FBI Director Kash Patel has challenged President Donald Trump’s assertion that undercover agents under former FBI Director Christopher Wray provoked the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Patel stated that agents were deployed on a crowd control mission that violated bureau protocol but did not constitute instigation.
Context
Patel’s remarks mark a rare divergence from Trump’s narrative, as the president continues to shift responsibility for the riot away from his supporters. The comments also reignite scrutiny of the FBI’s conduct during the attack, with Patel accusing Wray of misleading Congress about the bureau’s role. The dispute underscores ongoing political tensions over the legacy of January 6 and questions of accountability.
During testimony before a House Committee on November 15, 2023, as reported by Fox News, Wray stated, “If you are asking if the violence at the Capitol was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources or agents, the answer is no,” but declined to confirm whether agents or informants had been embedded in the crowd.
What to Know
After President Joe Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election, a mob of Trump supporters attacked the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. Congress subsequently formed the January 6 Committee, a bipartisan body charged with investigating the attack. The committee released its full report on December 22, 2022, recommending that the U.S. Department of Justice consider prosecution for Trump and lawyer John Eastman.
Following a Blaze Media report, Trump claimed on Truth Social that Wray had positioned “274 agents…in the crowd” as “agitators and insurrectionists,” implying they were intended to provoke violence. Patel, in interviews, rejected this characterization, though he acknowledged that deploying agents after the riot was declared breached FBI standards. He cited whistleblowers and claimed prior leadership had not been transparent with Congress.
Independent reviews contradict Trump’s allegations. A 2024 Justice Department Inspector General report found that while 26 FBI confidential informants were present on January 6, none were directed to incite violence, nor is there evidence that undercover bureau personnel participated in the attack.
On Saturday, Patel shared a Fox News article on his X account clarifying that agents were sent in after the riot had been declared, contradicting Trump’s claim that they were in the crowd beforehand. Patel has nonetheless accused Wray of lying and argued that the former director’s responses to lawmakers obscured key facts.
Patel captioned the post: “274 FBI agents were thrown into crowd control on Jan. 6 against FBI standards. That failure was on corrupt leadership. Thanks to agents stepping up, the truth is coming out. Transparency. Justice. Accountability.” The post has garnered over 906,000 views.
Several MAGA accounts highlighted the claim, while critics on the left have scrutinized it. An FBI official told Fox News Digital that there is no evidence any agents took part in events related to Trump’s speech at the Ellipse on the morning of January 6 but added that Wray should have informed Congress of their presence.
Reactions
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “It was just revealed that the FBI had secretly placed, against all Rules, Regulations, Protocols, and Standards, 274 FBI Agents into the Crowd just prior to, and during, the January 6th Hoax…Christopher Wray, the then Director of the FBI, has some major explaining to do. That’s two in a row, [former FBI Director, James] Comey and Wray, who got caught LYING, with our Great Country at stake.”
FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital: “Agents were sent into a crowd control mission after the riot was declared by Metro Police–something that goes against FBI standards. This was the failure of a corrupt leadership that lied to Congress and to the American people about what really happened. Thanks to agents coming forward, we are now uncovering the truth. We are fully committed to transparency, and justice and accountability continues with this FBI.”
Looking Ahead
Investigations into January 6 continue. While independent reviews have dismissed claims of FBI orchestration, Patel’s criticism of Wray maintains pressure on the bureau, and his comments that contradict Trump’s narrative reveal ongoing divisions within the Republican Party over interpreting the events at the Capitol.
