Breakthrough in Washington Pipe Bomb Case Exposes Biden-Era FBI's Problems: Analyst

And joining us now to discuss this latest breakthrough is Hans Vonbakowski. He's senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Good morning. Thanks for joining us. Hans, what are your initial reactions to this breakthrough in the case? >> Well, I think the most interesting thing about this is the fact that uh according to the Justice Department, the FBI, they had no new evidence, no new witnesses, no new tips. that they simply assigned a new team of investigators to go through all of the evidence that they already had been collected. And I got to tell you that I mean that's a a a terrific reflection on the people working there now. But it is uh very illustrative of the problems with the prior FBI during the Biden administration. I mean, here we have the same evidence gone through by a new team and they are able to use that to find the person that they now have charged with this crime. And it tells you something about frankly the lack of dasical attitude of the FBI and the people who were working there during the prior administration. >> Yeah, it's been about a certainly less than a year since Patel and Bonino took over. What do you think that they were able to accomplish that the previous uh administration or FBI team was not able to accomplish? >> Well, look, they're talking about going through a huge amount of evidence, but the key thing apparently that that got them out of this suspect were two things. um cell phone data that they were able to use to find this particular suspect in both of these locations at the correct time, but then also credit card information that that uh showed purchases of bomb- making materials at a host of stores, including Home Depot in Northern Virginia. Finding that kind of information is a very painstaking process. as as anyone who's investigated this kind of case knows and that's clearly I I think what led them to this particular suspect. >> Yeah, it's interesting how big data certainly played a role and we see that across every theater and every whether it's the war in Ukraine. Um technology is really transforming how we go about all different types of things uh both in the private sector and of course here in police work. Um, I want to understand and dig into this with you. Former FBI official Steven Dantonos told members of Congress in 23 that the timers on the bombs were set in such a way that they could not have detonated. Yet, in what seems like a reversal by Darren Cox, who's the assistant director in charge of the FBI of the Washington field office, he said yesterday that they could have gone off. So, I mean, that's a major change of position. How do you understand that? Well, I have to say that given the lack of ability of the FBI uh in in 2023 under this prior guy to sift through the evidence and find who had done this, quite frankly, I I don't think his claim was was credible. I mean, I think that may have been a way of downplaying the seriousness of this uh and to excuse their inability to find the perpetrator of of this whole incident. So, I said, I don't give that a lot of credit. Uh I do give a lot of credit to the current investigators on the case given their success in actually finding who did this. >> Yeah, that's an interesting perspective on that. And certainly January 6th is one of the most polarizing topics that one could discuss and not my intention to sort of go down that rabbit hole, but I do want to understand in your view and there's they're not with with releasing any more information about this thus far, but do you think that this is a solo uh you know like a lone wolf or do you think that potentially he had some assistance or was part of something greater? Look, it's it's always hard to come to any conclusions early in in in an investigation, certainly when someone's been arrested. But look, the the information coming out about this individual so far from his neighbors where he lives in Woodbridge, Virginia, which is not that far from where I live, is that he he was a loner. Uh he did not interact with his neighbors at all. Um I I suspect this was something he did on his own. You know, the early information is is that uh he worked for a bail bond company, but that also he andor his father had certain uh claims against the federal government, uh claims of discrimination, other things that were not, I guess, remedy to their satisfaction. So, look, at this point, we don't really know the motives for this, but all the indications are that he was all by himself in doing this. >> Yeah. Whether you look at the Butler shooting or the Charlie Kirk assassination or in this incident, it seems like there is a heightened sense of a mental health crisis. Um, how do we as a society put these things into perspective and start to bring the temperature down? Well, there's an awful lot of rhetoric unfortunately coming out uh in the political arena frank frankly particularly from the far left that seems to indicate that violence is okay. I mean when you're constantly calling for example the president a fascist when you are referring to federal agents uh including immigration agents as the Gustapo that I think unfortunately spurs individuals to commit violence. That's why the assaults on ICE agents have increased by what? Over a,000%. And the rhetoric that we're seeing, plus the support by local officials uh for this, their obstruction of federal law enforcement um that that is a real problem and I think that helps unfortunately lead to this kind of action. >> Yeah. Well, appreciate your analysis this morning. Thanks for joining us, Hansban Spicowski. Thank you. Thanks for having me.