December 05, 2025 11:07 AM UTC

What The January 6th Pipe Bomber And Tina Peters Have In Common

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

As NBC News reports this morning, the resolution of a long-unsolved crime related to the January 6th, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election has created a new, or depending on your point of view the same old headache for President Donald Trump in his never-ending quest to rewrite history:

The man charged with planting two pipe bombs near the Democratic and Republican party headquarters on the eve of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol told the FBI he believed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Brian Cole Jr., 30, is cooperating with the FBI, NBC News has reported, citing a separate person familiar with the matter. Cole is expected to make his first court appearance on Friday. He was charged Thursday with leaving pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee in the hours before Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol…

Although Republican talking heads were hoping against hope that the January 6th pipe bomber would be a Transtifa provocateur or whatever the current fictional narrative they maintain to justify the violence on that day despite the prosecution and pardoning of hundreds of MAGA types who did those crimes, the alleged perpetrator was just another misguided Trump-loving patriot who came to Washington D.C. to do whatever he could to keep Trump in power despite the results of the election. Just like the insurrectionists Trump pardoned.

Yesterday, D.C. U.S. Attorney and former Fox News bile cannon Jeanine Pirro sounded off ironically about the arrest:

“The well-being of our society rests on our ability as law enforcement to safeguard our citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “When bad actors intervene to disrupt and threat that peace – to destroy the very fabric of our country – we must, we do, and we will track them down and hold them to account for their crimes to the full extent of the law. [Pols emphasis] FBI and members of my office worked around the clock to methodically piece together the clues that ultimately identified the defendant.”

“Today’s arrest was the result of good, diligent police work and collaboration on a case that languished for four years under the prior administration,” said Attorney General Bondi. “The American people are safer thanks to this morning’s successful operation.”

The problem, of course, is that all of these words apply equally to the violent insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, and who were pardoned by Trump for their crimes. With one stroke of the (auto)pen, and in what would be fully consistent with his prior actions, Trump could invalidate all of these fair words about “bad actors” disrupting the peace. We haven’t seen any attempts in conservative media yet to draw a distinction between this latest January 6th criminal and the hundreds that Trump has pardoned, and that could be because everyone is waiting to see if Trump himself sees one.

For this reason, it would be good to get “law and order” Republicans like Colorado’s Rep. Gabe Evans on the record before Trump takes action.

Like the case of convicted Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, the January 6th pipe bomber is an unwelcome reminder of Trump’s own lawless desperation when confronted with defeat in the 2020 elections. They each committed their crimes because they believed Trump’s lies, and they believed–not without factual basis, as it turns out–that Trump would exonerate them when he triumphantly returned to power someday.

Trump did return to power, but he has failed to rewrite the history of the 2020 elections in the Orwellian manner he has sought. Every attempt to do so only further underscored the lawless truth for posterity. Even if Trump succeeds in either distancing himself from the January 6th pipe bomber, or including him with those he has already pardoned for their violent crimes that day, history is going to be clear about what happened.

The treason may have prospered, but in America we still can call it by its name.