(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
A bizarre new claim from President Donald Trump about FBI agents being in the crowd “prior to” the Jan. 6 riot was promptly knocked down by his own FBI director.
Trump made the claim in a post to Truth Social on Saturday afternoon — as part of an attack against former FBI Director Christopher Wray. The president accused Wray of “LYING” by denying that FBI agents were in the crowd “just prior to, and during” the riot at 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. “This is different from what Director Christopher Wray stated, over and over again! That’s right, 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 then tied Wray to FBI Director James Comey — who was indicted Thursday for making false statements — by adding, “Christopher Wray, the then Director of the FBI, has some major explaining to do. That’s two in a row, Comey and Wray, who got caught LYING, with our Great Country at stake. WE CAN NEVER LET THIS HAPPEN TO AMERICA AGAIN!”
But Trump’s claim that the FBI agents were in the crowd “prior to” the riot was contradicted by current FBI Director Kash Patel. The director made a comment to Fox News Digital on Saturday night for a piece authored by Brie Stimson. Here is a brief excerpt:
“While the agents were on hand, they were sent in after the riot had begun to try to control the unruly crowd, officials told Fox News Digital. That is not the proper role of FBI agents, and Wray was not forthcoming about what happened when he testified numerous times on Capitol Hill, Director Kash Patel said.
“‘Agents were sent into a crowd control mission after the riot was declared by Metro Police – something that goes against FBI standards,’ Patel told Fox News Digital.”
Patel did not make direct reference to the Trump claim he was correcting and — in an apparent effort to remain in the president’s good graces — proceeded to blast Wray.
“This was the failure of a corrupt leadership that lied to Congress and to the American people about what really happened,” Patel told Fox News Digital.
——
The post Trump’s Bizarre Claim That 274 FBI Agents Were Planted ‘Prior to’ Jan. 6 Riot Gets Torpedoed By His Own FBI Director Kash Patel first appeared on Mediaite.
