Ex-FBI agent charged in Capitol riot now works on Justice Department's
'weaponization' task force
[July 02, 2025]
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI agent who was charged with joining a
mob's attack on the U.S. Capitol and cheering on rioters is now working
as an adviser to the Justice Department official overseeing its
“weaponization working group,” which is examining President Donald
Trump's claims of anti-conservative bias inside the department.
The former FBI supervisory agent, Jared Lane Wise, is serving as a
counselor to Justice Department pardon attorney Ed Martin Jr., who also
serves as director of the working group, according to a person familiar
with the matter. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss a
personnel matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A department spokesperson declined to comment. The New York Times was
first to report on Wise's appointment.
When Trump returned to the White House in January, he picked Martin to
serve as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. But the
president pulled his nomination to keep the job on a more permanent
basis two days after a key Republican senator said he could not support
Martin for the job due to his defense of Capitol rioters.
Martin was a leading figure in Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement. He
spoke at a rally in Washington on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at
the Capitol. He represented three Jan. 6 defendants and served on the
board of the nonprofit Patriot Freedom Project, which reports raising
over $2.5 million to support riot defendants.
Attorney General Pam Bondi called for creating the “weaponization” group
in February to investigate claims by Trump and Republican allies that
the Justice Department unfairly targeted conservatives during President
Joe Biden’s administration. The group's review includes the work of
former special counsel Jack Smith, who led two federal prosecutions of
Trump that were ultimately abandoned after Trump was elected to a second
term.
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Ed Martin speaks at an event at the Capitol in Washington, on June
13, 2023. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)
Fox News host Jeanine Pirro replaced Martin as the top federal
prosecutor in Washington, but Martin immediately moved over to his
current Justice Department position.
Wise, who worked as a special agent or supervisory special agent for
the FBI from 2004 through 2017, was arrested in Oregon on Capitol
riot-related misdemeanor charges in May 2023.
Wise repeatedly shouted, “Kill ’em!” as he watched rioters
assaulting officers outside the Capitol, according to an FBI agent’s
affidavit. Wise clapped his hands and raised his arms ”in triumph”
after he entered the building through the Senate wing door, the
affidavit says. He left the building about nine minutes after
entering.
Police body camera footage showed Wise berating police officers
outside the Capitol and repeatedly shouting, “Shame on you!”
“I’m former law enforcement," he told them." You’re disgusting. You
are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo. You can’t see it.”
Wise was on trial in Washington when Trump returned to the White
House in January and immediately pardoned, commuted prison sentences
or ordered the dismissal of cases for all of the nearly 1,600 people
charged in the attack. The case against Wise was dismissed before
the jury reached a verdict.
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Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this
report.
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