The man charged with planting two pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the Jan. 6 Capitol attacks has asked the court to throw out his case in light of President Trump’s sweeping clemency for the rioters.
Brian Cole Jr., 30, was a Trump voter who told FBI investigators soon after his December arrest that he believed Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election had been stolen.
According to prosecutors, he spent months acquiring pipe bomb components and then drove to Washington, D.C., from his home in Woodbridge, Virginia, to attend a “Stop the Steal” rally scheduled for Jan. 6, 2021.
The night before, he allegedly planted the bombs—which failed to detonate and were disarmed at about 1 p.m. on Jan. 6—at the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties.
In a new court filing, his lawyers argued that Cole “disputes the allegations and maintains his innocence.”
But even if he were to be found guilty, his alleged conduct was “exactly the kind of case” that Trump’s presidential pardon was designed to cover, according to the filing.
“The government itself ties the [bombs’] timing and location directly to January 6,” along with Cole’s alleged motive, the filing said.
Trump’s pardon commuted the sentences of the riot’s organizers, pardoned everyone else who had been “convicted of certain offenses relating to the events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” and directed the attorney general to dismiss pending indictments against defendants whose trials were ongoing.
It applied to violent criminals and domestic terrorists, but the text didn’t specify whether it also covered people charged in the future.
Cole’s lawyers, however, argued the pardon “unequivocally” applied to their client, because the courts have found that presidential pardons can be issued for potential defendants before a case is even brought.
Lawmakers and journalists alike have described Cole as the “J6 Bomber,” providing further proof that “everyone”—including the government—considers the pipe bombs to be “inextricably tied” to the Capitol attack, according to Cole’s lawyers.
A White House official told the Daily Beast in a statement, “The pipe bombs were placed on Jan 5. The pardon pertained to events at or near capitol on January 6 and clearly does not cover this scenario.”
The Daily Beast has also reached out to the Justice Department and Cole’s attorneys for comment.
Cole’s arrest threw cold water on a conspiracy theory favored by MAGA supporters, who spent years fixated on the pipe bombing case as “proof” that the Jan. 6 riot was an inside job manufactured by the FBI.
They claimed the pipe bomber was a possible “missing link” proving a connection between the pipe bombs and the Capitol riot that erupted the next day.
