A government watchdog group announced Wednesday that it obtained new records showing that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) deployed personnel to Washington, D.C., during the Capitol Hill protest on January 6, 2021.
In a Wednesday press release, Judicial Watch said it had obtained 88 pages of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) records from the Justice Department due to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. Judicial Watch explained that the records reveal the CIA deployed personnel to Washington, D.C., and responded to the discovery of pipe bombs near the Democratic Party and Republican Party headquarters on January 6.
The ATF records obtained by Judicial Watch reveal a series of text messages labeled “January 7 Intel Chain.” The text messages include two different references to the CIA’s involvement on January 6. One of the text messages noted that “two CIA bomb techs” were assisting with “a pipe bomb scene on New Jersey and D ST SE.” Another text message said “several CIA dog teams” were “on standby.”
According to Judicial Watch, the disclosure of the CIA’s involvement in the federal government’s response to the Capitol Hill protest was forced by a Judicial Watch lawsuit after the Justice Department refused to grant a FOIA request for records and communications pertaining to the reports of shots being fired inside the Capitol.
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“These striking records show that CIA resources were deployed in reaction to the January 6 disturbance,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton stated in Wednesday’s press release.
In a video posted on social media, Fitton explained that the recent disclosure of the CIA’s involvement in the response to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6 raises many questions.
“First of all, why did it take Judicial Watch heavy lifting in federal court to get access to these documents after all these years?” Fitton asked. “Why didn’t the Pelosi January 6 Committee, even as corrupt as it was, not disclose the CIA involvement? What was the CIA involved for? Were they investigating foreign intelligence operations? Were they investigating American citizens? What else have they done related to January 6?”
