The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) allegedly lost count of how many paid informants it had during the Capitol Hill riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
The agency later had to perform an audit to determine the exact number of "Confidential Human Sources" run by different FBI field offices that were present that day. Steven D'Antuono, formerly in charge of the bureau's Washington field office, said that at least one informant was communicating with his FBI handler as he entered the Capitol.
FBI's Paid Informants
D'Antuono has previously testified behind closed doors to the House Judiciary Committee that his office knew that some of their informants would attend a "Stop the Steal" rally that former United States President Donald Trump led.
However, he said that he only learned after the fact that informants run by other field offices were also present, along with others who had participated of their own will. The situation and confusion prompted the Washington field office to ask the FBI headquarters to conduct a poll or put out something to get a handle on the scale of the agency's spying operations on that day, as per the New York Post.
The official said they also started getting responses from FBI headquarters, which helped them identify which field offices had planted confidential informants in the crowd of rioters.
There was one paid informant who was from the Kansas City field office who was at the Capitol as the crowd rushed inside. He allegedly communicated with his FBI handler while they were inside the building.
When asked how many informants the audit discovered were among the crowd on the riot day, D'Antuono only said there were "a handful." The FBI spends an average of $42 million yearly in payments made to its Confidential Human Sources.
Capitol Hill Riot Investigations
The situation comes as an Arizona man was falsely accused of being an undercover FBI agent and instigating the U.S. Capitol riot. On Tuesday, he was charged in connection with the January 2021 attack, according to Yahoo News.
The man was identified as Ray Epps, a former U.S. Marine, and he is now facing one misdemeanor count of disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted Capitol grounds. The charges are related to his involvement in the storming of Congress.
While more than 1,100 people have already been charged in relation to the Capitol Hill riot, the FBI's investigation into the matter is still ongoing. The agency has still not yet identified 312 other Capitol rioters, which include 15 who were pictured on camera assaulting police officers or members of the media.
A former FBI senior executive, Joshua Skule, who now runs national security services company Bow Wave, said that using smartphones and social media made searching for fugitives easier and harder. It was made easier because of electronic trails but more difficult because of the rise of encrypted communications, said BBC.
