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Kash Patel says Trump’s push to ‘get the bad guys’ drove FBI probe that unmasked DC pipe bomb suspect Brian Cole
A $500,000 reward had been offered for information leading to the bomber who planted devices outside political offices in Washington, DC.
Trump administration investigators tracked down DC pipe bomb suspect Brian Cole without any public tips, relying instead on traditional detective work, said FBI Director Kash Patel.
A $500,000 reward had been offered for information leading to the bomber who planted devices outside political offices in Washington, DC.
Even so, the Biden administration was unable to identify a suspect during President Trump’s previous term, Patel told The New York Post on Thursday.
According to Patel, Trump’s FBI ultimately solved the nearly five-year-old mystery without receiving new leads.
The pipe bombs were planted on the evening of January 5, 2021, near the Democratic and Republican National Committee offices. No one was injured before they were safely disarmed, but the FBI has said both devices had the potential to be lethal.
Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, who Patel said “spearheaded the investigation,” credited Trump for enabling the bureau to push the case forward, according to the NY Post.
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“This is what it’s like when you work for a president who tells you to go get the bad guys and stop focusing on other extraneous things not related to law enforcement,” Bongino said during a Thursday afternoon press conference announcing the arrest.
Cole was taken into custody Thursday morning in connection with the bombs planted outside the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters on the night before the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
FBI agents searched his family’s cul-de-sac in Woodbridge, Virginia, gathering evidence and securing the area.
Although the FBI arrested and prosecuted hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters, 1,600 of whom President Trump later pardoned, the identity of the person who placed the pipe bombs had remained unsolved for years.
Investigation took a fresh approach
Patel said that once he took office, the bureau relaunched the investigation with a fresh approach.
“Our team re-examined the case from the ground up after the previous leadership spent four years with no success,” he said. “We engineered this investigation, built the evidentiary trail, and executed the search warrants that finally brought this individual into custody.”
“This is what a focused, disciplined Bureau delivers for the American people,” he added.
