Massie: FBI threatened his staff if he didn’t ‘play ball’ over pipe-bomb investigation
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said an FBI official threatened to open a criminal investigation on one of his staff over his persistent investigation and questioning on the Jan. 6 pipe bombs.
An FBI official threatened to open a criminal investigation on one of Massie’s staff “if we didn’t straighten up [and] play ball,” Massie told Blaze News investigative reporter Steve Baker in an interview broadcast on Matt Kibbe’s “Free the People” podcast and posted to X.
‘Even he understood that was not a good look. Probably illegal.’
“I’m going to say this here on camera because it’s important. … He said … ‘We’re going to investigate one of your staff for fraud,’” Massie quoted the unnamed FBI official as saying. “And he told another one of my staff this: ‘If you guys don’t straighten up, you know, if you want to play hardball, if this is how you want to play it’ or something like that, ‘this member of your staff is going to get criminally investigated for fraud’ — a very specific threat.”
Massie declined to identify the official he says levied the threat, but said he did complain about it to FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino.
“I told Bongino, I said, ‘One of your guys is threatening my guys with an FBI investigation if we don’t do what you want.’ And he [Bongino] said, ‘I’ll take care of that.’ ’Cause even he understood that was not a good look. Probably illegal.”
Massie said he later received a “non-apology” text from the official that said, “‘I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.’”
“He didn’t apologize. He was unrepentant, let’s say, really.”
Massie has been the most aggressive member of Congress investigating the pipe bombs found behind the Capitol Hill Club at 12:43 p.m. on Jan. 6 and under a park bench on the southwest side of the Democratic National Committee building 22 minutes later. In the same interview with Baker, Massie also disclosed that recent Blaze News reporting has caused him to be “99% certain” that some U.S. Capitol Police officials had a role in the planting of the pipe bombs found on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021.
“I went from 90% certain that some Capitol Police were involved in the Jan. 6 pipe bomb to 95% certain, and now I’m at 99% certain after this new story that you put out this week,” Massie told Baker.
“I’m doing this on probability. The probability may even be higher than that.”
His comments reflect Blaze News’ recent reporting on a former Capitol Police officer who was an apparent forensic match to the bomb suspect, follow-up reporting on the manner in which the second device was discovered by plainclothes Capitol Police officers, and the stonewalling the congressman charges that he faced from Capitol Police in the course of his own investigation. Assistant Police Chief Ashan Benedict, whom Massie named as having specifically blocked his investigation, retired last week.
The Kentucky Republican also expressed frustration that FBI Director Kash Patel seems to have made little more progress than his predecessor, Director Christopher Wray. In an interview with Fox News earlier this month, as well as a follow-up with independent reporter Catherine Herridge, Patel promised that major developments are incoming, but was scant on details.
A CBS story published Tuesday cited three unidentified sources stating that the FBI had cleared the police officer who appeared to match a forensic gait analysis of the bomber, citing “an alibi: video of her playing with her puppies at the time the devices were placed.” Blaze News has sought to obtain independent confirmation of the FBI’s clearance based on the alibi.
Blaze News reported Nov. 8 on a forensic match to a former Capitol Police officer, based on a computer analysis of the hoodie-wearing alleged pipe bomber’s manner of walking compared to that of the person. The algorithm rated the person as a 94% match, while the intelligence analyst who ran the study for Blaze News put the match closer to 98%. The person has since denied any allegations, through her attorney.
FBI photos
Blaze News reported Nov. 18 that two Capitol Police counter-surveillance special agents sent out to look for more explosives after the discovery of the Capitol Hill Club device were seen on video going to the DNC building and to a nearby bush on the side of the Congressional Black Caucus Institute building.
Independent video investigator Armitas discovered that the hoodie-wearing suspect identified in 2021 as the pipe bomber stopped at the bush along a sidewalk on the north side of the CBCI building at 7:47 p.m. Jan. 5. The suspect sat cross-legged at the shrub and appeared to rummage through a backpack before leaning into the bush as if attempting to place something underneath.
The bomb suspect then stood up and walked back to the DNC bench, where a pipe bomb was placed at 7:54 p.m., according to choppy video released by the FBI.
‘He had a handler, who would often interrupt and answer questions for him.’
When Capitol Police dispatch warned of the Capitol Hill Club bomb at 12:43 p.m., two plainclothes Capitol Police special agents took a nearly six-minute drive to reach the Capitol Hill South Metro Station, one block from the Capitol Hill Club bomb scene. They then walked to the DNC building, passing the park bench the pipe bomb sat next to.
The agents continued walking until they reached an alley leading to the side of the CBCI building. Their movements were not captured on video because four Capitol Police security cameras that would have shown the DNC crime scene were turned away at key moments or pointed in another direction by default.
Massie’s office released video in July 2023 showing a man in dark clothing and a ball cap approaching a U.S. Secret Service SUV sitting in the driveway of the DNC building as part of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ security detail. Harris was inside the building when the pipe bomb was discovered.
Blaze News reported in January 2024 that this man was the plainclothes Capitol Police officer who discovered the pipe bomb under a bush at the foot of a park bench at the DNC building.
Following that story, Massie told Blaze News he was determined to interview the agents, but did not get much cooperation from Capitol Police. Massie referred to the agents as “man-bun guy” and “backpack guy” (the one who discovered the bomb).
‘Weirdest meeting’
The Capitol Police never made “backpack guy” available to the Massie, but on Jan. 30, 2024, they did eventually send his partner, accompanied by his commander, Benedict, to speak with the congressman in a meeting that was not recorded or transcribed.
“So they came over to my office, but not ‘backpack guy,’” Massie said. “’Man-bun guy’ came over, and he had a handler, who would often interrupt and answer questions for him.”
Two congressional investigators sat in on the meeting alongside Benedict, the police officer, and Massie. The congressman later described the interview as the “weirdest meeting in the world.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said an FBI official threatened a criminal investigation of his staff if he didn’t “play ball” on the Jan. 6 pipe bomb investigation.Photo courtesy of Free the People
“In the conversation with the counter-surveillance officer in my office, Ashan Benedict would frequently interrupt the officer, answer before the officer could reply, or qualify the officer’s answers,” Massie told Blaze News. “There was an effort by our committee staff to get Benedict to sit for a transcribed interview, but he successfully evaded that effort.”
Massie said he still wants to interview the officer who actually found the bomb, as well as his partner and Benedict. “Those need to be transcribed interviews. They need to be sworn in. I feel very strongly about that,” he said. “But the reality is the FBI should be doing these things.”
Massie said that after he reposted the Blaze News article on the gait analysis, Bongino called him to complain about two early persons of interest mentioned in the piece.
One of those men, named in FBI reports as Person of Interest 3, lived directly next door to the Capitol Police officer who was the subject of the Nov. 8 Blaze News article. The FBI’s Special Operations Group conducted surveillance on Person of Interest 3 in Falls Church, Va., for two days in January 2021, but surveillance was suddenly canceled, before any law enforcement officer ever questioned the man.
Massie said Bongino told him, “‘That’s a dead lead. … We investigated that lead and … there’s nothing there. There’s no there there.’ So that’s why they quit looking at it. … At that point I said, ‘But you guys weren’t — you never did suspect him. The FBI never did suspect him. … His build doesn’t match. There’s no way it could be him. Your guys were looking for somebody else.’”
Whistleblower concerns
A current FBI supervisory special agent on Nov. 10 filed a whistleblower protected disclosure with Massie and U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), alleging the termination of surveillance at the Falls Church condominium complex was improper and cut off a suggestion by a surveillance team member that Person of Interest 3 be questioned face-to-face at his doorstep.
Person of Interest 3 and Person of Interest 2, his alleged houseguest on Jan. 5 and 6, 2021, had not been questioned by the FBI when surveillance was terminated. Interviews took place six days later, according to FBI reports included in the whistleblower disclosure. An FBI agent pretending to be a Metro Transit police officer interviewed Person of Interest 3 over the phone, a congressional source told Blaze News.
The whistleblower’s “concern was that the investigation that went to Falls Church, Virginia, that got them to the doorstep of the person that [Blaze News] identified through gait analysis as possibly somebody that might have been the person in the hood,” Massie said.
“There were suggestions made to the people in charge of the investigation about how to follow up on those leads,” Massie said. “And it was just dropped after two days of surveillance. And he [the whistleblower] provided supporting documents to that effect.”
Capitol Police block off the intersection of 1st and C streets in response to discovery of a pipe bomb at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.U.S. Capitol Police
Massie said Bongino made reference to the FBI conducting a meeting to address the whistleblower disclosure. “He didn’t say, ‘We’re trying to find the whistleblower,’” Massie said. “But my Spidey sense went off, and I almost said to him in that moment, ‘You better not be trying to find the whistleblower, because law protects that individual.’ But I didn’t say it.”
Massie said he thought about this when recalling the threat he said his staff received from the FBI official.
“I have to tell all the listeners this because this is the context in which I’m worried for the whistleblower,” Massie said. “If they’re willing to retaliate against a congressional office, which has speech or debate immunity and a lot of other protections, they may be willing to retaliate against the whistleblower.”
The whistleblower’s attorney, Kurt Siuzdak, sent a letter to Massie and Loudermilk on Nov. 13, warning that if the FBI attempted to out the whistleblower, it would violate the supervisory agent’s protections under the law. Massie shared the letter on social media.
“Identifying the whistleblower serves only one purpose,” Siuzdak wrote, “which is to allow FBI management to retaliate.”
In a Nov. 13 post on X, Bongino accused Massie of throwing “BS bombs” and denied that the FBI sought to identify or retaliate against the Nov. 10 whistleblower. A Blaze News request to Bongino for further comment went unanswered.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
MS NOW reporter gets obliterated online for unbelievable comment about shooting of National Guard troops
While law enforcement officials continue to investigate the shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., at lease one reporter has already pounced to make disgraceful assumptions on the incident.
Ken Dilanian of MS NOW suggested that the shooter was animated by many of the grievances against the Trump administration’s policies that are popularized by the left.
‘You’re a heartless idiot and not a true journalist.’
“Of course, you know, there’s so much controversy happening in the United States right now with ICE, who are also wearing uniforms and wearing masks,” Dilanian said. “And so there’s … people walking around with uniforms in an American city. There are some Americans that might object to that. And so apparently this shooting has happened.”
Video of his comments were posted on social media, where they quickly went viral and he faced brutal criticism.
“Ken Dilanian will apologize for this. But here’s the thing: He won’t mean it,” Jon Podhoretz of Commentary magazine replied.
“This is bats**t crazy and you are an absolute disgrace. To say and post something like that shows a lack of well, anything that would be deemed good,” another detractor said.
“Time to look for Ken Dilanian’s misplaced soul and reunite them before he starts outlining how understandable it is to shoot National Guardsmen in the head because the left wants foreign voters flooding our streets and towns with need, crime and hatred,” another reply reads.
“This is disgusting,” another critic said.
“You’re a heartless idiot and not a true journalist. You probably jumped for joy at the news of these deaths and were all too happy to be the one talking about it, weren’t you? Tell the truth,” another response reads.
RELATED: ABC News journalist ripped to shreds over misleading claim linking Trump to trans shooter
The shooting of the troops led to a lockdown at the White House and conflicting reports about the state of the victims. They were initially reported to have died, but Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel later indicated that they were hospitalized in critical condition.
On Thursday, a federal judge ruled against the lawfulness of the troops surge in D.C. but gave the administration 21 days to appeal the order.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Former NFL quarterback explains what’s wrong with Lamar Jackson, Trevor Lawrence, and Jalen Hurts
Jason Whitlock, BlazeTV host of “Fearless,” and former Buccaneers quarterback Shaun King have put three high-profile quarterbacks on the operating table this year: Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence, and Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts.
The prognosis from disgruntled fans isn’t good. Jackson fails to ignite a stagnant offense and is injury-prone; Lawrence has an embarrassing completion rate, especially considering his $275M contract; and Hurts plays scared in the pocket, underutilizing his star receivers downfield.
King lays bare what’s really going on with each player.
Lamar Jackson
Despite the rumors that Jackson is on a permanent decline, King says he’s likely just struggling with hesitancy after a string of injuries.
Right now, it looks like he’s “unwilling to use his athleticism, which makes me think that he’s trying to guard against further injuring whatever his ailment is,” he tells Jason.
But given the superstar’s “track record of success” — two MVP awards, two 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and the best dual-threat stats in NFL history — we need to “give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“If this persists into next year, I think we can circle back around to this topic,” King concludes.
Trevor Lawrence
King is far less forgiving of the Jaguars’ quarterback.
“Has never been held accountable for his deficiencies. Incubated at Clemson. Not exposed to any of the criticism or ridicule. … Got the big contract way too early,” he condemns, accusing Lawrence of being a coach killer.
“He’s a very frenetically wired player, and I don’t think you can play that position if you can’t be calm when it’s chaotic,” he says.
King believes that Lawrence, who he argues is over-reliant on his raw talent, has never been properly coached. “Nobody’s held him accountable for some of the fundamental flaws he has, some of the bad decisions he makes — like, really holding his feet to the fire. … He’s never been faced with the threat of being benched for his deficiencies.”
If Lawrence gets a coach willing to “get after him,” we may yet see the QB rise to true stardom.
Jalen Hurts
“I think [Hurts] might be the most underappreciated player in the National Football League,” King says.
Unlike legends like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady — who were able to master their system under the same coaches for over a decade — Hurts has never had that kind of stability.
“Jalen Hurts has changed coordinators the last four years,” meaning he’s “[spent] every off season learning a new system as opposed to focusing on fixing some of [his] deficiencies,” King explains.
And despite this lack of continuity, he’s still one of the league’s most successful and celebrated quarterbacks.
“I don’t think he gets enough credit,” King says. “Is he a finished product? Absolutely no. I would love to see what Jalen Hurts could do from a development standpoint if Philly could finally give him continuity.”
To hear more of King’s analysis, watch the video above.
Want more from Jason Whitlock?
To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving! Our modern celebration of Thanksgiving has its roots in extreme hardship. The Pilgrims who arrived on these shores in December of 1620 struggled mightily, as the Plimoth Plantation describes: Many of the colonists fell ill. They were probably suffering from scurvy and pneumonia caused by a lack of shelter in the cold, wet […]
The post Happy Thanksgiving! appeared first on Judicial Watch.
Afghan National In Custody For National Guard Attack Was In Country Illegally
The gunman accused of shooting two National Guardmen just blocks away from the White House on Wednesday is an Afghan national who entered the country during the Biden administration, a law enforcement source confirmed to The Daily Wire. The suspect, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was let into the country during the Biden administration in …
Democrats Have Spent Months Cultivating ‘Terrorist’ Image Of National Guard
Democrats and media personalities have worked overtime — especially in recent weeks — to paint members of the United States Army National Guard as the bad guys, even as domestic terrorists. Their complaints stem largely from President Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard to defend federal agents and property — as he did when …
Trump Nukes South Africa’s G20 Invite After Diplomatic Showdown
President Trump, in a blistering Wednesday Truth Social post, laid out precisely why the United States boycotted the G20 summit in Johannesburg — and why South Africa will not be receiving an invitation to next year’s summit in Miami. Trump accused the South African government of refusing to acknowledge what he called “horrific Human Rights …
Exposing Every Lie In The New Anti-American Documentary From Ken Burns
Ken Burns is one of the most famous documentary filmmakers in the entire world. You might know him as the creator of a very well-done documentary on the U.S. Civil War, which came out back in 1990. Over the years, Burns has released several other successful documentaries, covering topics from “Prohibition” to “The Vietnam War” …
Trump Dismisses Backlash Against Witkoff Over Leaked Phone Call With Top Russian Diplomat
President Donald Trump defended U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday after a leaked phone call showed the diplomat advising a top Russian aide on how to approach Trump. Witkoff’s phone call with Yuri Ushakov, top foreign policy aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, took place last month. Bloomberg published a transcript of the call …
The Spectacle Ep. 303: We Need To Wage War Against Venezuela
Venezuela is largely responsible for the increase in drug trafficking, the influx of violent gang activity, and influencing elections here…
