Rep. Tim Burchett said the January 6 pipe bomb investigation “stunk from day one.”
The Tennessee Republican, re-elected as Democrats took the House, told The Gateway Pundit the handling of the devices was marked by a lack of normal procedure from the moment they were discovered.
“When somebody comes running up to you and says, ‘Hey, there’s something over here,’ and the police don’t get out of their car, hardly,” Burchett said. “That whole thing just stunk. That stunk from day one.”
He was more direct about Brian Cole Jr., the autistic man the FBI charged with planting the devices outside the RNC and DNC on the evening of January 5, 2021.
“It’s ridiculous. I don’t think we’re getting justice with that,” Burchett said. “I think that’s a cover up of many cover ups that occur up here.”
He added that “somebody had to be” involved besides the person who placed the alleged bombs.
CCTV shows Brian Cole Jr. was somewhere else when the pipe bombs were planted.
Rep. Tim Burchett just called the case “ridiculous.”
“It stunk from day one.”
He says it’s “a cover up of many cover ups” and that “somebody else had to be involved.”
An autistic man is still facing terrorism charges.
@gatewaypundit
— Alicia Powe (@aliciapoweshow) November 13, 2026
Cole, 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was arrested in December 2025 and remains in pretrial detention on terrorism-related explosives charges. He has pleaded not guilty. Defense filings note his autism diagnosis and lack of criminal history.
Yet newly surfaced Capitol CCTV allegedly places Cole on the northwest side of the complex at the precise moment the hooded figure was on the southeast side depositing the devices more than a mile away.
🚨BREAKING Exclusive🚨 – Never-before-seen Capitol CCTV video reveals that Brian Cole Jr. could not have been the J6 pipe b*mber. He is seen walking on the northwest side of the Capitol at EXACTLY THE SAME TIME as the real suspect was distributing devices on the southeast side of the Capitol. More information in the thread below. 🧵⬇️
**Video work by @accabbat (Armitas)**
The video in the first comment below shows me and @KyleSeraphin breaking down and explaining exactly what you’re seeing in this short video.
— Steve Baker (@SteveBakerUSA) October 18, 2026
Measurements from the footage indicate the hooded individual wore approximately a size 9 to 9.5 shoe. Cole’s shoe size is 12 to 12.5.
The FBI previously estimated the suspect’s height at roughly 5 feet 7 inches. Multiple observers have long noted that the suspect’s build and stride appear female.
🚨QUICK POLL: In this short video released by @FBI, the J5/J6 pipe bomber is seen here doing what:
1 – Stretching shoulders due to a repetitive movement strain or injury?
2 – Adjusting a sports bra?
3 – Other? (Please explain what you see.) https://t.co/vtT1uXb2Oa— Steve Baker (@SteveBakerUSA) August 12, 2026
Prosecutors said Cole confessed after initially denying involvement. The defense has moved to suppress the statements and has indicated it may pursue an alternative-perpetrator theory.
Mainstream outlets reported extensively on the December 2025 arrest. Follow-up on the CCTV location discrepancy and shoe-size mismatch has remained primarily confined to independent reporting.
Most members of Congress contacted by The Gateway Pundit say they know little about the case and refer questions to the House January 6 subcommittee.
Sen. Ted Cruz, asked about the latest forensic developments, said he had not seen them.
Sen. Ted Cruz: “I’m concerned about judges acting politically.”
The same D.C. federal judges who handled the January 6 cases still sit on the bench.
One of them will try Brian Cole Jr.
CCTV places him on the northwest side of the Capitol complex at the exact moment the hooded figure deposited the devices more than a mile away.
Cruz: “I want the perpetrator held to account.”
He hadn’t seen the latest.
@gatewaypundit
— Alicia Powe (@aliciapoweshow) November 13, 2026
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Cole’s trial is set to begin February 16, 2027. Large portions of the Capitol CCTV remain unreleased. With Republicans preparing to hand the gavel to the incoming Democratic majority, the remaining footage is unlikely to ever be made public.
Burchett’s comments are among the few on-record statements from a sitting member of Congress questioning the official narrative.
The footage does not match the man charged. The trial is set. And the rest of the tape is still sealed.
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