Cellular carriers have told Congress they possess intact phone usage data from the vicinity where two pipe bombs were planted during the Jan. 6 incident, directly disputing FBI testimony that agents couldn't identify a suspect because the phone data was corrupted.

The revelations from Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., the chairman of the House Administration oversight subcommittee, adds new intrigue to a debate that has gripped Washington for nearly four years: Why can't the FBI with so much evidence and manpower identify the suspect who planted the explosive devices at the Democrat and Republican Party headquarters hours before the Capitol was breached.

“In the days and weeks following January 6, 2021, the FBI opened an investigation into the pipe bomber and attempted to identify the suspect by analyzing cell phone data linked to the area surrounding the RNC and DNC,” Loudermilk told Just the News.

“In June 2023, the former Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, Steve D’Antuono, who oversaw the pipe bomb investigation, said that the FBI received corrupted data from one of the cell carriers and that it most likely contained the identity of the pipe bomber. Given the significance of this information, my Subcommittee sent letters to the three major cell carriers, asking them to respond to Mr. D’Antuono’s claim of corrupted data,” he said.

“Every major cell carrier responded and confirmed that they did not provide the FBI corrupted data,” Loudermilk said.

D’Antuono told Congress his investigators were not able to determine the whether the pipe bombs were placed as a diversionary tactic for the riot at the Capitol and was unable to recall if they had interviewed a key witness—the individual who discovered the pipe bombs. Additionally, D’Antuono gave testimony that the pipe bombs were deemed inoperable, despite the Quantico laboratory coming to a different conclusion.