"White Man From The DC Suburbs.” Arrested For J6 Pipe Bombs

The basic details of this story continue to be sketchy; they can be found here and many other places. But I keep listening for dogs that aren't barking.

The most obvious is Jake Tapper's need to gaslight the world and claim the suspect, Brian J Cole, Jr, is a "white man". It's no great step to recognize this contradicts the January 6 narrative that it was a Republcan insurrection, and it goes quite a way to explain why then-FBI Director Wray didn't want to touch the case.

A more interesting question is what it reveals about the current inner workings of the FBI and Justice Department. Attorney General Bondi, FBI Director Patel, and Deputy Director Bongino so far appear to be justified in congratulating themselves for the catch, as they did in yesterday's press conference:

“Today’s arrest was the result of good, diligent police work and collaboration on a case that languished for four years under the prior administration,” said Attorney General Bondi. “The American people are safer thanks to this morning’s successful operation.”

“The investigation into the pipe bombs in Washington, D.C. has been a high priority since Deputy Director Bongino and I assumed our roles nine months ago. Since that time, our FBI teams have gone back over every fact and every data point looking for new leads – and today’s arrest is the result of that outstanding work,” said FBI Director Patel. “Although almost five years have passed, this shows the FBI will never rest in bringing justice to those who endanger American lives and our communities."

But just two weeks ago, the story was that Trump was thinking of replacing Patel:

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday [November 23] had pushed back on a report from MS NOW that Trump was weighing moving on from Patel. She posted on social platform X that the story was “completely made up,” adding a photo of the the two men side-by-side giving a thumbs up in the Oval Office.

Then this past Sunday, The New York Post ran with a story that the FBI is a "rudderless ship":

FBI Director Kash Patel is facing withering criticism from an alliance of active-duty and retired agents and analysts, days after the White House denied media reports that the president is about to fire him.

A troubling new report card on the first six months of Patel’s leadership concludes he is “in over his head” and his deputy, Dan Bongino, is “something of a clown,” according to the alliance, which in two previous reports warned about crippling DEI and politicization of the FBI during the Biden administration.

The Patel-led FBI is described in the 115-page report as a “rudderless ship” and “all f–ked up.”

I haven't been able to find news reports that specifically discuss this, but I asked Chrome AI mode (which I often have found at least useful), "Was the J6 pipe bomb case removed from the prior FBI investigative team?" It answered,

Yes, a new team of FBI investigators and experts was brought in to re-examine the evidence in the January 6 pipe bomb case, leading to a recent arrest. The new team did not find new tips or witnesses, but utilized a fresh analysis of the existing evidence and data, including credit card purchases and cellphone data, to identify the suspect.

It referred me to this story:

Law enforcement officials reviewed credit card purchases of pipe bomb components, cellphone tower data and a license plate reader to zero in on Cole, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case. The FBI and Justice Department declined to elaborate on what led them to the suspect, but characterized his arrest as the result of a reinvigorated investigation during the Trump administration and credited a fresh analysis of already-collected evidence and data.

It's hard to avoid thinking one group at the FBI came out winners in this dispute, while another group came out losers. I've got to think the losers were behind the campaign to depict Patel and Bongino as on their way out. We may or may not one day hear more about what was going on here, or indeed, what's still happening. But it seems fairly plain to me that Bondi, Patel, and Bongino have had a fight on their hands.

This may also suggest a reason for the "two FBIs" I noted in recent weeks, the FBI that was apparently leaking that "Ms C", the former Capitol Police officer, was the figure in mask and hoodie that planted the bombs, and the other FBI that was leaking that this wasn't the case.

The next puzzle is the characterization of the suspect, Brian Cole, Jr, as "simple" or "autistic". For instance,

The suspect’s grandmother, Loretta, told The New York Post: “He’s almost autistic-like because he doesn’t understand a lot of stuff. I hope he is not talking.” She also alleged: “He’s very naive. . . He would not hurt a fly. He’s just not that kind of person. I don’t believe this at all. He’s not a terrorist.”

. . . “He’s very antisocial. Very,” a neighbor told The New York Post of Brian Cole Jr. “He keeps to himself.”

Elsewhere,

The man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic National Committees before the Jan. 6 riot is a Chihuahua-obsessed, Crocs-loving, “autistic-like” 30-year-old who lives with his parents, family and neighbors told The Post.

Brian Cole Jr. was known as a recluse in his Virginia neighborhood about 20 miles outside Washington, DC, where he was regularly seen walking his pocket-sized pup to and from a local 7-Eleven.

“He would wear shorts all winter long, no matter how cold it was, he would be outside in shorts, walking — and he would wear red Crocs,” one longtime neighbor recalled.

(Red Crocs are described as "popular, lightweight, waterproof foam clogs".) Some reports say he worked for his father's bail bond business, but his grandmother said he worked for DoorDash, which would be incompatible with a secure job at a family business.

I've noted here that the figure caught in surveillance video wandering around Capitol Hill the evening of January 5, whoever it may be, appeared disorganized, certainly not focused on a particular task. Also, that neither of the two bombs detonated suggests the individual, whoever it may be, wasn't capable of successfully designing and assembling a fairly crude device. This in turn suggests the motive for planting the bombs may just remain inscrutable, but if the individual had co-conspirators or was receiving some sort of guidance, it wasn't very effective.

On the other hand, an insanity defense seems unlikely to work. The individual as alleged spent months assembling the materials for the bombs, whether or not they actually worked, and whoever it was wore a disguise while planting them, which would reflect a consciousness of guilt. But I think it's a little early to go full conspiracy theory on this case, as Sundance is doing at Conservative Treehouse:

Brian Cole Sr, operated bail bond companies in various states. . . . Brian Cole Sr then hired, wait for it, Benjamin Crump to represent his interests.

Benjamin Crump is well known to this audience as the lawyer who represented the family of Trayvon Martin and the lawyer who fabricated a fake witness against George Zimmerman . . . . Benjamin Crump has a history of manufacturing false witnesses based on racial cases.

In the Florida case, Ben Crump worked with Pam Bondi to advance the false witness claims [Rachel Jeantel, sold as Trayvon Martin’s girlfriend and ear-witness. She was neither.] As Florida AG, Pam Bondi knew Rachel Jeantel was a false witness but supported her friend Benjamin Crump in selling that story.

Put another way, Florida AG Pam Bondi previously helped her friend Ben Crump, a man of notorious racial manipulation, and now as U.S. AG Pam Bondi is prosecuting the son of Ben Crump client, Brian Cole Jr.

But if Bondi has an interest in covering up whatever needs covering up in the J6 pipe bomber case, why couldn't she have just ordered the FBI to keep on keepin' on fecklessly looking for the suspect? Why make any arrest at all? After all, the statute of limitations runs out in a month. And why is this arrest apparently based on highly specific cell phone and credit card evidence? And if Ben Crump is somehow behind this, especially if the evidence against Cole Jr is supposedly so flimsy, why would Crump allow the son of his client even to be prosecuted at all?

Why not just pick another patsy -- say, Ms C, the former Capitol Police officer? I just don't see Bondi somehow deliberately throwing this case. But it's early days, we'll have to see what else falls out.