House Republicans faulted the January 6th Select Committee for failing to investigate the two pipe bombs discovered blocks from the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to an oversight report published Thursday.
Two House oversight subcommittees, led by Republican Reps. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, released an interim staff report Thursday criticizing the January 6th Committee for overlooking the two pipe bombs, an incident that is still unsolved nearly four years later, during the oversight panel’s investigation into the events that transpired on January 6th. The release of the oversight report faulting the January 6th Committee for failing to probe the pipe bomb incident coincides with President Biden honoring two of the January 6th oversight panel’s leaders, former Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Democratic Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, with the Presidential Citizens Medal Thursday, citing their leadership in steering the investigation of the January 6th Committee.
Two pipe bombs were found outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) the afternoon of January 6th shortly before demonstrators began to breach the security barriers around the U.S. Capitol, diverting law enforcement’s presence away from the Capitol complex, according to the report.
“Despite the Select Committee’s task, the threat the pipe bombs posed to the public, and the role the pipe bombs played in diverting resources away from the Capitol, the Select Committee chose to overlook the pipe bombs’ existence,” the joint committee report, titled “Four Years Later: Examining the State of the Investigation into the RNC and DNC Pipe Bombs,” states. “In fact, the Select Committee’s 845-page report only referenced the pipe bombs five times in passing.”
The FBI has no suspects on the J6 RNC/DNC pipe bombs, and Pelosi/Cheney’s former J6 Select Committee failed to report on the many security failures surrounding the event during their “investigation.”
Today’s report highlights why the American people still deserve the full truth. https://t.co/ZQnBjq3mFy
— Rep. Barry Loudermilk (@RepLoudermilk) January 2, 2025
Loudermilk and Massie allege the January 6th Committee’s failure to thoroughly investigate the pipe bombs is also supported by data obtained by their respective committees that was turned over by the January 6th Committee following its disbandment.
“A thorough review of almost three terabytes of data turned over by the Select Committee yielded shockingly few results regarding the pipe bombs — emphasizing how the Select Committee failed to thoroughly investigate the security and operational failures surrounding the events of January 6,” the report states.
The report also found that law enforcement failed to thoroughly sweep DNC headquarters and allowed Vice President Kamala Harris to enter the building while the pipe bomb lay outside. Massie previously criticized Thompson for being unaware that Harris visited DNC headquarters prior to law enforcement’s discovery of the pipe bomb.
Secret Service deleted texts from J6 and destroyed their phones AFTER being told by Congress to preserve them.
Obstruction of Congress occurred under Sec Mayorkas.
I asked Chair of J6 committee about this & whether he even investigated the bomb placed near VP Harris. Nothing! pic.twitter.com/vW8lYPSFnD
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 6, 2024
Despite the Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecuting more than 1,500 people over their actions on January 6th, the agency has not arrested any individual in connection with the two pipe bombs nearly four years later. The DOJ has also stonewalled lawmakers attempts to get updates about the status of the agency’s investigation into the pipe bomber, according to the report.
House lawmakers allege that the FBI identified multiple “persons of interest” in connection to the pipe bombs in the months following January 6th, including a person who searched “Pipe Bomb DC” online prior to law enforcement’s discovery but after the pipe bombs were placed. However, the bureau’s investigation has appeared to fizzle out with “little meaningful progress toward the apprehension of a suspect,” according to the report.
“Almost four years after the incident, Americans scarcely have any detail about who planted the bombs or why,” the report states. “This lack of information hampers Congress’s ability to legislate improvements to the security of the Capitol Complex and the operations of federal law enforcement. The failure to identify, apprehend, and prosecute the bomber ultimately makes all Americans less secure.”
The January 6th Committee, led by Cheney and Thompson, unanimously recommended that the DOJ prosecute President-elect Donald Trump with four counts related to alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Biden awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest ranking award the president can bestow upon a civilian, to 20 Americans, including Cheney and Thompson, Thursday.
“Throughout two decades in public service, including as a Congresswoman for Wyoming and Vice Chair of the Committee on the January 6 attack, Liz Cheney has raised her voice—and reached across the aisle—to defend our Nation and the ideals we stand for: Freedom. Dignity. And decency. Her integrity and intrepidness remind us all what is possible if we work together,” Biden wrote of Cheney receiving the medal.
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