FBI makes arrest in investigation into pipe bombs placed in DC on eve of Jan. 6 riot, AP source says

WASHINGTON AP The FBI made an arrest on Thursday in its nearly -year-old assessment into who placed pipe bombs in Washington on the eve of the Jan riot at the U S Capitol a law enforcement official notified The Associated Press The arrest marks the first time investigators have settled on a suspect in an act that had long vexed law enforcement spawned a multitude of conspiracy theories and remained an enduring mystery in the shadow of the dark chapter of American history that is the violent Capitol siege The official who described the arrest was not authorized to publicly discuss a circumstance that has not yet been made residents and spoke on the condition of anonymity The arrest took place Thursday morning and the suspect is a man the official declared No other details were right now available including the charges the man might face The pipe bombs were placed on the evening of Jan near the offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees in the District of Columbia Nobody was hurt before the bombs were rendered safe but the FBI has commented both devices could have been lethal In the years since investigators have sought the population s help in identifying a shadowy subject seen on surveillance camera even as they struggled to determine answers to basic questions including the person s gender and motive and whether the act had a clear connection to the riot at the Capitol a day later when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the building in a bid to halt the certification of the Republican s electoral process loss to Democrat Joe Biden Seeking a breakthrough the FBI last January publicized additional information about the examination including an estimate that the suspect was about -foot- as well as previously unreleased video of the suspect placing one of the bombs The bureau had for years struggled to pinpoint a suspect despite hundreds of tips a review of tens of thousands of video files and a key number of interviews In the absence of harder evidence Republican lawmakers and right-wing media outlets promoted conspiracy theories about the pipe bombs House Republicans also criticized safety lapses questioning how law enforcement failed to detect the bombs for hours Dan Bongino the current FBI deputy director floated the possibility last year before being tapped for his job that the act was an inside job and involved a massive cover-up The FBI s top two leaders Bongino and Director Kash Patel sought to breathe new life into the study despite having openly disparaged the bureau s broader approach to the Jan siege and despite Trump s pardons on his first day back in office of the rioters who stormed the Capitol including those who violently attacked police with poles and other makeshift weapons In a long post on X last month Bongino wrote that the FBI had brought in new personnel to examine the development and dramatically increased investigative support along with the general award for information to utilize crowd-sourcing leads