“The Select Committee is aware of unsupported claims that Ray Epps was an FBI informant based on the fact that he was on the FBI Wanted list and then was removed from that list without being charged. The Select Committee has interviewed Mr. Epps. Mr. Epps informed us that he was not employed by, working with, or acting at the direction of any law enforcement agency on January 5th or 6th or at any other time, and that he has never been an informant for the FBI or any other law enforcement agency,” a select committee spokesperson said in a statement.
He is one of three people who have mysteriously disappeared from the FBI’s Capitol Violence most wanted list without an explanation from federal authorities or an arrest.
Those videos prompted theories, pushed by some congressional Republicans, that Epps was a federal agent or informant.
During an October hearing, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie asked Attorney General Merrick Garland about the video and asked him to put to rest the theory that FBI assets or agents were present on Jan. 6 and agitated people to go into the Capitol. Garland declined, citing a long-standing policy not to comment on pending investigations.
I just played this video for AG Merrick Garland. He refused to comment on how many agents or assets of the federal government were present in the crowd on Jan 5th and 6th and how many entered the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/lvd9n4mMHK
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) October 21, 2021
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Tuesday similarly grilled Jill Sanborn, the FBI’s executive assistant director for the national security branch, on whether bureau informants were present at the Jan. 6 riots. He focused on Epps.
On the anniversary of the riot, Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia played videos of Epps and others whom they suggested could be federal agents or informants stoking a “fedsurrection.”
The reason for taking Epps off the FBI’s Capitol Violence most wanted list remains unknown.
This article was originally published by Washington Examiner. Read the original article.
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