of 14 people and pardoning all others convicted in connection with the riot, and ordering an end to the “weaponization of the federal government”.

CNN cited unnamed sources as saying that at the request of the DOJ, the FBI handed over the ID numbers, titles and roles of more than 5,000 employees involved in the January 6 riot investigations but withheld their identities.

According to RT, an internal email obtained by multiple media outlets shows that Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove accused the FBI of “insubordination” for refusing to provide the identities of the agents. Politico reported on February 5, citing the document, that Bove repeatedly asked the FBI to “identify the core group” involved in the January 6 investigation.

In response, the DOJ issued a directive calling for “the collection of a comprehensive set of data,” which it said would allow the department to “screen out the core group that will be the focus of the review of weaponization under the Executive Order.” The goal is not to prosecute those “merely following orders,” but to identify “those who acted with corrupt or partisan motives,” opposed FBI leadership, or “arbitrarily used their authority to weaponize the FBI,” Bove requested.

FBI agents filed two federal lawsuits against the DOJ and acting US Attorney General James McHenry on February 4, seeking to protect the identities of about 6,000 employees from retaliation.

“Plaintiffs have reasonable concerns” that information provided by the agency could be disclosed, “putting them and their families in immediate jeopardy” from those convicted in the Jan. 6 cases, a class-action lawsuit filed by nine anonymous FBI agents against McHenry said.

“It is the act of compiling a list of people who worked on cases that angered Donald Trump that is retaliatory,” the lawsuit documents state.