Court Asked to Compel Identification of FBI Agents at Capitol on Jan. 6

Unidentified FBI agents seen on security video clapping with a ‘celebratory expression’ as protesters ascended the east steps of the Capitol, court filing says.
Court Asked to Compel Identification of FBI Agents at Capitol on Jan. 6
According to a court filing, former FBI special agent John Guandolo was shown on the east side of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. William Pope via U.S. District Court/Screenshot via The Epoch Times
Joseph M. Hanneman
Updated:

The FBI could be compelled to identify all special agents who were present on U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, if a federal judge grants a motion from Jan. 6 defendant William Pope of Topeka, Kansas.

In a recent court filing before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, Mr. Pope cited three unidentified FBI special agents who were present on the east side of the U.S. Capitol when a large crowd surged up the steps to the Columbus Doors just after 2 p.m.

The agents stood together and one enthusiastically clapped and cheered as protesters took to the east steps, according to the motion.

“From the clapping and celebratory expression we can conclude that these FBI agents were in favor of people accessing the building and that they believed the people had a First Amendment right to be there,” Mr. Pope alleged.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Feb. 20 asked Judge Contreras for extra time to respond to Mr. Pope’s motion, a request the judge quickly granted over Mr. Pope’s objections. The DOJ now has until March 14 to respond.

“We have only five months until trial is scheduled to begin and there is still a lot that needs to be resolved before then,” Mr. Pope wrote. “Furthermore, the government currently has three attorneys assigned to my case ... while I am only a single pro se defendant, so I don’t understand why you need a full month to properly respond.”

In his motion to compel, Mr. Pope cited the public statements of former FBI special agent John Guandolo as proof that there were unidentified FBI agents in the crowd on Jan. 6, 2021.

“In fact, the government has failed to notify me that these FBI agents were even in the crowd, that they made exculpatory observations, and that they collected photographic and video evidence relevant and favorable to my defense,” Mr. Pope wrote.

“For these reasons, I have no choice but to motion this honorable court to compel the government to identify all FBI agents who were material witnesses at the Capitol, and to produce all photographs, videos, and records related to their presence.”

Mr. Guandolo—who appeared in the 2021 documentary “Capitol Punishment,” has made numerous media appearances since, and testified in a 2022 civil case related to Jan. 6—described being with active FBI agents on Capitol grounds that day. He is a former FBI liaison to U.S. Capitol Police.
In an Alaska civil trial, Mr. Guandolo said he and his FBI colleagues observed protesters approach and enter the Capitol with no resistance from police.

“I personally witnessed individuals walk up the stairs to the Capitol, have conversations with the two or three police officers that were stationed midway up, I watched the Capitol Police point up the stairs, and they calmly ... went up and went in those doors,” he testified. “Capitol Police watched them, and the police at the top of the stairs didn’t stop them.”

Mr. Pope cited a 2022 interview Mr. Guandolo did with Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren.

“I spent a good portion of the day with a friend of mine who is still active in the FBI, and we met another friend of ours in the FBI—I spent a lot of the time with them—and as we were standing next to each other watching, we literally, like guys would walk by us, we’re like, ‘There’s Antifa, there’s Antifa, there’s Antifa,’” Mr. Guandolo said in the interview.

Mr. Pope said the statements by Mr. Guandolo and his FBI colleagues that Jan. 6 was not like the media portrayed it are exculpatory evidence for his defense against criminal charges brought by the DOJ.

“Of the several FBI guys I was talking to that day, the two that I knew and then several guys I got introduced [to] ... there was a pretty good agreement, like whatever was going on here, there was much more to it, but it’s being portrayed as something its absolutely not,” Mr. Guandolo said, according to the motion.

Two colleagues of former FBI special agent John Guandolo watch crowds ascend the east steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a court filing. (William Pope via U.S. District Court/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)
Two colleagues of former FBI special agent John Guandolo watch crowds ascend the east steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a court filing. William Pope via U.S. District Court/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

“Guandolo’s assertion that he and active-duty FBI agents were seemingly in agreement that they perceived Capitol Police didn’t care if people entered the East Plaza or the Capitol itself, is highly relevant and exculpatory to my own case,” Mr. Pope wrote, “since these agents directly witnessed these incidents and can testify favorably on my behalf.”

Mr. Pope, 38, publisher of the news website Free State Kansas, says he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, covering the protest and subsequent violence.

Federal prosecutors charged him with civil disorder, corruptly obstructing an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, impeding ingress or egress in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. He faces a July 22 trial.

“The government has a clear obligation to identify these material witnesses whose testimony will be favorable to my defense,” Mr. Pope wrote.

Mr. Guandolo and his FBI friends did not seem to find the protesters’ presence on the East Plaza a problem, the motion stated.

“CCTV shows that Guandolo and his FBI colleagues were elated that people were in this area,” Mr. Pope wrote. “This is evidenced by their joyful facial expressions and body language, loud clapping, and celebratory outburst (“Oh! Oh! Oh man! This is huge!!!”) as people were running up the steps to the Capitol.”

In January 2024, Guandolo told Real America’s Voice that he and the FBI agents he was with have been formally interviewed by the FBI about why they were at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Mr. Guandolo has said he went there on personal time to pray.

Two undercover Metropolitan Police Department officers walk behind Ashli Babbitt on the northwest side of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (William Pope via U.S. District Court/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)
Two undercover Metropolitan Police Department officers walk behind Ashli Babbitt on the northwest side of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. William Pope via U.S. District Court/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

“Since these agents believe themselves to be in alignment with FBI policy and the Constitution, yet CCTV shows them in the area that the government alleges to be restricted, their testimony will be favorable to my defense against the government’s accusations that I was [in] a restricted area,” Mr. Pope said.

“For this reason, the Court should compel the government to identify all FBI agents who directly witnessed events at the Capitol since the exculpatory testimony of many, many agents will lend strength in numbers to my defense.”

Mr. Pope previously identified several undercover Metropolitan Police Department officers at the Capitol on Jan. 6, including one shown on video helping protesters climb a barricade and encouraging them to go into the Capitol. He is seeking a court order to obtain and release all of the video shot by undercover MPD officers.
Numerous undercover Metropolitan Police Department officers were involved in the traffic stop of Antifa supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a court filing. (William Pope via U.S. District Court/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)
Numerous undercover Metropolitan Police Department officers were involved in the traffic stop of Antifa supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a court filing. William Pope via U.S. District Court/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

He also revealed another group of MPD Electronic Surveillance Unit officers arresting a trio whose members identified themselves as supporters of Antifa.

Nearly 30 members of the Electronic Surveillance Unit were assigned to duty on Jan. 6, 2021, some of whom were gathering evidence on crowd activity. Members wore special bands on their wrists to identify themselves as part of the unit, according to the MPD’s 96-page Jan. 6 action plan.
Joseph M. Hanneman
Joseph M. Hanneman
Reporter
Joseph M. Hanneman is a former reporter for The Epoch Times who focussed on the January 6 Capitol incursion and its aftermath, as well as general Wisconsin news. In 2022, he helped to produce "The Real Story of Jan. 6," an Epoch Times documentary about the events that day. Joe has been a journalist for nearly 40 years.
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