Trump: FBI Has “Major Explaining To Do” After Report Claims There Were 274 FBI Agents in Jan. 6 Riot Crowd

President Donald Trump lashed out Saturday at the FBI and its former director Christopher Wray following a report alleging that the bureau deployed 274 plainclothes agents in the crowd during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

“It was just revealed that the FBI had secretly placed, against all Rules, Regulations, Protocols, and Standards, 274 FBI Agents into the Crowd just prior to, and during, the January 6th Hoax,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Christopher Wray, the then Director of the FBI, has some major explaining to do. That’s two in a row, Comey and Wray.”

The claim, first reported by The Blaze on Thursday, contradicts findings from the Justice Department’s inspector general, which concluded last year there was “no evidence” that undercover FBI employees were embedded in protest crowds or inside the Capitol. That same report, however, acknowledged that 26 confidential human sources were present on Jan. 6, including four who entered the building without authorization.

Trump demanded the identities of the alleged agents and accused Wray of misleading Congress. “I want to know who each and every one of these so-called ‘Agents’ are, and what they were up to on that now ‘Historic’ Day,” he wrote.

The FBI has not commented on the new report. Wray previously testified that the bureau did not instigate the riot, telling lawmakers last year: “If you’re asking if the violence at the Capitol was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources or agents, the answer is no.”

The report comes as House Republicans intensify scrutiny of federal law enforcement’s role in the events of Jan. 6. Earlier this month, the GOP-led House approved a new subcommittee to investigate the Capitol attack. Chairman Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) said last week the latest revelations raise new questions. “With that many paid informants being in the crowd, we want to know how many were in the crowd, how many were in the building, but I also want to know, were they paid to inform or instigate?” Loudermilk said.

The timing of the controversy is notable. Just days earlier, former FBI Director James Comey was indicted on charges of making false statements to Congress over whether he authorized leaks regarding investigations into Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Trump has leaned heavily on Jan. 6 in his campaign messaging, casting convicted rioters as “Great American Patriots.” On Saturday, he tied his attack on Wray and the FBI to those cases. “Many Great American Patriots were made to pay a very big price only for the love of their Country,” he wrote. “I owe this investigation of ‘Dirty Cops and Crooked Politicians’ to them!”