Right-wing conservatives push to shut down the last active Jan. 6 prosecution
WASHINGTON — There’s just one active federal prosecution still tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the case of the man accused of planting two pipe bombs at the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee. And some of MAGA’s most fervent supporters want to shut it down.
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Some conservative figures accuse the Trump administration of framing Brian Cole Jr., who was arrested almost five years after the unexploded devices were placed. Cole, as NBC News first reported, told the FBI that he believed the 2020 election had been stolen after false accusations fueled by President Donald Trump and his supporters.
Cole has pleaded not guilty, and a trial is set for February. The FBI said he confessed after his arrest, but his legal team has noted that he was diagnosed with autism and is expected to seek to have the confession tossed based on his disability or argue he was coerced.
The prosecution has opened a rift between the Trump administration and some prominent right-wing conservatives who are seeking to undermine the case by spreading discredited theories about who was to blame. They contend the bombs were placed by “deep state” actors to distract from the police response and make Jan. 6 seem more violent.
Right-wing activists have appeared in court to support Cole, and former Jan. 6 defendants are backing him online.
Trump pardoned Jan. 6 defendants as one of his first acts in office, and as a result, the Justice Department shut down ongoing investigations into the rioters who beat and bloodied law enforcement and caused an estimated .
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Legally, federal prosecutors pushed forward with the pipe bomb case because the devices were placed the night before the attack and therefore the crime wasn’t covered under Trump’s mass Jan. 6 pardon. The devices were viable but didn’t explode, law enforcement said.
Culturally, it’s been a right-wing talking point for years. In a 2024 podcast, Dan Bongino said he had “zero doubt” the bombs were an inside job. When Bongino became the FBI’s deputy director, he pushed the stalled investigation forward. During the announcement of Cole’s arrest, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi credited him with helping crack the case.
Bongino, who left the bureau in January, has not directly addressed how — or whether — his opinions on the “inside job” theory have changed. After the December arrest, he told Fox News commentator Sean Hannity in an interview: “I was paid in the past, Sean, for my opinions, that’s clear, and one day I will be back in that space — but that’s not what I’m paid for now.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., publicly posted a photo of officials — including Bondi, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, FBI Director Kash Patel and Bongino — at the news conference announcing Cole’s arrest and said they were “complicit” in a conspiracy.
“The evidence is mounting,” Massie said on social media. “All of the people who took credit at the podium upon the arrest of Brian Cole Jr. are complicit, either through negligence or malfeasance. Mr. Cole is not the J5/J6 pipe bomber, and the identity of the actual perpetrator is being obscured. Bookmark it.”
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