Tatum posted his observations on social media Monday evening, pointing to footage identified as X6039BF3H. He wrote:
“As one example of new information. At roughly 5:14PM that afternoon, bodycam footage from X6039BF3H contains audio of an officer saying “Do you have 350 FBI agents there right at this moment?” Background noise prohibits a clear understanding of the entire conversation. However, this proves some of the DC Metro Police were aware a large contingent of FBI representatives were onsite. Audio starts at 12:30 mark.”
Tatum also shared the full video containing the exchange, noting that around the 12:30 mark an officer can be heard saying:
“You got 350 FBI agents there ready to deploy.”
Because portions of the conversation are obscured by background noise, the broader context of the discussion remains unclear. Even so, the audio has quickly fueled renewed debate over the extent of the FBI’s presence in Washington on January 6.
The release of the footage has also revived scrutiny of previous congressional testimony by former FBI Director Christopher Wray. During a July 2023 House hearing, Representative Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) questioned Wray about whether undercover FBI personnel had been present at or around the Capitol during the unrest.
Responding to Biggs, Wray said:
“I’m not sure there were undercover agents on scene. As I sit here right now, I do not believe there were undercover agents on.”
Biggs later criticized that testimony, posting on social media:
“FBI Director Wray just told me he “does not believe” there were any undercover FBI agents in or around the U.S. Capitol on January 6. This claim has been already debunked—including by the former U.S. Capitol Police Chief.”
WATCH:
He also wrote:
“Wray will be held accountable for this lie.”
Since that exchange, additional government records and official reports have continued to shape the debate over the FBI’s role during the events of January 6.
In September 2025, the FBI acknowledged that hundreds of plainclothes FBI personnel were present among the crowds in Washington that day. According to reporting by The Blaze, the bureau said 274 plainclothes agents were deployed, a figure significantly larger than many previous public estimates.
A senior congressional source said the number is not necessarily a surprise, since the FBI often embeds countersurveillance personnel at large events.
But given the FBI’s until-now steadfast refusal to disclose the level of its presence at the Capitol, the figure might still be viewed with skepticism in some quarters.
The disclosure followed the release of a December 2024 report by the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General, which stated:
“We found no evidence in the materials we reviewed or the testimony we received showing or suggesting that the FBI had undercover employees in the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on January 6.”
The report specifically addressed undercover FBI employees, while discussions about confidential human sources, informants, and other FBI assets have continued separately in court proceedings and congressional investigations.
In recent years, court filings have confirmed that confidential human sources were present within several groups involved in the January 6 events, including members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. Defense attorneys and prosecutors have referenced those sources during multiple criminal cases, while the precise number of confidential human sources and other federal personnel active that day has remained the subject of ongoing public debate.
The newly released Metropolitan Police body-camera footage is expected to receive extensive review in the coming weeks. Researchers, journalists, attorneys, and lawmakers are likely to examine the recordings frame by frame in search of additional information that could clarify outstanding questions surrounding one of the most consequential days in modern American political history.
Whether the latest recordings significantly alter the public understanding of January 6 remains to be seen. However, the release adds another substantial collection of evidence to an event that continues to generate congressional oversight, legal challenges, and intense public interest more than five years later.
