Embedded: The FBI Agents Inside January 6th - Morning Wire

Podcast Summary

Podcast: Morning Wire
Episode: Embedded: The FBI Agents Inside January 6th
Date: October 5, 2025
Host: John Bickley (Daily Wire Executive Editor), Georgia Howe
Guest: Steve Baker (Investigative Journalist, The Blaze)

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the recent revelations about the presence and role of FBI agents at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Investigative journalist Steve Baker joins host John Bickley to analyze the implications of the FBI's admission that hundreds of agents were deployed or directed to the Capitol that day, how this news shapes public perception of the Bureau, and what future reforms might look like.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The FBI's Admission: "Hundreds" of Agents Present

Revelation: The FBI has now confirmed that 274 agents were sent or told to respond to the Capitol on January 6.
Distinctions: Baker emphasizes the difference between “plainclothes” officers (who might still display FBI insignia in certain situations) and genuinely undercover agents.
Deployment Details: According to Baker, these agents were mostly off-duty and were only called in almost two hours after violence began. Their orders were inconsistent—some told to deploy, others told to wait.

“The second thing is these are not the 274 that everybody wants to say were already embedded in the crowd and acting as agents provocateur... These were people that were at home, they were off duty, they were on leave... that call didn’t go out to them until almost two hours after the violence actually began.”
— Steve Baker (02:45)

2. Mischaracterization of the FBI’s Role

Host's Challenge: Bickley asks whether the FBI Director (Kash Patel) is misunderstanding the role of these agents or if Baker’s view is missing some detail.
Baker's Response: The agents were ordered to assist with crowd control—a task Baker claims they are not trained for and did not actually perform.

“They did receive email saying, you're going out to do crowd control, which, by the way, is not something they do... What they did not do was crowd control.”
— Steve Baker (06:43)

3. Delayed Transparency from the FBI

Timing of Admission: It took over four years for the FBI to disclose these additional agents and the presence of 26 confidential human sources (CHS).
Reason for Delay: Baker points to the FBI’s standard response—refusing to comment on ongoing investigations—and suggests possible stonewalling to protect leadership.

“Chris Wray has his default get out of jail free card, which is, I’m sorry, we can’t comment on an ongoing investigation... It took them four years to tell us about the 26 confidential human sources... but as of right now, there is no actual evidence that any FBI agent acted as a provocateur.”
— Steve Baker (08:15)

4. Media Narratives and J6 Coverage

Mainstream Media Bias: Baker alleges that mainstream media (MSM) has ignored inconvenient facts, sticking closely to a narrative “established and preserved” by Nancy Pelosi and the January 6 committee.
Key Quote:

“Nancy Pelosi directed them on the first anniversary of January 6th... she said, ‘we are going to establish and preserve the narrative of that day.’ And that’s what the point of that first select committee was to do.”
— Steve Baker (09:30)
Perjury in Oath Keepers Trial: Baker details a finding where a special agent allegedly perjured himself during the trial by providing a timeline of events contradicted by security footage.

5. Needed Reforms and the Future of the Bureau

Essential Institution, Flawed Execution: Baker acknowledges the necessity of a federal investigative body, but states the current FBI is too entangled with policing powers.
Call for Structural Reform: He references former Director Kash Patel’s vow to reform the Bureau, even suggesting it be “busted up” to rid it of deep-rooted problems.

“We don’t need a federal police force carrying guns, doing SWAT raids on misdemeanor defendants. And really and truly, the only way that we’re ever going to get the FBI right again is to bust it up.”
— Steve Baker (11:58)

Notable Quotes & Moments

On confusion and orders:

“We don’t know exactly what the timeline was where the call went out… There’s a lot of confusion. Then we get into the situation about crowd control. The FBI is not trained for crowd control.”
(03:30) — Steve Baker
On their firsthand investigation:

“Myself and Joe Hanneman... have had more access to Capitol CCTV... than any other journalist. Our first reaction when we saw this tweet from Patel saying that they were out there doing crowd control... we erupted in our private DMs, ‘This is not true.’”
(06:00) — Steve Baker
On unaddressed truths:

“I think the most important work that I did since January 6th was the revelation that in the first Oath Keepers trial, two federal officers perjured themselves. In that trial, we have the proof.”
(10:30) — Steve Baker

Timestamps for Important Segments

01:42 — New FBI admission: 274 agents sent to Capitol on J6
02:00–04:00 — Discussion of what “plainclothes” really meant; timing and deployment of agents
05:13 — Did all 274 respond? Disputes about agents’ real on-the-ground roles
06:43–07:09 — Were agents ordered to do crowd control? Did they comply?
07:53 — Why did it take over four years for the FBI to reveal these facts?
09:30–11:30 — MSM handling of J6 narrative; alleged perjury in Oath Keepers trial
11:58–12:46 — What needs to happen to restore trust in the FBI?

Conclusion

Steve Baker offers a skeptical, investigative assessment of the FBI’s role on January 6 and of the narratives perpetuated by the media and some federal authorities. He calls for greater transparency, accountability, and considerable reform in how the FBI operates and interacts with the public. The discussion moves beyond simple reporting on the recent FBI admissions, highlighting the ongoing controversy and questions over the events of January 6, the role of government agents, and the integrity of law enforcement and media institutions.

Transcript

Steve Baker (0:02)

The FBI is back under the national spotlight after recent admissions about the presence of hundreds of agents deployed to the Capitol on January 6. The scrutiny comes as Director Kash Patel seeks to reform the bureau and regain the confidence of the American people.

John Bickley (0:17)

In this episode, we sit down with investigative journalist Steve Baker to discuss what new details have come to light about the FBI's actions during J6 and how the Bureau can earn back the public's trust. I'm Daily Wire Executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. This is a weekend edition of Morning Wire.

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John Bickley (1:38)

Steve, thanks for coming on.

Steve Baker (1:40)

Hey, thanks so much for having me. Good to see you again.

John Bickley (1:42)

Look, you too. We've recently had what many consider a bombshell admission from the FBI that not only did they have plainclothes officers in the crowd at the Capitol on January 6th, but they had hundreds of them. 274 to be precise. First, how significant an admission is this?

Steve Baker (2:00)

The first thing that must be really explained is that is it really plain clothes officers there? This is a very important distinction about what was actually on the ground and what was deployed there. Technically is such a thing as a plainclothes FBI officer, but a plainclothes FBI officer would only be in truly plain, unidentifiable attire if they were either there as counter surveillance, actually doing the job of serving and protecting, making sure nobody's hiding a bomb in the crowd or, you know, doing anything otherwise nefarious, or they're actually undercover, which is a completely different distinction altogether. That's an actual operation. When they're on an undercover operation. These agents though, are operating in a new day. It's no longer J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. We don't have that FBI anymore. There's no national dress code standard any longer. So when they come up to your door and do a non and talk or something like that, they could be wearing flannel shirt, T shirt, jeans, khakis, whatever. But they always either have their badge on a lanyard or they met. They might have a logo on their shirt or they might have a jacket with it on. But when they are called specifically to a crowd control scenario, they will at the very least go put on their tactical vest, like a ballistic vest, which will have the FBI logo on it. They wear their badges, you know, maybe a ball cap with FBI on the ball cap. They're clearly identified even though they're plain clothes. The second thing is these are not the 274 that everybody wants to say were already embedded in the crowd and acting as agents provocateur and inflaming the passions of the MAGA crowd to go and storm the Capitol. These were people that were at home, they were off duty, they were on leave. Maybe they were in the various offices around washing D.C. and in the Capital District, but they were called in and that call didn't go out to them until, you know, almost two hours after the violence actually began. The President was still on the stage at the Ellipse when that famous Ray Epps barricade breach happened. And then the violence escalated from there. And so with those facts in play, we don't know exactly what the timeline was where the call went out. And it was actually emails were sent out to the agent saying, you need to go. Some of them were saying deploy. Some of were saying self deploy. Some were saying, no, don't self deploy. Wait on your group commander, wait to wait for your supervisor to tell you what to do. There's a lot of confusion. Then we get into the situation about crowd control. The FBI is not trained for crowd control.