Dick Durbin
Role at the time: U.S. senator and co-signer of Senate Judiciary oversight letter
Challenged the characterization
Response to this claim
The FBI knew who planted the January 2021 pipe bombs but concealed that information.
“Your claim that the FBI is responsible for a cover-up is an extremely serious allegation that you have an obligation either to substantiate or repudiate.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)Senate Judiciary letter to FBI Deputy Director Dan Bonginopage 2, questions 4–5 and footnotes 7–9
Senators quote Bongino's November 2024 and January 2025 podcast allegations of an FBI inside job and prior knowledge of the pipe bomber. We could not play the original Rumble segments the letter links. The letter itself is original evidence of the senators' challenge.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The letter disputes the evidentiary basis for Bongino's characterization and calls for substantiation, without claiming the subsequent prosecution itself disproves prior knowledge.