The Trump administration has launched sharp criticism at the Biden administration following Thursday’s arrest of a suspect in the January 6 pipe bomb case, with officials questioning how the individual evaded capture for nearly four years despite evidence allegedly sitting in FBI files.
Brian Cole, a 30-year-old bail bondsman from Woodbridge, Virginia, was taken into custody Thursday morning at his mother’s home.
He faces federal charges for attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials and laying explosives outside both the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters on January 5, 2021.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino expressed bewilderment at the previous administration’s handling of the investigation during an appearance on Sean Hannity’s show Thursday evening.
Bongino questioned what the Biden-era FBI had been prioritizing while the suspect remained at large.
“I don’t know what the hell they were doing!” Bongino stated.
“Outside of targeting political opponents, weaponizing the FBI. Destroying its reputation, embarrassing agents, I don’t know what they were doing.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi echoed these criticisms, describing a “total lack of movement” in the investigation under the previous administration.
She emphasized that Cole’s arrest resulted from reviewing evidence that had been “collecting dust” rather than from any new tips or witnesses, the Daily Mail reported.
FBI Director Kash Patel suggested in an appearance on Donald Trump Jr’s podcast that the prosecution would reveal investigative shortcomings from the Biden era.
“What you’re gonna see is as this case presents itself in court, you’re going to see where we were able to collect the evidence and make the case against [Cole] and then common sense journalists and investigators are going to be able to look at it and wonder why these people didn’t do X, Y and Z years ago,” Patel said.
The arrest followed weeks after the FBI increased its reward to $500,000 for information leading to the suspect’s identification and shared previously unreleased footage of the individual moving through Washington DC streets the night before the riots.
According to the arrest affidavit, Cole purchased bomb components over an extended period from October 2019 through November 2020.
Officials allege he bought electrical wiring and battery connectors from separate Home Depot and Lowes locations between May 2019 and November 2020, with steel wool purchased in December 2020.
The suspect allegedly continued acquiring bomb-making materials even after placing the devices.
Records show purchases of two galvanized pipes on January 22, 2021, and a kitchen timer the following day, according to the Daily Mail.
Surveillance footage captured the hooded suspect on the evening of January 5, 2021, placing a backpack on South Capitol Street, donning glasses, surveying the area for observers, and departing.
The individual then proceeded to the DNC headquarters, where a device was positioned at 7:54 p.m.
Video evidence tracked the suspect’s movement to the RNC headquarters, where another device was placed at 8:16 p.m.
The last footage showing the individual was recorded two minutes later.
Bongino, when confronted about his 2024 statement suggesting the case involved a “massive cover-up,” acknowledged that while he felt “pretty comfortable we have our guy,” the investigation had only just commenced.
“Listen I was paid in the past, Sean, for my opinions,” Bongino said.
“And one day I will be back in that space, but that’s not what I’m paid for now. I’m paid to be your deputy director and we base investigations on facts.”
MAGA influencer Benny Johnson characterized the situation as “the biggest FBI cover-up scandal in history,” claiming the Biden administration “knew exactly who did it.”
Johnson wrote on X: “This explains exactly why the FBI & DOJ could not ‘find’ this guy for 4 years. Brian’s profile destroys their entire ‘MAGA white supremacist insurrection bomber’ narrative in one blow. The FBI didn’t ‘fail’ to catch him. Leftists protected their own.”
