Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz’s opinion of the January 6 riots changed again in a little over a week. At one point he suggested the attack at Capitol Hill was a terrorist attack, and now he’s trying to claim the FBI was secretly behind it.
During a Senate hearing, Cruz tried to ask Jill Sanborn, the Executive Assistant Director for the FBI’s National Security Branch very pointed questions about January 6.
And when she couldn’t answer, he took it as a kind of “gotcha” moment.
There’s no doubt the FBI had their hand in a fair share of sketchy investigations under J. Edgar Hoover.
COINTELPRO infamously saw the organization covertly and illegally targeting groups such as feminist organizations, anti-war protesters and civil rights activists.
So would it be fair to assume the same thing is happening here?
The big difference is claims of FBI involvement in the January 6 riots hinge on a conspiracy involving one man—Ray Epps.
Epps, a Trump supporter and long-time President of the Arizona chapter of the Oath Keeper militia, has become the center of a conspiracy theory. In video taken the day before the Capitol Hill attack Epps is seen encouraging people to “peaceably” march on Capitol Hill.
While plenty of people were saying the same thing at that time, in this instance, the crowd started chanting “Fed!”
Additionally, Epps was listed as a person of interest the FBI was seeking more information about, before having his picture removed from their website. This is likely because Epps was questioned, found to not have actually stormed Capitol Hill with the rest of the domestic terrorists, and he was excused.
This is all the evidence of this conspiracy theory.
When Cruz asked Sanborn if Ray Epps was a federal agent, Sanborn said she couldn’t answer.
Immediately after this, Judiciary Chairman, Senator Dick Durbin entered into record a PolitiFact article debunking the conspiracy.
Looks like Ted Cruz will have to try again.
Why would Cruz try a tactic like this?
More than likely, to get back in the good graces of his base, after accidentally calling out the Capitol Hill rioters for their acts of domestic terrorism.
This may lead into Cruz’s presidential run for 2024, which almost everyone agrees is a bad idea.
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