The details come from an FBI after-action report documenting the deployment.
The FBI sent hundreds of agents to the U.S. Capitol and nearby locations on Jan. 6, 2021, according to an after-action report that includes numerous complaints of political bias at the FBI.
Just the News broke the news of the document on Sept. 26. Later that day, FBI Director Kash Patel threw his support behind the reporting from the online news website.
“The only reason you have answers is because we are finding and producing materials exposing corruption at record levels,” Patel wrote on X in response to a post linking to an article from journalist John Solomon.
This FBI is continuing to deliver on our promise of ultra transparency. The only reason you have answers is because we are finding and producing materials exposing corruption at record levels. Thank you to the men and women @FBI once again delivering for the American people.
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) September 26, 2025
No… https://t.co/GICqfdRNA6
The after-action report states that 274 agents were sent to various locations in Washington on Jan. 6, including the U.S. Capitol and the Capitol grounds, when demonstrations grew into a breach of the Capitol building.
Some of those 274 agents were those who responded to a red truck parked near the Capitol that contained components for Molotov cocktails, according to the document. Others were those who investigated pipe bombs placed at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee. Both locations are also close to the Capitol complex.
A December 2024 report from the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) stated it had not found evidence “showing or suggesting that the FBI had undercover employees in the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on Jan. 6.”
It did document the presence of 26 confidential human sources in Washington on Jan. 6, including three that entered the Capitol. It also noted that the FBI “deployed several hundred Special Agents and employees to the U.S. Capitol and the surrounding area.”
The OIG’s conclusion could be consistent with the after-action report if the agents mentioned in the after-action report were not undercover. They could, however, include plainclothes officers.
Political Bias a Concern
The report also records many agents’ concerns with what they perceived as political bias from the agency. Christopher Wray was its director at the time.
“The FBI should make clear to its personnel and the public that, despite its obvious political bias, it ultimately takes its mission and priorities seriously. It should equally and aggressively investigate criminal activity regardless of the offenders’ perceived race, political affiliations, or motivations; and it should equally and aggressively protect all Americans regardless of perceived race, political affiliations, or motivations,” one anonymous comment read.
