FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino told Sean Hannity in a gripping interview that solving the January 6 pipe bomb case was his top priority from the moment he took office. “Fifteen minutes after I was sworn in, I asked for a full brief on the pipe bomber case,” Bongino said. “I looked at the case agent and told him, ‘You are going to get me this guy.’” That moment, shared on Fox News, revealed the seriousness and determination that finally led to an arrest after years of bureaucratic delay.
In a stunning turn of events that has rocked the political establishment, the Department of Justice has finally made an arrest in the long-stagnant January 6 pipe bomb case. The announcement, made by Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, revealed the apprehension of Brian Cole Jr., whose identification came not from new evidence, but from data that had been collecting dust under Joe Biden’s Justice Department.
“This wasn’t a new tip. It wasn’t some new evidence. It was the hard work of President Trump’s administration,” Bondi said during the press conference. She emphasized that the breakthrough came only after months of thorough analysis by Trump-era officials of evidence that had languished at the FBI since Biden took office.
According to unsealed court papers, the key evidence included bank records of purchases related to explosive materials and cell phone tower data. None of this was new. It was all there. Sitting. Untouched. Unused. And ignored for nearly five years. The suspect, now in custody, faces charges of using explosives, with additional charges expected.
Surveillance footage released by the FBI years ago had clearly shown a suspect planting two explosive devices near the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the Capitol protests. Despite the visual evidence, no action was taken for years. Why? Because the Biden administration diverted FBI resources from the investigation as early as February 2021, barely a month into his term.
The failure to pursue this case earlier has raised serious questions about political motivations and the intentional sidelining of a case that could have implicated deeper truths about that day. “This case languished,” Bondi reiterated. “There was no excuse. It was there the whole time.”
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who prioritized the case upon assuming office, detailed the agency’s recent work. “We’ve chased down thousands of leads, over 6,000 interviews, and reviewed nearly 40,000 video files. And yet it remained stale until we made it a top priority,” Bongino explained. He called the nine-month operation a testament to what happens when justice is actually pursued without political interference.
Bongino declared with conviction, “You’re not going to walk into our capital city, put down two explosive devices and walk off into the sunset. Not going to happen.” His remarks sharply contrasted with the Biden administration’s handling of the case, which many now see as deliberate neglect.
Republican lawmakers have long expressed frustration with the lack of progress on this and other sensitive cases. A congressional report had previously noted the suspicious diversion of FBI manpower and resources shortly after Biden’s inauguration. This was the moment many conservatives began asking whether there was something being hidden.
Speculation and theories filled the vacuum created by government silence. Some conservatives, including then-commentator Dan Bongino, openly questioned whether the pipe bomb incident was an inside job or part of a larger cover-up. Now, with an arrest finally made, those questions remain, but the focus has shifted to accountability: who let this case sit idle, and why?
The American public, especially those in Trump’s base, have watched for years as this investigation collected cobwebs. They were told it was too complex, that there were no leads, that nothing could be done. Yet here we are, with an arrest made not because of any breakthrough, but because patriots within the system finally did their job.
The DOJ under Bondi and the FBI under Patel have restored a sense of purpose and resolve. They didn’t rely on political talking points or media narratives. They simply followed the evidence—the same evidence the Biden administration had but failed to act on.
This revelation has renewed calls for transparency across the board. If this case could be buried, what else has been ignored? And more importantly, who benefits from these delays?
As Bongino pointed out during the press conference, from his very first meeting he made it clear: the pipe bomb case would be solved. “Fifteen minutes after being sworn in, I asked for a full briefing. I told the case agent, ‘You are going to get me this guy,’ and today, we did.”
Americans deserve answers about why this case was shelved and why it took a change in DOJ leadership to finally act. It appears the answer may lie in the unwillingness of the Biden administration to follow the facts where they led.