State Sen.-elect Darin Smith, R-Cheyenne, said he already noticed some suspicious behavior when he was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“It was so obvious what was going down, we had all this set up entrapment from the get-go,” he said.
In a report released by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General on Thursday, it was revealed that the FBI had at least 26 confidential informants on the ground in Washington, D.C., during the Capitol riot, most of whom engaged in illegal activity during the chaos.
The Inspector General found that of the FBI’s confidential sources on the ground, four entered the Capitol during the riot and 13 went into a restricted area. Nine were not found to have engaged in illegal activity.
Only three of the informants were assigned to the Capitol that day to scout for domestic terrorism, while the remaining 23 went there on their own volition, according to the report.
Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump swarmed the Capitol on Jan. 6 to show their support for him and their belief that he had won the election.
More than 1,561 people have been charged from nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 590 charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony.
Smith said that “most of the day was so patriotic,” mentioning the countless peaceful demonstrators he saw there, including a group of female senior citizens he saw praying.
“It was so cute,” he said.
Gillette resident Patricia Junek said she’s “not one ounce surprised” to learn about the FBI informants being there. Junek was in D.C. for Trump’s rally Jan. 6, but didn’t see much suspicious behavior, calling the day “the most amazing day of my life.”
“It was a peaceful, peaceful day,” she said.
‘Totally Opposed’
Smith also clarified to Cowboy State Daily that he was “totally opposed” to anyone entering the Capitol that day; however, he believes the way the event was managed by police and other security forces facilitated the mayhem that ensued.
One example he gave was the Capitol Police’s removal of bike racks that had previously been preventing the swarm of people from moving forward to the Capitol building. Many other Capitol Police officers stood down and let protestors move forward on their own accord.
“How can people get in the most secure building in the world?” Smith questioned. “It reeks of entrapment.”
When the bike racks came down, Smith said he warned members of the crowd to not advance any further.
“I told them, ‘Don’t go up to that building, you’re crazy,’” Smith said.
Smith said he did nothing illegal that day and went to the Capitol on Jan. 6 for the historical significance of the event. He said he never would have gone had he known beforehand what was about to take place.
“What did I do wrong? I was just being an American and seeing history,” he said.
That didn’t stop FBI agents from coming to his Cheyenne home later on and accusing him of being an Italian-appearing man in a photo taken at the riot, who weighed about 100 pounds more than him and looked about 20 years younger.
Smith, who ran a short-lived campaign against former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney in 2021, believes these agents were sent by “Cheney and her goons.”
“I laughed the FBI out of my house,” he said.
Finding Facts
Although there was a contingency of people who committed legitimate violence on Jan. 6, a great deal more simply ambled around the outside of the Capitol without committing any illegal acts.
Sen. Bob Ide, R-Casper, and Rep-elect Joe Webb, R-Lyman, were also at the Capitol that day, as was Wyoming GOP Chair Frank Eathorne. None have received criminal charges.
Junek admits she crossed an “invisible line” that separated trespassers and non-trespassers on Jan. 6, and could have faced charges for taking a selfie on the steps of the Capitol.
“Until Trump was elected, they were still arresting people, old people like me,” Junek said.
The FBI worked to identify domestic extremists who planned to be in Washington, D.C., the day of the attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021, but failed to take a "basic step" that could have helped law enforcement prepare ahead of the event, according to a new report from the Justice Department's internal watchdog.
The report also shot down unproven speculation that the bureau had employed agents purposely stoking some of the illegal behavior seen that day.
“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!” outgoing FBI director Christopher Wray told lawmakers back in July.
After Trump announced he would appoint a new FBI director, Wray announced he would resign this week, a move Smith also found suspicious.
This does little to persuade Smith on the issue, saying informants should also be considered an operation wing of the FBI.
Went Rogue?
The report also mentions that the FBI never gave permission to its informants to break the law.
Some of the informants obtained information on militant groups like the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys during the riot.
The Inspector General ruled that it was appropriate for the FBI to have had informants at the event, but also criticized the FBI for initially falsely reporting that canvassing of field offices for threats had occurred prior to Jan. 6.
“[FBI should] ensure that its processes and procedures set forth with clarity the division of responsibilities,” the report reads. “[And] clearly define a mechanism for making a formal determination whether and what kind of a nationwide intelligence and [informant] canvass is necessary and appropriate under FBI policies.”
Canvassing for threats is a common practice the FBI takes before major events like the Inauguration and Super Bowl. In the report, FBI Director Paul Abbate called the lack of canvass "a basic step that was missed."
Still, the FBI told the New York Post on Thursday it “continues to disagree with certain of the factual assertions in the report regarding the manner of specific steps, and the scope of the canvass undertaken” prior to the riot.
The inspector general’s office also found that the FBI did not have “primary responsibility” for intelligence gathering or security on the day of the riot, but still “recognized the potential for violence and took significant and appropriate steps to prepare for this supporting role.”
Outlook For Pardons
In a Time Magazine story published Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump said he will use the first hour of his presidency to pardon people convicted of participating in the riot.
“We’re going to do it very quickly, and it’s going to start in the first hour that I get into office,” he said.
Trump said the pardons would only go to “nonviolent” people who were at the Capitol, and that, “A vast majority should not be in jail, and they’ve suffered gravely.”
A Bedford, Wyoming, man was sentenced to three years in prison for participating in the riot, while Laramie resident August Raymond Garcia’s case is still ongoing.
Smith believes everyone who received criminal charges related to Jan. 6 should be pardoned.
Junek also believes pardons need to be issued, but not for people who performed criminal acts or were “plants by the FBI.”
“They need fairness in what’s coming to them, not what’s being done the last year,” she said.
Her friend Couy Griffin, a New Mexico resident who spoke in Gillette last January, got jail time for entering the restricted area of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. In October, a federal court rejected his appeal and said that rioters didn’t have to know the Secret Service was protecting then-Vice President Mike Pence inside when they breached the area.
Junek knows another person who she said was physically dragged into the restricted area — and still got prison time for trespassing.
“Real justice must take place,” she said.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
