by Julie Kelly
Several storylines related to the events of January 6 have crumbled under closer scrutiny over the past 10 months: the “fire extinguisher” murder of Officer Brian Sicknick; the notion it was an “armed” insurrection and a grand “conspiracy” concocted by right-wing militias; claims that the building sustained $30 million in damages, and so on.
In the meantime, the Biden regime has attempted to cover up key aspects of that day, including the name of the officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt, which was only recently revealed. Justice Department lawyers continue to resist the release of 14,000 hours of surveillance video and the U.S. Capitol Police refuse to publish an 800-page internal investigation on officer misconduct as well as internal communications before and after the Capitol breach.
But a deep dive by the Washington Post, published last weekend, raises new questions about the alleged “pipe bombs” discovered just before Congress met on January 6 to certify the results of the 2020 Electoral College vote. Like so many supporting scenes, the veracity of the pipe bomb tale is in doubt after the Post revealed eyebrow-raising details about those involved.
And starting with the justified premise that nothing about January 6, especially anything bolstered by official government agencies in the nation’s capital, should be accepted at face value—to wit, all claims should be met with deep skepticism—the pipe bombs appear to be more stagecraft with no connection whatsoever to Trump or his supporters.
On the eve of January 6, a shadowy figure caught on video allegedly planted two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee, both located close to the U.S. Capitol building.
Security camera footage posted by the FBI shows a man in a gray hoodie, wearing a face mask and gloves, carrying a backpack in the same vicinity between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on January 5. (Video and photographs posted by the agency, however, do not show the suspect actually placing devices near the buildings.)
The bombs were made of “1×8-inch threaded galvanized pipes, a kitchen timer, and homemade black powder,” according to an FBI bulletin.
Karlin Younger, an emergency management specialist at the Department of Commerce working remotely that day, said she had noticed the device, wedged between a garbage can and a fence, on her way to do laundry that afternoon. “It’s just by chance I did laundry when I did. I don’t think anyone else would have walked by unless they were taking out the garbage.” Younger, a Wisconsin native, told a Madison magazine a few days later.
Younger alerted security guards at the RNC, who concluded it indeed was a bomb. Police then located a similar device outside the DNC building, about a block away.
Law enforcement immediately ordered the first round of several evacuations that day. In a statement issued on January 7, Capitol police reported that the “the devices were disabled and turned over to the FBI for further investigation and analysis.
In a separate interview with a Wisconsin television station on January 15, Younger said her “gut instinct” kicked in before she approached security guards. “If you see something, say something.” (Younger also has a background in counterterrorism and worked for a “political risk consulting firm” in London a few years ago.)
The Post’s account of bomb-related activity prior to January 6 focused on Dr. Donell Harvin, described as the head of intelligence for D.C.’s Department of Homeland Security. Harvin said he worried for weeks about potential violence on January 6—so much, in fact, Harvin called a major planning meeting with his intelligence team a week before.
During the tabletop exercise, the Post revealed, a “young analyst was ready to present a worst-case scenario: Someone could plant an improvised explosive device near the Capitol. With law enforcement distracted, extremists might then band together and attack government buildings, maybe even the Capitol.”
And irony of ironies: That is precisely what happened. Capitol Police, according to the Post’s timeline, responded to the pipe bomb threat at around 12:45 p.m.:
The activity proved a distraction for officers guarding the Capitol. A D.C. homeland security official assigned to keep eyes on the swelling crowd was sitting in a black SUV on the east side of the Capitol, by a row of Capitol Police bomb-squad trucks. Suddenly, officers jumped into several of the trucks near him. The official called Donell Harvin. The two flashed back to their tabletop exercise on Dec. 30, and how an analyst had imagined a scenario in which improvised explosive devices could be used to distract law enforcement before an attack on the Capitol. ‘Is this really happening?’ the official asked Harvin.
Fascinating! So a fleet of bomb-squad trucks just happened to be on the east side of the Capitol complex, which happens to be the location of both the RNC and DNC headquarters, at exactly the same time a device is found?
And what about Karlin Younger? She just happens to be an emergency management specialist working at the time with a network of first responders when she located the device?
Donell Harvin’s full title, by the way, is “Chief of Homeland Security and Intelligence for the District of Columbia, Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency.” According to his Georgetown University profile, Harvin’s “primary focus is to integrate emergency preparedness, and intelligence information collection, analysis, and dissemination throughout the National Capital Region (NCR). In this role he assures that his team provides tactical and strategic intelligence (collection, analysis and dissemination) to support local and federal law enforcement agencies, first responders, homeland security, emergency management, public health and the private sector stakeholders.”
And the person who discovered the mysterious pipe bomb is in the same government field.
Another crazy coincidence!
What’s even crazier is, despite a $100,000 reward and the fact the FBI has used every invasive surveillance tool imaginable to locate Capitol trespassers including geofence warrants to track cell phone usage of January 6 protesters, the suspect has not been caught, or even identified.
How can this be? More than 650 Americans have been rounded up and arrested for minor crimes but the premier law enforcement agency in the land can’t find a guy who planted two bombs walking around Capitol Hill in plain sight?
And where is a forensic report on the remains of the devices?
Is it more likely that the December 30 tabletop exercise held by the D.C. Department of Homeland Security did not anticipate a bomb scare but rather planned for it?
There is no such thing as coincidence when it comes to anything out of the Democratic Party’s fiefdom of Washington, D.C. It’s increasingly clear that the pipe bomb tale was just another stunt to fuel panic and outrage about January 6.
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Julie Kelly is a political commentator and senior contributor to American Greatness. She is the author of Disloyal Opposition: How the NeverTrump Right Tried―And Failed―To Take Down the President. Her past work can be found at The Federalist and National Review. She also has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, and Genetic Literacy Project. She is the co-host of ‘Happy Hour podcast with Julie and Liz.’ She is a graduate of Eastern Illinois University and lives in suburban Chicago with her husband and two daughters.
Photo “unidentified person” by FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation.
