FBI’s Use of Sedition Hunters as J6 Informants Sparks Doubt in Wray’s Reform Pledge

The FBI during Biden’s administration paid over $100,000 to informants who were part of an unnamed group of tech experts called the “Sedition Hunters,” tasked with collecting and reviewing video evidence from the January 6 Capitol incident — similar to the bureau’s use of paid FBI sources and former British spy Christopher Steele in 2016.

Just the News reported this weekthat the FBI provided funds to several so-called “sedition hunters” who acted as confidential human sources (CHS) during the January 6 Capitol riot and Arctic Frost investigations, even though the online group had strong anti-Trump statements and known connections to foreign entities.

The payments must be revealed by FBI Director Kash Patel to Congress, alongside recognized worries that the bureau led by Christopher Wray approved some members of the Sedition Hunters as confidential human sources, potentially breaching policies on informant bias, secrecy, foreign influence, and contract transparency, according to officials.

Evocative of the doomed “Crossfire Hurricane” legal warfare initiative

The disclosure of source payments is expected to reignite FBI worries among Republicans that go back to the previously discredited Crossfire Hurricane investigation, where agentsusedSteele was appointed as a CHS to investigate unverified claims of Trump’s collaboration with Russia. This occurred despite Steele’s international ties, his evident anti-Trump stance, and his role as a contractor for the legal firm representing Trump’s primary 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton. Wray hadpromisedmajor changes following the 2016 incident at the agency.

Steele was eventually terminatedIn November 2016, he was an FBI informant who breached his confidentiality obligations as a confidential human source by revealing his association with the bureau and sharing unauthorized information with the media.

Government officials stated that five years later, the bureau might have formed another problematic connection by considering members of the Sedition Hunters as informants in a new investigation involving Trump. However, these individuals were actually conducting computer analysis under contract, identifying defendants from January 6 at the Capitol, and had clearly shown opposition to Trump.

FBI caught off guard by choice to use the Steele Dossier against Trump

The Department of Justice’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, identified significant issues with the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation in a report released in December 2019.report, identifying at least 17 “major errors and gaps” concerning the FISA warrants that targeted former Trump campaign associate Carter Page. Horowitz also criticized the”central and essential”role of Steele’s discredited report in theFBI’s politicized FISA surveillance. Steele, an FBI CHS for several years, was employed by the opposition research company Fusion GPS, which was compensated by Clinton campaign attorney Marc Elias. Elias laterfinedfor “deceptive” submissions to the court in his support of Democratic Party candidates.

The DOJ inspector general also stated that Steele’s supposed primary source—Russian national Igor Danchenko—”disputed the claims of a ‘well-developed conspiracy’ in” Steele’s report. Danchenko remained an FBI CHS for several years after 2016, until his indictment by the now-former special counsel John Durham.

Horowitz’s reportnoted that Steele’s FBI interview “pointed out differences between Steele’s reporting on the election and the opinions of his Primary Sub-source” – Danchenko – and “exposed a bias against Trump.”

Stefan Halper served as a Pentagon advisor and scholar, and he, together with Steele, was utilized by bureau agents as a CHS.buildthe politically charged Crossfire Hurricane investigation targeting Trump and his advisors at the conclusion of the 2016 election and the start of Trump’s first presidential term.

Wray repeatedly pledged significant CHS reform within the agency

Horowitz wrotein a November 2019 report stating that “the FBI’s screening procedure for CHSs, referred to as validation, was not in line with the Attorney General Guidelines.”

We also identified shortcomings in the FBI’s long-term CHS validation reports that are used by FBI and Department of Justice officials to decide whether a CHS should continue being utilized,” the DOJ inspector general stated. “Additionally, the FBI did not have enough trained staff performing long-term validations and did not have an automated system to track its long-term CHSs.

Wray quickly addressed the media following the publication of the December 2019 report, with theAssociated Press writingThat ‘Wray stated the FBI would implement changes in its handling of confidential informants.’

He also sent a letterto Horowitz during that month when he pledged to the DOJ inspector general that the FBI was correcting its CHS process.

We are implementing major changes to the way the FBI oversees its Confidential Human Source Program. Numerous FBI investigations depend on human sources, but the effectiveness of information provided by CHSs is partly based on the source’s reliability, which requires thorough evaluation,” the former FBI director wrote. “The adjustments we are making to how the FBI gathers, records, and exchanges information about CHSs will enhance our ability to assess the information these sources offer.

Wray also delivered a letter to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in January 2020, where helaid outadditional plans to improve the bureau’s management of informants.

The former FBI director stated that one “FISA-related Corrective Action I have ordered will necessitate that all information available at the time of a FISA application and relevant to the credibility of a CHS whose data is used to back the FISA request is recorded on the FISA Request Form and confirmed by the CHS handler.”

Wray mentioned that “in collaboration with the FBI’s Directorate of Intelligence, the working group is creating a new CHS Questionnaire, which will serve as an addition to the FISA Request Form. This questionnaire will outline the types of source information (such as payment details, criminal background) that [the Office of Intelligence] needs to be aware of when drafting FISA applications that depend on CHS reports. Finalizing this corrective measure will involve engaging with outside partners, completing the CHS Questionnaire, and providing training to FBI staff.”

Wray also insistedto the Senate in March 2021 that the FBI was improving its CHS procedure.

We embraced all the findings and suggestions from the Inspector General’s report. At that time, I mandated more than 40 corrective measures that went beyond the inspector general’s recommendations, and these have been put into action,” he stated. “These actions cover everything from improving our procedures to guarantee accuracy and thoroughness, ensuring the court receives all the information it needs, modifications in our protocols for CHS, confidential human sources, and updates to our training programs.

Steele and Danchenko demonstrated the politically influenced aspect of the FBI’s legal actions.

The FBI relied on Steele’s debunked dossier to secure four Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants and extensions aimed at Trump campaign member Carter Page. Additionally, FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe were involved in efforts to incorporate the unfounded claims of collusion from the dossier into the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Throughout this time, the FBI hid the degree of Steele’s opposition to Trump from the FISA Court.Just the News revealed last yearthat a declassified report from the House Intelligence Committee revealed the Steele Dossier was explicitly referenced in the highly classified version of the ICA regarding Russian interference.

In 2019, Horowitz stated, “the FBI recognized the possibility of political bias in the Steele election reports from the beginning.”

A former DOJ official named Bruce Ohr, who acted as a link between Steele and the FBI even after the ex-MI6 agent was no longer considered a confidential source, informed the agency by late November 2016 thatSteele was “desperate for Donald Trump to not be elected and was strongly committed to preventing him from becoming the U.S. president.”The inspector general of the Department of Justice pointed out that in a 2017 interview with the FBI, Steele referred to Trump as his “primary adversary,” with an FBI analyst stating this indicated “obvious prejudice.”

FBI agent Brian Auten, who conducted an interview with Steele’s supposed primary source, Russian attorney Igor Danchenko, in early 2017 and was present during the Department of Justice’s involvementestablish a limited immunity pactwith Danchenko, was one of the FBI employees who questioned Steele in Rome in early October 2016 as the FBI aimed to obtain further information about the dossier. Auten disclosed in court that theThe FBI had presented Steele with a reward of as much as $1 million if he could substantiate the claims of collusion in his report.and if the evidence resulted in charges, Auten stated that the former MI6 agent could not support any of his claims in the dossier.

FBI records from January 2017interviewWith Danchenko, he told the bureau he “did not know the origins” of certain Steele allegations and “did not remember” other details from the dossier. Despite this, Danchenko was placed on the FBI’s payroll as aconfidential human sourcefrom March 2017 until October 2020, prior to being accused in November 2021 offive instances of providing incorrect informationto the bureau. The FBI agent responsible for overseeing Danchenko provided testimony that he attempted to have the bureaupay Danchenko over $500,000.

Danchenko was acquitted during the trial.

The FBI did not thoroughly examine Steele until after the dossier was released.

Just the News also revealed in 2025 that declassified recordsreleased a year ago also featured a “Human Source Validation Report” (HSVR) from the FBI’s Validation Management Unit (VMU) concerning Steele.

The VMU assessedIn 2017, the bureau expressed only “moderate confidence” that Steele had participated in the FBI’s criminal program, partly due to “Steele’s reports having been only slightly verified.” The unit noted that although Steele had worked with the bureau for many years, including on the prominent Trump-Russia collusion investigation, “this marks the first HSVR conducted on Steele.”

The FBI team mentioned that, besides unfounded conspiracy allegations, Steele supplied the agency with details about a corruption case involving FIFA and Russia, a cyberattack originating from China, and “issues concerning Weapons of Mass Destruction.”

The VMU also stated that “during Steele’s operation, no problems were found concerning his or her reliability” and that “VMU was unable to find any information indicating that Steele made up details during the operation.”

Yet declassified footnotesAccording to Horowitz’s report, “a 2015 document from the FBI’s Transnational Organized Crime Intelligence Unit (TOCIU) indicated that between January and May 2015, ten Eurasian billionaires requested meetings with the FBI, with five of them having their representatives reach out to Steele.” The TOCIU report “highlighted that Steele’s interactions with five Russian billionaires within a brief timeframe were unusual and suggested that a verification review should be conducted on Steele due to this behavior,” Horowitz stated.

As per Horowitz, the FBI’s Validation Management Unit “did not conduct such an evaluation on Steele until early 2017” — significantly later than when the dossier was already used in the FISA court and in the 2017 intelligence community report regarding alleged Russian interference in the election.

The Horowitz report’s declassified footnotesAlso stated that certain claims in the Steele dossier regarding Michael Cohen, the former Trump lawyer, were “part of a Russian disinformation effort aimed at undermining U.S. foreign relations.” The footnote further noted that a U.S. intelligence community report determined that the unfounded and sensational allegations about Trump at the Ritz-Carlton Moscow were the work of Russian intelligence, who “infiltrated a source into the network” operated by Steele.

Steele and his firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, collaborated withRussian oligarch Oleg DeripaskaIn 2016, it was claimed that Steele allegedly assisted in recovering millions of dollars that a Russian oligarch alleged Paul Manafort had stolen.requested assistance in this anti-Trump research initiativeFrom Fusion GPS, the company’s founders wrote, and Steele was hired by Fusion GPS shortly thereafter.

The Senate Intelligence Committee’s 2020report assessedThe Russian government collaborates with and guides Deripaska in numerous influence activities.” The report discovered “several connections between Steele and Deripaska” and “evidence that Deripaska was aware of Steele’s work at an early stage,” stating that Steele’s connection with Deripaska “could have served as a direct pathway for Russian influence on the dossier.

Serving as an FBI informant proved profitable for Stefan Halper, a key figure in the Russiagate scandal.

Just the News also reported last year that declassified documentsDemonstrate that Stefan Halper, a significant FBI source in the extensively discredited Russia collusion investigation, received almost $1.2 million over three decades and was driven, at least partially, by “financial reward” — and that he kept providing information to the agency even after agents determined he had given them an incorrect account regarding the future Trump National Security Advisor Mike Flynn.

FBI agents eventually classified Halper’s accounts asnot believable” and “not correct, but the bureau continued to investigate Flynn, kept compensating Halper, and maintained their support for his credibility as a confidential human source known as “Mitch,” according to the memos. A March 2017 memo revealed that the FBI’s Validation Management Unit (VMU) stated it “believes HALPER is appropriate for ongoing operations, based on his or her authenticity, reliability, and control.”

The VMU’s assessment between May 2013 and March 2017 advised the FBI to keep using Halper as a contact, even though FBI agents handling the Flynn case concluded he had given them false details. However, the bureau’s unit also stated that “during the review period, VMU did not find any negative issues regarding MITCH’s reliability,” while later acknowledging that “VMU notes there is no confirmation of MITCH’s reports. Because of the unique nature of his or her access, VMU could not find any supporting evidence for MITCH’s reporting.”

The memo did not reference the concerns regarding the account Halper provided about Flynn and Lokhova in its unredacted sections, which were verified in a memo from William Barnett, the FBI agent who managed the retired Flynn’s case in 2016 and 2017.

Patel: “An impressive misuse of agency powers”

Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley from Iowa, hascontinued to pushfor additional information regarding the involvement of FBI confidential informants during the Capitol riot.

It is probable that the disclosures byJust the NewsConcerning the FBI’s employment of paid “Sedition Hunter” informants to aid in the identification of individuals involved in events on January 6 may result in increased examination of the bureau’s CHS program.

“The American public is entitled to the truth regarding how the FBI was used against them. Funding open anti-Trump activists to locate Americans through dubious technology represents a shocking misuse of the bureau’s power and a clear breach of established informant guidelines,” Patel stated in a message toJust the News on Tuesday.

“Under my direction, the FBI will completely inform Congress about these actions and guarantee that the bureau never again acts for partisan or political purposes rather than the Constitution,” the FBI director stated.