(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Lawyers for the man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the DNC and RNC headquarters the night before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest are seeking to prevent his purported confession from being used as evidence—arguing that the FBI illegally coerced the admission.
In a motion filed Tuesday, defense attorneys for alleged pipe bomber Brian Cole Jr. blasted the FBI’s conduct that took place during the interview with their client last December.
According to Cole’s lawyers, video of the interview shows the FBI engaging in the “methodical dismantling of a man whose autism spectrum disorder.” Cole’s lawyers attached the opinion of Dr. Richard A. Leo—a psychologist who has consulted on 2,500 disputed-confession cases—who agreed with them that “the interrogation was psychologically coercive.”
The defense attorneys also attached the transcript of Cole’s December 4 interview. The transcript shows that the Cole confessed when agents showed him a picture of the person seen on surveillance footage the night of Jan. 5, 2021. Cole’s confession took place about three hours into the interview, after interrogators told him that his pervious denials were illegal, and after they threatened to “drag” his family into their office for similar interviews.
“So, this individual is you?” the FBI interrogator asked Cole, to which he responded, “Yes.”
Agents then left the room for a while before returning to ask Cole whether he wanted to talk more. Cole said he wanted to talk more, providing more details about his alleged actions.
“I don’t know how many times I wanted to turn myself in,” Cole said towards the end of the interview.
“You wanted to turn yourself in?” an agent asked him.
“So, so many times … I’d just be scared,” Cole said.
“I don’t know how many times I wanted to turn myself in … So, so many times." pic.twitter.com/1Tj8HejwzI
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) September 30, 2026
The Justice Department has yet to respond to Cole’s motion. Cole’s lawyers have asked the judge for a hearing on the matter before any determination.
Meanwhile, Cole’s lawyers are also seeking FBI evidence related to its investigation of former Capitol Police officer and current CIA security guard Shauni Kerkhoff. Cole’s lawyers want to subpoena Kerkhoff’s records on the grounds that she might be the true culprit.
Information the lawyers seek includes the original video of Kerkhoff’s dog on the night of Jan. 5, 2021, which was reportedly taken while the pipe bomber was in DC—giving her an alibi; another for communications between her and her boyfriend, Capitol Police officer Daniel Dickert; and a third for records related to the gait analysis conducted as part of the FBI’s investigation.
However, the DOJ has said Cole’s defense team shouldn’t be allowed to issue those subpoenas, because they have yet to produce any evidence that Kerkhoff is actually the pipe bomber.
“The FBI investigated this claim, as it did many others, and found it to be baseless,” the DOJ said, accusing Cole’s lawyers of going on a “fishing expedition.”
It’s unclear when a judge will rule on this matter.
Pipe Bomb Case History
As Headline USA revealed in March 2024, the FBI had a suspect identified by Jan. 10, 2021 in the pipe bomb case, but never made any arrests.
FBI records released in September revealed that agents didn’t interview the woman who discovered a pipe bomb near the RNC around 12:40 p.m. on Jan. 6 until days later. That woman, former counterterrorism analyst and then-Commerce Department worker Karlin Younger, said she found the bomb while doing laundry.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Kamala Harris continues to be tight-lipped on the subject, despite the fact that her motorcade drove past the DNC pipe bomb on Jan. 6. Harris left the Capitol at 11:21 a.m. arrived to the DNC at 11:25 a.m., but the nearby pipe bomb wasn’t discovered until 1:07 p.m. by a plainclothes Capitol Police officer.
The lack of answers have driven many to suspect that it may have been a false-flag attempt overseen by the feds themselves to divert law enforcement from the Capitol right as the Jan. 6 protest was turning violent.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
