Pence dismisses conspiracy theory FBI instigated Jan. 6 attack

Former Vice President Mike Pence in an interview Sunday dismissed conspiracy theories about government involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioting.

Pence, who was a target of rioters, rejected the idea that the FBI could have been responsible for instigating the Capitol riots.

“We’ve been assured again and again that it was not the case,” Pence said in a CNN interview.

“I just must tell you, having been there that day, to see people literally breaking windows, ransacking the Capitol, it just infuriated me,” he continued. “I remember thinking, ‘Not this. Not here. Not at the United States Capitol.”

As many as a quarter of Americans and a third of Republicans said they believe that the Jan. 6 Capitol riots were instigated by the FBI or other government influence, according to a University of Maryland poll released last week. 

The conspiracy theory has gained traction among some Republicans, being boosted by GOP figures including former President Trump, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. 

Pence, however, called on those that believe the conspiracies to “look at the facts.”

The FBI and Department of Justice have worked to convict almost 1,000 people of crimes related to the Capitol riots, including more than 400 for assaulting police officers.

“[Jan. 6] should never have happened,” Pence, who repeatedly criticized Trump over Jan. 6 during his brief 2024 presidential campaign last year, said Sunday. “As I’ve said many times before, the former president’s words that day were reckless. I believe history will judge his role in that.”

Saturday, the three-year anniversary of the riots, was marked by waves of calls from Democrats to take the threat of political violence more seriously ahead of the 2024 election, while some Republicans continued to downplay the violence.