The New Update About The Capitol Pipe Bomber Underscores How Little We Know About The Case

Hello, it’s the weekend. This is The Weekender ☕️

With the fourth anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building approaching on Monday, the FBI released some new information about one of the lingering mysteries from that day: the pipe bomber who targeted the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters. 

As TPM reported late last year, the lack of progress in the case has left residents of Capitol Hill anxious and concerned. Most of what is known about the suspect who planted a pair of pipe bombs at both party headquarters on the night before the certification has come in the form of annual updates from the FBI, which is seeking tips from the public to help close the case. These updates, which have detailed the would-be bomber’s path through the neighborhood and included video of the masked suspect, have been based on the FBI’s wide ranging canvass of Capitol Hill. 

In the latest bulletin, the FBI included a new video clip showing the moment a pipe bomb was placed in front of the DNC. The FBI also revealed that “it estimates the suspect to be approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall.” 

This new clip and height analysis does not answer any of the major questions about the incident including; how the suspect arrived in the neighborhood and, of course, who they are. In fact, in a video that accompanied the new information, the FBI admitted that they have not described the suspect’s movements between the two party headquarters in full, in part, because at one point “we lose video coverage of the suspect.”

While there may not be much new information to share, the FBI also attempted to give a sense of the scope of its efforts to identify the suspect. 

“Over the past four years, a dedicated team of FBI agents, analysts, data scientists, and law enforcement partners has visited more than 1,200 residences and businesses, conducted more than 1,000 interviews, reviewed approximately 39,000 video files, and assessed more than 600 tips about who may have placed pipe bombs on Capitol Hill in January 2021,” David Sundberg, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office said in a statement. 

The video accompanying the update also noted there were “fewer than 25,000” of the distinctive Nike shoes worn by the suspect sold between late 2018 and January 2021. A New York Times report on the FBI’s announcement also detailed a few leads in the investigation that did not pan out including issuing “subpoenas to 18 vendors that sold the type of sneakers the suspect was wearing.” In that Times story, Sundberg also acknowledged “there have been difficulties in working this case” including the challenge of identifying the masked suspect based on security footage. 

Overall, the FBI made clear that it is hoping the public will provide a tip that can help them find the suspect. Otherwise, this haunting question from the attack on the Capitol may remain unanswered. 

“We urge anyone who may have previously hesitated to come forward, or who may not have realized they had important information, to contact the FBI. A reward of up to $500,000 is available for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the individual responsible for this dangerous attempt to harm our community,” Sundberg said.

— Hunter Walker

Here’s what else TPM has on tap this weekend:

• Kate Riga shares a dispatch from her time speaking to lawmakers outside the House chamber, when it appeared, for nearly an hour, that Johnson had lost the first round of votes in his bid for the speakership. That all changed after Johnson met with two of the holdouts, convincing them to change their votes and securing the gavel for himself.
• John Light looks back on a more optimistic era of the internet in which the concept of Net Neutrality was conceived, and the darker information environment we’ve ended up with.
• Emine Yücel checks in on a Trump ally who is using the violent incidents over the last week to push debunked claims about terrorism, after Trump falsely blamed undocumented immigrants for the attack in New Orleans.

Let’s dig in.

Johnson Cajoles Holdouts Into Giving Him The Gavel

Members spilled out of the chamber Friday afternoon after Mike Johnson (R-LA) had seemingly lost the vote, with three Republicans voting for other people.

“They were incompetent in the last session of Congress, and they’re showing their incompetence in this new session,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) told TPM on his way down the steps from the House floor.

“Hey guys, news flash, the sky’s not falling,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) told a gaggle of reporters. “I know it’d be super high drama and exciting if everything fell apart but it’s not going to happen — Mike Johnson is going to be speaker of the House.”

A few minutes later, Van Orden was proven right — “I TOLD YA,” he hollered on his way back into the chamber.

Moments later, two of the defectors switched their votes to Johnson, giving him the gavel in a prolonged first vote.

Still — electing a speaker is supposed to be the easy part.

“The bad news is they’re dysfunctional,” McGovern said. “The good news is they’re dysfunctional, it means they won’t get anything done.”

— Kate Riga

Net Neutrality After The Bullshit Flood

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit struck down the Biden administration’s stab at Net Neutrality this week, bringing an early end to a policy that was slated to be thrown out with the arrival of a new, Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission chair later this year. The ruling cited the Supreme Court’s 2024 Loper Bright decision, which robbed executive agencies of much of their power to interpret laws when regulating. The 6th Circuit found that the FCC had misread relevant statutes with its Net Neutrality policy and then offered its own reading, which Texas A&M School of Law professor Dan Walters summarized as “hilariously abstruse metaphysical BS.”

This ends, at least for the foreseeable future, a conversation that started in the mid-2000s, in an earlier and much more optimistic era of the web, about how to ensure the public could access online information without the interference of corporations. A great fear often cited by pro-Net Neutrality activists was that without these protections, telecommunications companies could limit or block access to websites they disfavored — either for competitive or political reasons. That fear is not that far-fetched as a second Trump administration arrives in DC, but also feels somewhat out of date.

In 2024, tech oligarchs were cheering on the global far right while agitating for a remake of the U.S. government. The president-elect was promising retribution against his political enemies. Corporations were scrambling to show him their loyalty through both financial contributions and more vibes-based offerings. The head of a prominent social media platform became his shadow, while another social media platform made plans to roll out imaginary, AI friends for you to chat with. It all continues into 2025. The zone is flooded with bullshit, and it is tremendous content, but with real stakes. 

The idea that our information landscape can be protected from powerful interests is one that, to me at least, feels further out of reach now than when the fight for Net Neutrality got going, with or without a federal safeguard in place. For now, a California Net Neutrality law continues to offer some continued protection to consumers nationwide. Meanwhile, what the Net Neutrality-equivalent solution might be for our 2024-era woes remains to be seen. 

— John Light

Words Of Wisdom

“No, I don’t. This is a gut feeling.”

That’s Tom Homan, the man Trump appointed as border czar, admitting to Fox News anchor Sandra Smith that he doesn’t actually know if the Las Vegas cyber truck explosion this week had a “terrorist connection.” The incident has, at this point, been ruled a suicide by authorities.

“You said earlier, and you just referenced again, a terrorist connection there in Las Vegas. The police chief said they haven’t identified that, but to your point, you said you believed, as this investigation carries out in Las Vegas that … they will find a connection. Do you have any other information, or have you been privy to any other information other than what we just directly heard from the police there in Las Vegas?” Smith asked.

That led to Homan admitting he, in fact, does not have any real information beyond what his gut tells him.

Homan’s just following Trump’s lead. In the wake of another holiday attack in New Orleans, Trump blamed undocumented immigrants for the violence, without evidence, and posted a screed on Truth Social pushing thoroughly debunked claims blaming the “Biden ‘Open Border’s Policy‘” for the deadly incident.  

— Emine Yücel