"We believe there were 200 FBI undercover assets operating outside the Capitol, in the crowd, embedded in groups that entered the Capitol or provoked the Capitol to be entered," said Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La.
Higgins joined the Tucker Carlson Network for an interview that aired on Saturday, the third anniversary of the day known as J6. Higgins is among the few elected Republicans who still question the official media narrative of what happened that day.
"Given the scope of the operation and the number of doors that were allowed or even encouraged to enter - and the number of people who were actually outside the Capitol and went inside - we believe that 200 is a conservative number," Higgins said.
Carlson reacted with alarm.
"What you said is shocking and confirms everyone's worst suspicions about this," Carlson told Higgins. "This is clearly true."
Higgins said that based on the evidence he reviewed, FBI agents worked with the local Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police. They were dressed as supporters of then-President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill, "because they were the ones who knew what to do on Capitol Hill."
FBI Director Christopher Wray refused to answer questions about the undercover FBI agents on January 6, telling Higgins at a congressional hearing, "You shouldn't take anything away from my decision not to share information about confidential human sources."
More than 1,250 people have been charged for their involvement in the attack and more than 890 have been convicted, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday on the anniversary of January 6.
"Since the January 6 attack, the Justice Department has conducted one of the largest, most complex and resource-intensive investigations in our history," Garland said. "Our work continues."
President Joe Biden used the anniversary of January 6 to attack Trump in his first campaign speech of 2024.
"We almost lost America that day, we almost lost everything," Biden said Friday in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
Carlson began his interview with Higgins by criticizing "professional liars" who present a one-sided narrative of what happened that day. Higgins, who worked in law enforcement before being elected to Congress, led the charge after being let down by the official congressional committee investigating January 6, which was filled with anti-Trump lawmakers. Since Republicans regained control of the House in 2023, members like Higgins have been pressing for answers.
For example, as a member of Congress familiar with the US Capitol, Higgins said it was inconceivable to believe that ordinary Americans in Washington, D.C. would know how to navigate the building without help.
"There's no way they could just walk through a random door and go directly to the Statuary [Hall] or the House of Representatives or the Senate chamber. It's not possible," Higgins explained. "I believe there were FBI agents inside the Capitol dressed as Trump supporters, and the evidence suggests that they were there specifically to let in Trump supporters who had gathered outside the Capitol.
Higgins told Carlson that these undercover officers directed protesters to areas where "direct FBI, Justice Department and Deep State actors" could later arrest and charge them with crimes.
When asked who could have orchestrated such a massive operation, Higgins placed the blame not on a single individual, but on a combination of anti-Trump actors working in collaboration with Democrats.
"This is a complex network of FBI assets that can be mobilized across the country. So if you have authority at the highest levels of the FBI, you don't have to do much," he said. Higgins added that the plotters were "the group within the FBI and our intelligence services that coordinated with the most extreme liberal factions within the Democratic Party who are desperate to remove Trump from office."
