Three years after the Capitol riot shook Washington, a quiet Senate hearing has put new questions back in the spotlight, this time about the FBI.
Joseph Kent, chief of staff to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, confirmed on Wednesday that the U.S. intelligence community is now investigating whether the FBI was involved in the events of January 6, 2021.
“We’re looking into it right now,” Kent told senators, responding to a confirmation hearing question about his nomination to lead the National Counterterrorism Center. He did not disclose which agency is handling the review, but the acknowledgment alone was enough to reignite political tensions.
The statement aligns with Gabbard’s recent launch of a task force designed to root out politicisation within U.S. intelligence services. Her office later confirmed that the group is executing Trump-era executive orders to rebuild public trust.
Democratic Senator Mark Kelly challenged Kent’s earlier suggestions that law enforcement informants may have helped direct events on the ground. Kelly pointed to a Justice Department report from December, which stated 26 FBI informants were in Washington on January 6, but none had been authorised to breach the Capitol or incite unrest.
Kent pushed back, alleging that some informants were observed removing barriers and guiding crowds, and said the FBI’s Washington Field Office was probably involved. He offered no new evidence, only stating that the matter is being looked into.
Kent’s past colours the moment. A former Green Beret and CIA officer, he ran for Congress in 2022 with Gabbard’s endorsement and has publicly called January 6 defendants political prisoners.
He also declined to answer questions about his participation in a private Signal chat group with former Trump officials in which airstrikes in Yemen were discussed, now the subject of a Pentagon inspector general probe. Kent claimed the material shared in the chat was unclassified, but refused further comment citing ongoing litigation.
The FBI has consistently denied directing or inciting the January 6 riot. Over 1,500 individuals have been charged in relation to the attack, aimed at blocking the certification of Joe Biden’s election. Trump has since pardoned many of them.
With Kent’s confirmation hearing now on record, the investigation he acknowledged could cast fresh light, or fresh doubt, on one of America’s darkest political days. The search for accountability is far from over.
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