Islam Times - US: FBI Turns over Details of 5,000 Employees Who Worked on Jan 6 Riots

Islam Times - CNN reported that the FBI has complied with a US Department of Justice [DOJ] demand to hand over the details of over 5,000 employees involved in investigations related to the January 6 riots. In response, FBI agents have sued to protect the identities of the agents involved, due to concerns about persecution.

The January 6, 2021 Capitol Hill riots involved thousands of supporters of US President Donald Trump rallying in Washington DC to try to stop the certification of the 2020 election results. Five people were killed as a result of the unrest, and some 140 police officers were injured.

More than 1,500 people were charged with federal crimes following investigations into the incident. Trump signed two executive orders the first day of his second term, commuting the sentences of 14 connected to the riots and pardoning all others convicted, as well as ordering an end to the “weaponization of the federal government.”

In line with DOJ demands, the FBI has handed over the ID numbers, job titles and roles in the January 6 investigations of more than 5,000 employees, but has withheld their names, CNN reported, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove has accused the agency of “insubordination,” for refusing to turn over the agents’ names, according to an internal email seen by a number of media outlets. Bove has repeatedly requested that the FBI “identify the core team” involved in the January 6 investigation, Politico wrote on Wednesday, quoting the document.

In light of this, the DOJ passed down a directive to “obtain a complete data set,” which the department can “reliably pare down to the core team that will be the focus of the weaponization review pursuant to the Executive Order,” Bove reportedly wrote.

The goal is not to prosecute those “who simply followed orders,” but to find “those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent,” defied FBI leadership or “exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI,” Bove reportedly demanded.