A partially redacted email from January 2021 that was sent to a top FBI official reportedly called attention to some people within the agency relating to the Jan. 6, 2021 rallygoers at the Capitol, according to NBC News.
Within the redacted email, which was apparently sent to FBI agent Paul Abbate (the current FBI deputy director) on Jan. 13, 2021 — or seven days after the Capitol incident — the emailer noted how some FBI personnel drew similar parallels between the Jan. 6 unrest, and the Black Lives Matter demonstrations/protests from the summer of 2020.
One excerpt from the redacted letter read: "I literally had to explain to an agent from a 'blue state' office the difference between opportunists burning & looting during protests that stemmed legitimate grievance to police brutality vs. an insurgent mob whose purpose was to prevent the execution of democratic processes at the behest of a sitting president. One is a smattering of criminals, the other is an organized group of domestic terrorists.
"I was talking to an A/SSA in a 'red state' office who was telling me that over 70% of his CT squad + roughly 75% of the agent population in his office, disagreed with the violence 'but could understand where the frustration was coming from' which led to the protesters 'getting away.'"
Later on, the redacted emailer then wrote: "Several also lamented that the only reason this violent activity is getting more attention is because of 'political correctness.'"
According to Axios, the email to Abbate was recently released through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
The letter was labeled as an "external" email, suggesting the emailer was no longer an active FBI agent. Also, the emailer described their "first unit," indicating they had a prior history within the agency, according to Axios speculation.
Axios reportedly contacted the FBI Agents Association, a consortium which supports active and former FBI agents.
In a brief statement, president Brian O'Hare said the group "does not comment on ongoing investigations."
O'Hare then added: "I will say that FBI agents understand the importance of separating their own personal views from their professional work."
The email to Abbate doesn't reference how a number of police officers willingly moved the barriers on Jan. 6, 2021, and opened doors for rallygoers to enter the Capitol building.
And as Newsmax chronicled in September 2021, the FBI hasn't subsequently released much information on the suspect who apparently planted pipe bombs near the Republican and Democrat party headquarters on Capitol Hill — the night before the Jan. 6 rally.
"The video shows the suspect placing the bombs, which never ended up exploding, between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5. One of the pipe bombs went in an alley behind the Republican National Committee Headquarters, while the other was put next to a park bench located near the Democratic National Committee Headquarters, both located just blocks from the Capitol building," according to a Newsmax story from Sept. 9, 2021.