WASHINGTON (AP) — After the arrest of a man charged with placing two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties on Jan. 5, 2021, the warning from the Trump administration was clear: If you come to the nation's capital to attack citizens and institutions of democracy, you will be held accountable.
Yet Justice Department leaders who announced the arrest were silent about the violence that had taken place when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol and clashed with police one day after those bombs were placed.
It was the latest example of the Trump's administration's efforts to rewrite the history of the riot, through pardons and the firings of lawyers who prosecuted the participants of the siege, and of the disconnect for a government that prides itself for cracking down on violent crime and supporting law enforcement but has papered over the brutality of the Jan. 6 attacks on police officers.
“The administration has ignored and attempted to whitewash the violence committed by rioters on Jan. 6 because they were the president's supporters. They were trying to install him a second time against the will of the voters in 2020,” said Michael Romano, who prosecuted the rioters before leaving the Justice Department this year. “And it feels like the effort to ignore that is purely transactional.”
The White House referred comment to the Justice Department, which referred comment to the FBI. The bureau did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press on Friday.
FBI Director Kash Patel, as a conservative podcast host during the Biden administration, had called the Jan. 6 rioters “political prisoners” and offered to represent them for free. But on Thursday, he said the arrest of the pipe bomb suspect, 30-year-old Brian Cole Jr., was in keeping with Trump's commitment to “secure our nation's capital.”
“When you attack American citizens, when you attack our institutions of legislation, when you attack the nation’s capital, you attack the very being of our way of life,” Patel said. “And this FBI and this Department of Justice stand here to tell you that we will always combat it.”
Patel's deputy, Dan Bongino, had suggested before joining the FBI that federal law enforcement had wasted time investigating Jan. 6 rioters and anti-abortion activists.
“These are threats to the United States?” he once said on a podcast. “Grandma is in the gulag for a trespassing charge on January 6th.”
Bongino speculated last year that the pipe bomb incident was an “inside job” that involved a “massive cover-up.” After joining the FBI, Bongino repeatedly described the investigation as a top priority that was receiving significant resources and attention.
“We were going to track this person to the end of the earth. There was no way he was getting away,” he said Thursday.
No public link has emerged between the pipe bombs and the riot, and Cole's arrest was a significant development in its own right given that the nearly 5-year investigation had confounded authorities, who are now are assembling a portrait of Cole.
People familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that among the statements Cole made to investigators is that he believed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, which Trump has insisted was stolen from him in favor of Democrat Joe Biden. The people were not authorized to discuss ongoing investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
There was no widespread fraud in that election, which a range of election officials across the country, including Trump’s former attorney general, William Barr, have confirmed. Republican governors in key states crucial to Biden’s victory have also vouched for the integrity of the elections in their states. Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump and his allies were dismissed by the courts.
The tough-on-crime words heard during Thursday's announcement about Cole's arrest were at odds with the Republican administration's repeated efforts to play down the violence of Jan. 6, absolve those charged in the insurrection and target those who investigated and prosecuted the rioters.
Trump’s clemency action on his first day back in the White House in January applied to all 1,500-plus people charged with participating in the attack on the foundations of American democracy. That included defendants seen on camera violently attacking police with makeshift weapons such as flagpoles, a crutch and a hockey stick. More than 100 police officers were injured, including some who have described being scared for their lives as they were dragged into the crowd and beaten.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department asked the FBI for the names of agents who participated in Jan. 6 investigations, a demand feared within the bureau for as a possible precursor to mass firings. In August, Patel fired Brian Driscoll, who as the FBI's acting director in the early days of the Trump administration resisted handing over those names.
Trump's administration, meanwhile, has fired or demoted numerous prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases, including more than two dozen lawyers who had been hired for temporary assignments to support the investigation but were moved into permanent roles after Trump won the 2024 election.
In October, two federal prosecutors were locked out of their government devices and told they were being put on leave after filing court papers that described those who attacked the Capitol as a “mob of rioters.” The Justice Department later submitted a new court filing that stripped mentions of the Jan. 6 riot.
One man whose case was dismissed because of Trump’s pardons was accused of hurling an explosive device and a large piece of wood at a group of officers who trying to defend an entrance to the Capitol. Some officers later said they had “believed they were going to die,” prosecutors wrote in court papers, and several reported suffering temporary hearing loss.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, left, and FBI Director Kash Patel stand during a news conference at the Department of Justice, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - This image shows part of a "Seeking Information" notice released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding pipe bombs planted outside offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021, on the eve of the attack on the Capitol. (FBI via AP, File)
Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel look at each other during a news conference at the Department of Justice, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The Premier League title race was blown open after Aston Villa struck in stoppage time to beat Arsenal 2-1 on Saturday.
Emiliano Buendia scored at the death in a thrilling finish at Villa Park that stunned first-placed Arsenal.
The Gunners' lead was cut to just two points after second-placed Manchester City beat Sunderland 3-0.
Villa was a point further back in third.
Liverpool's troubled title defense stumbled again when it dropped more points at Leeds. Arne Slot's team blew a two-goal lead and conceded in the sixth minute of added time at Elland Road in a 3-3 draw.
Chelsea dropped points for the third game in a row in a 0-0 draw at Bournemouth.
Buendia's winner came in the fifth minute of added time. The substitute kept a cool head during a goalmouth scramble, lifting a shot through the crowded box.
“In the manner that happened at the end, (it is) really difficult to take,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports.
It was the third successive time that Arsenal has dropped points away from home after draws with Sunderland and Chelsea. Those results have opened the door to rivals such as City and Villa.
Villa's ninth win from its last 10 games followed a dire start to the campaign when Unai Emery's team was winless after its first five.
“At the minute we’re on a great run,” said Matty Cash, who put Villa ahead in the 36th. “We know it’s not even Christmas yet so we have to keep being demanding, keep being consistent, and then we’ll see where it takes us.”
Leandro Trossard was a halftime substitute for Arsenal and he made a quick impact by leveling the game seven minutes later.
Buendia went on in the 87th and proved an inspired substitution.
“We fight until the last minute, the last second, it was a really incredible win,” he said.
Arsenal's second loss of the season was its first since August at Liverpool.
“We are 18 games unbeaten, and yet still the margin is so small,” Arteta said. “The effort was absolutely there and (we must) use that pain to go again."
Deep into stoppage time at Leeds, Liverpool was set to move into the top five.
That was until Ao Tanaka arrived at the far post from a corner to deny Slot’s team a much-needed win.
Liverpool looked ready for just a third league win in 10 games when Hugo Ekitike scored twice in two minutes shortly after halftime. But Leeds responded with its own quickfire double when Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted from the penalty spot and Anton Stach leveled two minutes later.
Dominik Szoboszlai put the visitors in front again in the 80th, but when the fourth official indicated nine minutes of added time the home crowd sensed another comeback and Tanaka delivered.
Man City will be a familiar sight in Arsenal's rearview mirror.
In back-to-back campaigns in 2023 and 2024 Arteta watched City chase his team down to win the title. And it is shaping up to be another fight between them.
Even after four losses in the league, City is just two points behind Arsenal after victory against Sunderland.
"We had the feeling that Arsenal are going to drop few points and if you want to be there you have to win games and that comes from the way you perform — not just a lucky day or lucky action,” City manager Pep Guardiola said.
Ruben Dias, with a brilliant long-range goal, and Josko Gvardiol gave City a 2-0 lead at the break at Etihad Stadium and Phil Foden headed in a third in the second half.
Fourth-placed Chelsea has seen its title challenge stall over the past week after a run of just two points from a possible nine.
Not even the return of Cole Palmer to the starting lineup for the first time since September could inspire the Club World Cup winner at Bournemouth.
To add to a frustrating day, Liam Delap went off in the first half with a shoulder injury.
Bruno Guimaraes scored directly from a corner in Newcastle's 2-1 win against Burnley.
The midfielder's wicked cross curled beyond Burnley goalkeeper Martin Dubravka at St James' Park. Anthony Gordon added a second from the penalty spot in first half stoppage time.
What should have been a comfortable win for Newcastle became a nervy finish after Zian Flemming pulled a goal back with a stoppage time penalty and Burnley threatened an equalizer.
Tottenham got a long-awaited home win in the league after beating Brentford 2-0.
Spurs’ last win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was the opening game of the season against newly promoted Burnley. That was followed by six straight winless games in front of its own fans. But that streak was broken by first half goals from Richarlison and Xavi Simons against coach Thomas Frank's former team.
Everton moved up to fifth after downing Nottingham Forest 3-0.
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Leeds United's Ao Tanaka celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Leeds United and Liverpool in Leeds, England, Saturday Dec. 6, 2025. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)
Leeds United's Dominic Calvert-Lewin celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Leeds United and Liverpool in Leeds, England, Saturday Dec. 6, 2025. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)
Manchester City's Phil Foden, second left, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Sunderland in Manchester, England, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola applauds fans after the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Sunderland in Manchester, England, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Aston Villa players celebrate after Aston Villa's Emiliano Buendia scored his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Arsenal in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Aston Villa's Emiliano Buendia, right, celebrates with Aston Villa's Donyell Malen after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Arsenal in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Arsenal's Declan Rice reacts after the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Arsenal in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Arsenal's Declan Rice reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Arsenal in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Arsenal's Leandro Trossard, left, makes an attempt to score during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Arsenal in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Arsenal's manager Mikel Arteta follows the game during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Arsenal in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Aston Villa's goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, left, makes a save ahead of Arsenal's Bukayo Saka during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Arsenal in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
