Oversight Committee Chairs Loudermilk, Massie Release January 6, 2021 Pipe Bomb Report

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WASHINGTON – Today, the Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight Chairman Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) and the Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Chairman Thomas Massie (KY-04) released a report on the January 6, 2021 pipe bombs titled, “Four Years Later: Examining the State of the Investigation into the RNC and DNC Pipe Bombs.”

Click here to read the report.

TOP TAKEAWAYS

The Security Failures Associated with the Law Enforcement Response to the Pipe Bombs:

• The USSS failed to identify one of the devices during security sweeps at the DNC, resulting in Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s motorcade passing within feet of one of the pipe bombs. At least ten different USSS agents and two canine units came within feet of the pipe bomb before the Vice President-elect’s arrival yet never discovered the device.
• USCP failed to properly secure and maintain a perimeter around the pipe bombs despite multiple orders to do so, allowing pedestrians and vehicular traffic to cross within feet of the explosive devices. USCP permitted vehicles and pedestrians to pass by the pipe bomb while USCP’s bomb robot engaged with the device. At the DNC, for example, more than 40 vehicles and 10 pedestrians breached the security perimeter around the pipe bomb between its discovery and when law enforcement ultimately cleared the scene.
• Law enforcement allowed the motorcade of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to drive through an active bomb scene, risking the safety of the Speaker.

The FBI’s Investigation into the Pipe Bomber:

• The FBI did not receive “corrupted data” from one of the major cell carriers in connection with its investigation into the pipe bomber. 
  • A former senior FBI official testified that the major cell carrier companies provided “corrupted” cell data to the FBI and suggested that that “corrupted” data may have contained the identity of the pipe bomber; however, in responses to letters from the Subcommittee, the major cell carriers confirmed that they did not provide corrupted data to the FBI and that the FBI never notified them of any issues with accessing the cellular data.
• In the early weeks and months of the investigation, the FBI took significant investigative steps to identify the suspect, including issuing geofence warrants, analyzing cell tower data, conducting forensic analyses of the devices, tracking the devices’ components, and reviewing hours of security camera footage. The FBI identified multiple persons of interest during the initial weeks and months of the investigation, including: 
  • A person of interest who searched the term “pipe bomb DC” online prior to law enforcement’s discovery of the pipe bombs but after their placement.
  • A person of interest who on the morning of January 5, 2021, took photographs of the area behind the RNC where one of the pipe bombs would later be planted.
  • A vehicle of interest carrying a passenger matching the description of the suspect that drove past the RNC minutes after the suspect planted the pipe bombs.
  • A person of interest who owned the same unique pair of sneakers as the suspect (Nike Air Max Speed Turf sneakers) and who worked “in the area of the crime.”
  • Five persons of interest or “potential targets” whose cellular data indicated their movements on the evening of January 5, 2021, may have matched the movements of the suspect.

Despite its initial efforts, the FBI has yet to identify the suspect and has refused to provide the Subcommittees with additional information about these investigative leads.

“3 Years Later: Assessing Law Enforcement Response to Pipe Bombs on Jan. 6”. 

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