WASHINGTON – The man accused of planting two pipe bombs near the Democratic and Republican party headquarters on the eve of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol told the FBI that he believed in conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Brian Cole Jr., 30, is cooperating with the FBI, NBC News reported, citing another person familiar with the matter. Cole is expected to make his first court appearance on Friday. He was charged Thursday with leaving pipe bombs in front of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee hours before Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.
Trump has falsely claimed that the 2020 election was “rigged.”
Cole was charged with transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by explosive materials, according to charging documents. The FBI has not publicly cited a motive.
The pipe bombs he is accused of planting were found on the day of the Jan. 6 riot, although investigators have said they were planted near the RNC and DNC on Jan. 5.
Trump received about 74 million votes nationally in 2020, while Joe Biden received about 81 million.
Trump’s claims about the 2020 election were part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into his efforts to overturn the results. In his final report on the investigation, Smith said Trump “inspired his followers to commit acts of physical violence” by spreading “demonstrable and, in many cases, obviously false” claims about the 2020 election. Trump has publicly maintained that he believed he won the election.
The criminal case against Trump in connection with the Jan. 6 attack was dropped after his election in 2024, but Smith said that “except for Mr. Trump’s election and his imminent return to the presidency, the Bureau assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”
Smith recently said he wanted to testify publicly about his investigation, but House Republicans rejected his request and planned instead to interview him behind closed doors on December 17.
