Documents Belie Trump Claim That FBI Agents Incited Jan. 6 Capitol Attack

President Donald Trump has amplified a years-old conspiracy theory, claiming that newly released FBI documents prove that 274 agents at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were there to incite the attack, Melissa Goldin reported for the Associated Press (AP)

The documents confirm that FBI agents responded to the attack, not that they played a role in causing it. (Photo: TapTheForwardAssist Wikimedia Commons) 

The 50-page batch of documents, first highlighted by the conservative site Just The News last week, did not suggest that federal agents instigated the insurrection.

Instead, they contained an “after-action report” in which FBI personnel criticized the bureau’s response. The documents confirm that FBI agents responded to the attack, not that they played a role in causing it.

“As it now turns out, FBI Agents were at, and in, the January 6th Protest, probably acting as Agitators and Insurrectionists, but certainly not as ‘Law Enforcement Officials,’” Trump claimed.

This is false, AP reported. The documents state on page 46 that 274 agents from the FBI’s Washington Field Office “responded to” the U.S. Capitol and surrounding areas on Jan. 6.

They contain no credible evidence to support Trump’s claim that federal agents acted as agitators or insurrectionists.