Brian Cole will make his first appearance in court on Friday
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A poster reads “ARRESTED” in bold letters as Attorney General Pam Bondi (3rd-R), accompanied by (L-R) U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Washington Field Office Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood, FBI Director Kash Patel, and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, speaks during a news conference on an arrest of a suspect in the January 6th pipe bomb case at the Department of Justice on December 4, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The suspect in a 2021 pipe bomb plot to target political party headquarters in Washington, D.C., reportedly subscribed to conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 general election.
Brian Cole, 30, told the FBI that he believed in theories about the 2020 election, people familiar with the matter told NBC. The exact theories, or the extent to which he believed in them, are unclear, and the FBI has not announced a motive for Cole’s alleged actions.
Cole is charged with transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials, according to an arrest warrant issued Wednesday. He allegedly meant to target the headquarters of both the RNC and the DNC.
The devices were discovered early on January 6, with neither device going off, though Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was in the DNC building when the bomb was discovered on the premises.
The discovery occurred just before the storming of the Capitol by insurrectionists, who were spurred into action by President Donald Trump‘s false claim that the 2020 election was “rigged.”
The FBI faced criticism from congressional Republicans in January, noting their “failure to identify” the suspect after four years.
In November, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said the bureau “dramatically increased investigative resources” into identifying the suspect in a post on X.
A year earlier, Bongino, a former podcast host, erroneously claimed that the pipe bomb situation was “a massive cover up.”
“The person who planted those pipe bombs, they don’t want you to know who it was because it’s either a connected anti-Trump insider or this was an inside job,” Bongino said.
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Garrett Owen
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