Attorney General Bondi and Director Patel Announce Arrest in January 6 Pipe Bomb Case
December 4, 2025 · The Justice Department · 0:26:29
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What happened
Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced that Brian J. Cole Jr., 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was arrested that morning and charged for transporting and planting two improvised explosive devices on January 5, 2021, at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., according to the Justice Department. Bondi said Cole is charged under 18 U.S.C. 844 with use of an explosive device, that search warrants were being executed, and that more charges could come, as stated in her remarks.
Bondi said the case had languished as a cold case for four years and stressed there was no new tip and no new witness — just diligent police and prosecutorial work re-examining evidence that had been sitting at the FBI, according to the press conference. FBI Director Kash Patel said a new team of investigators and experts, in an investigation spearheaded by Deputy Director Dan Bongino and the Washington Field Office, re-examined every piece of evidence, generated new leads and executed multiple legal processes with U.S. Attorney partners, as stated in his remarks.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said four years, ten months and 28 days had passed since the bombs were placed, and she described the data problem investigators mined — including 233,000 black end caps of the type used, along with the pipe, wires, steel and nine-volt batteries — to connect purchases to a suspect, according to the press conference. Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said MPD members on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force reviewed thousands of hours of CCTV footage and followed up on thousands of community leads, as stated in her remarks.
Why it matters
The announcement closes one of the longest-running unsolved cases from the January 6 period, and the officials’ shared emphasis — no new tip, old evidence re-worked — frames it as an institutional indictment of the prior investigation as much as an arrest.
Scoreboard watch
Cole faces charges of transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials; the case now proceeds through the federal court process in Washington, D.C., where the allegations can be tested.
Sources: The Justice Department, “Attorney General Bondi, FBI Director Patel Announce Arrest in January 6 Pipe Bomb Case”, 2025-12-04 (official upload, embedded above; published 2025-12-04). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.
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