REUTERS PICTURES 40th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION: A mob of supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump fight with members of law enforcement at a door they broke open as they storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Leah Millis SEARCH "REUTERS PICTURES 40th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION" FOR THIS PACKAGE
On Thursday, September 25, John F. Solomon and Steven Richards of the right-wing website Just the News reported that on January 6, 2021, the FBI "deployed more than 250 plainclothes agents to the U.S. Capitol" in an "operation so disorganized it unleashed searing frustrations among many of the FBI's rank-and-file that the bureau had lost its core competencies to 'wokeness' and allowed its employees to become 'pawns in a political war,' according to an after-action report kept from the public for more than four years."
But according to Politico's Kyle Cheney, that characterization of the FBI presence at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 is "wildly" misleading.
Solomon tweeted the Just the News article, posting, "Breaking: FBI Bombshell: 274 agents sent to Capitol for J6, many later complained they were political 'pawns.'"
But Cheney, on September 26, responded to Solomon with a tweet of his own, explaining, "This story is being wildly misrepresented — these were not undercover agents embedded in the crowd. They were part of the multi-agency law enforcement response *after* the Capitol was attacked, as the documents themselves make clear."
Cheney, in a separate tweet, elaborated, "In fact, the 'bombshell' here was reported by the inspector general 10 months."
Former Newsmax reporter Breanna Morello asked Cheney, "Where does it say they responded after? Can you link the source please?" — to which the Politico reporter responded, "In the doc itself: 'responded to the Capitol,' Including group that responded to pipe bomb, explosives in van and team that helped clear inside the building. Long known FBI had large number of personnel on the scene as part of many agencies/departments that assisted."
Liberal journalist and former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann had a scathing response to Solomon and Richards' reporting in Just the News.
Olbermann tweeted, "Yes. OTOH Solomon is so rabid he doesn't realize the implication of his lie here is: Trump-controlled FBI 2025 leaks that Trump-controlled FBI 2021 sent plants into a Trump crowd to foment a Trump coup on January 6. Seems kinda...self-incriminating."
In a different September 26 tweet, the former MSNBC host told Solomon, "So Trump's FBI led by a Trump Appointed Director leaks that Trump's previous FBI led by a different Trump Appointed Director sent agents into a Trump crowd to aid a Trump coup to benefit Trump? In other words Trump just confessed to J6. Gotcha. Cool."