FBI agents worked about 16,000 more hours during the pay period of the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, than they did during the pay period of the 2020 riots that hit Washington, D.C.
That’s according to documents obtained by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project through the Freedom of Information Act. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of Heritage Foundation.)
Payroll records for FBI agents in the Washington, D.C., field office show they worked a total of 86,262 hours in the Jan 4, 2021, to Jan. 17, 2021, pay period, during which the Capitol riot occurred involving those opposing Congress’ certification of the 2020 presidential election in which Joe Biden defeated then-President Donald Trump. Trump alleged irregularities and did not immediately concede the race.
By contrast, during the May 25, 2020, to June 7, 2020, pay period, when the Black Lives Matter and Antifa riots were occurring in the District of Columbia, payroll records show that FBI agents worked a combined total of 70,367 hours.
It was on May 29, 2020, at Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., that rioters gathered near the White House and set fire to the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church. The violence outside the White House prompted the Secret Service to move Trump and others into the White House bunker.
The FBI did not provide information about how many of the more than 86,000 hours were spent on Jan. 6 cases alone, according to the Heritage Oversight Project, which is suing for more transparency.
The Heritage Oversight Project obtained FBI records that show the time spent on all investigations. According to whistleblowers, FBI agents were said to have been pulled off serious felony investigations to work nearly solely on Jan. 6 misdemeanors.
“We’re suing the FBI because they deserve it, and because these documents belong to the American people,” Mike Howell, director of the Heritage Oversight Project, told The Daily Signal.
“It’s clear the FBI and Justice Department have been weaponized,” Howell added. “These numbers show the lengths they will go to to surge resources towards nonviolent offenses that fit their political narratives. In the midst of a [George] Soros-funded crime wave, law enforcement should focus their resources where they are needed and put an end to the gangs, rapes, carjackings, and murders that have become all too common.”
Under the Freedom of Information Act, most government documents are presumed open to the public, with some specific exceptions.
In the first week of the 2020 riots, about 150 local and federal law enforcement officers were injured in the District of Columbia. The 2020 riots ultimately incurred $2 billion in property damage nationally and resulted in at least 19 deaths, according to news reports.
The FBI did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Daily Signal for this story.
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