I would like to add another dimension to Alan’s post regarding January 6th by focusing on the intelligence analysis and decision-making by various government agencies prior to that day.
There has been a lot of ink spilled by the old legacy press regarding the DOJ Inspector General’s (IG) report that the FBI had 26 informants on the ground during Jan. 6. Some commentators have seized upon a particular finding in the report, that there were no FBI agents physically present within the crowd that day, as definitive proof against broader theories of FBI involvement.
Let’s leave aside whether the scope of the report could adequately cover all of the FBI’s activities or even how a single data point (lack of FBI agents on the ground) is used to dismiss a complex web of questions in order to reach simplistic conclusions.
Instead let’s focus on something more nuanced concerning potential intelligence gathering, informants, and other forms of involvement that preceded the events of that day.