McCabe 'not surprised at all' by watchdog report on FBI, Jan. 6 riots

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was "not surprised at all" by the findings of a watchdog report, which concluded that there were no undercover FBI agents on the National Mall during the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The findings counter a conspiracy theory about government involvement in the rioting that day.

"Yeah, well, I guess my top line takeaway, Kasie, is that I'm not surprised at all. This is exactly what we expected. This is what the FBI has been telling us since January 6th about their own activities with informants," McCabe told CNN's Kasie Hunt.

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General had concluded in the nearly 90-page report that, "We found no evidence in the materials we reviewed or the testimony we received showing or suggesting that the FBI had undercover employees in the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on January 6."

The report did find that some of the FBI’s confidential human sources (CHSs) were present in the crowds, including three who were tasked with monitoring domestic terrorism subjects. The inspector general also found that along with the CHSs, there were 23 others who came to D.C. in connection with the rally -- four of them entered the Capitol and 13 entered the restricted security perimeter set up around the building.

McCabe clarified during the interview that those types of people who were present on behalf of the FBI that day are tasked with "keeping track of people who you think are potentially engaging in violence."

"It's a way of understanding what they're doing and giving you the opportunity to prevent acts of violence and terrorism from taking place," he added.

When asked about the conspiracy theories -- including some that were amplified by Vice President-elect Vance -- that were floated in relation to events of Jan. 6, McCabe took aim at the vice president-elect and the GOP.

The question followed a reply from Vance to a post on the social platform X Thursday claiming that the Jan. 6 crowd included FBI informants.

"For those keeping score at home, this was labeled a dangerous conspiracy theory months ago," he wrote in the post.

McCabe, in response to Vance's post, said, "The fact that informants were involved in this activity, the fact that informants might have been reporting on subjects of investigation, as is their job, that's their role with the FBI, that's not a dangerous conspiracy theory."

"The dangerous conspiracy theory was propagated by people like the Vice President who've been saying for years that the FBI incited this riot, that the FBI sent informants or undercover employees onto the Capitol or into the rally that day for the purpose of fomenting the riot, getting people fired up, starting the violence. That absolutely did not happen," McCabe said.

"So, yeah, the dangerous conspiracy theory here is what you've been hearing from right-wing commentators, that the FBI somehow had an interest in creating the riot on the Capitol and starting an insurrection. That absolutely did not happen," he added.