FBI Couldn't Read Data Pointing to Pipe Bomb Suspect

Cellphone data that proved crucial in the arrest of the suspect accused of planting pipe bombs on the eve of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot sat disregarded for four years, the Wall Street Journal reports, "because investigators couldn't figure out how to read it." That changed only recently, when a technically adept law-enforcement officer wrote custom software to decode the location data provided by T-Mobile, unlocking the trail that led to 30-year-old Brian Cole Jr. in Northern Virginia. After Dan Bongino became FBI deputy director in March and ordered a review of the case he had once declared an "inside job," agents reexamined old material, including the dormant T-Mobile data, per the Journal.

The FBI had previously chased a glut of digital leads that went nowhere. Agents pulled Google search records for bomb-making instructions and directions to the Democratic and Republican party headquarters, where the devices were left. They also reviewed thousands of pipe purchases at Home Depot, closing in on a Georgia teenager, whose purchases appeared alarming. But though a 2021 search revealed a stockpile of weapons, the teen had no link to the pipe-bomb case. Even widely publicized surveillance footage of the suspect's distinctive black-and-gray Nike Air Max Speed Turf sneakers failed to generate a solid lead.

Once decoded, the phone-location information lined up with surveillance footage of the suspect, agents say. They then obtained Cole's phone number and financial records that allegedly showed him buying bomb components at several Northern Virginia Home Depots. Though he has not entered a plea, people familiar with the probe say Cole has admitted planting the devices while voicing support for President Trump and election-related conspiracy theories; he reportedly said he'd discarded the Air Max shoes. Inside the Justice Department, the arrest has brought relief and some frustration. As the Journal reports, agents bristled at public suggestions from FBI Director Kash Patel that they only bore down on the case after new leadership arrived.