Pro-Trump senator suggests FBI knew more than it has revealed about Capitol riot

Republican senator Ron Johnson suggested in a private conversation on Saturday, without evidence, that the FBI knew more about the planning before the January 6 Capitol riot than it has revealed so far, according to a video obtained by The Washington Post.

The comments from Senator Johnson, R-Wis., made after a political event at a Wauwatosa, Wis., hotel, reflect the spread of an unfounded claim that has traveled from far-right commentators to Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show to the highest levels of the GOP.

“I don’t say this publicly, but are you watching what’s happening in Michigan?” Johnson said while discussing the Capitol attack with some of the event’s attendees. “. . . So you think the FBI had fully infiltrated the militias in Michigan, but they don’t know squat about what was happening on January 6th or what was happening with these groups? I’d say there is way more to the story.”