WASHINGTON — The Virginia man charged with planting pipe bombs at the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican National Committees on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot confessed to the crime on Thursday afternoon, sources tell The Post.
Brian Cole Jr., 30, did not enter a plea during his initial appearance in DC federal court Friday afternoon and was ordered held pending a detention hearing Dec. 15.
Cole is charged with one count of transporting explosives across state lines with intent to kill, injure and cause damage and one count of attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials.
Investigators arrested Cole Thursday morning and say he placed the viable explosives outside the headquarters of America’s two main political parties on the night of Jan. 5, 2021.
The devices were not found for 17 hours, shortly before supporters of President Trump breached the Capitol building, delaying the certification of the 2020 election result by several hours.
Cole told investigators that he had bought into claims that Donald Trump really won that election and not Democrat Joe Biden, sources said.
However, the motive behind the alleged crime remains unclear, as the suspect’s four-hour interview was wide-ranging and included conflicting statements.
A national Republican operative insisted Friday there was “zero indication” Cole was a Trump voter.
Cole did not appear to have registered with either party in Virginia and did not vote in primary races — but did cast ballots in general elections in 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024.
CNN first reported on Cole’s alleged endorsement of the stolen election claim, which was boosted by Trump in the aftermath of Biden’s victory.
Here’s the latest on the Jan. 6 pipe bomb suspect
Cole’s arrest followed an exhaustive re-examination of the case led by FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino.
“This is what it’s like when you work for a president who tells you to go get the bad guys and stop focusing on other extraneous things not related to law enforcement,” Bongino said at a press conference announcing Cole’s arrest on Thursday afternoon.
Federal investigators did not use any new outside tips to nab the suspect — who had eluded police for nearly five years, FBI Director Kash Patel told The Post on Thursday.
“Our team re-examined the case from the ground up after the previous leadership spent four years with no success,” he said. “We engineered this investigation, built the evidentiary trail, and executed the search warrants that finally brought this individual into custody.”
A FBI spokesperson declined to comment Friday afternoon. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
