(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced that a federal judge ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), beginning this week, to provide answers on a search for records on the CIA presence at the US Capitol on January 6. The order was issued immediately after a September 2026 joint status hearing held at the request of Judicial Watch in its August 2024 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. Central Intelligence Agency (No. 1:24-cv-02172)).
Judicial Watch requested the Court order the CIA to provide more information on the status of its FOIA response after zero progress for over two years. The Court ordered the CIA provide details on potential productions of records and its search process:
Defendant has represented to the Court that it anticipates completing its search for and review of responsive records within eight months. It is ORDERED that Defendant shall file a notice by October 2, 2026, including a date certain when Defendant will begin rolling interim productions of responsive records. The Parties are further ORDERED to file another joint status report by December 1, 2026. In that report, Defendant is directed to describe its search process, the volume of materials located, the progress of its responsiveness review, and any interim productions made. The report should also apprise the Court of the results of any conferral regarding the scope of requests. It is further ORDERED that Defendant shall provide Plaintiff with any draft status reports at least one business day in advance of the filing deadline.
Judicial Watch sued for records related to any shots fired inside the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and records of requests for CIA support, including bomb technicians and bomb-detecting dogs placed on standby or used in response to the massive protests in and around Washington, DC.
In March 2024, Judicial Watch received 88 pages of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) records from the Department of Justice in a FOIA lawsuit that show the CIA deployed personnel to Washington, DC on January 6, 2021.
The records include a series of text messages under the heading “January 7 Intel Chain” in which two separate references to participation by the CIA are made. One states that “two CIA bomb techs” are assisting with “a pipe bomb scene on New Jersey and D ST SE.” Another record references “several CIA dog teams on standby.”
In a Joint Status Report filed with the court on September 2, 2026, Judicial Watch argues:
More than two years after this lawsuit was filed, the agency states that it is still not finished with its search. Notably the agency does not claim that this is because the request was overbroad or otherwise unmanageable. It simply has not finished the search after more than two years.
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Accordingly, pursuant to the Court’s June 15, 2026 Minute Order, Plaintiff proposes that the agency be ordered to provide a detailed description of the status of its efforts, including but not limited to descriptions of the searches conducted and remaining to be conducted, and a date certain when the searches will be complete. The agency also should be ordered to disclose the number of records located and reviewed, the rate at which the records are being reviewed, and a date certain when the review will be complete. Finally, the agency should be ordered to provide a date certain when interim productions will begin. Alternatively, Plaintiff requests an in-person status conference to further address these matters.
“We’re pleased a federal court agrees with Judicial Watch that the CIA should give the American people more information about its handling of a simple FOIA request about what it was doing at the US Capitol on January 6,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said.
Judicial Watch has pursued details of January 6 on several fronts.
In July 2026, it forced the release of over 1,000 hours of Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department body-worn camera footage from the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol event.
In April 2026, Judicial Watch filed a (FOIA) lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to obtain records related to possible improper targeting of January 6, 2021, Capitol protesters, their supporters, and related nonprofits.
In July 2025, Judicial Watch sued the U.S. Department of Justice for records on accelerated January 6 prosecutions after Donald Trump was elected president in November 2024.
In June 2025, Judicial Watch concluded a $4.975 million settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. Government filed on behalf of the family of Ashli Babbitt, the U.S. Air Force veteran who was shot and killed inside the U.S. Capitol by then-Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd on January 6, 2021. Ashli Babbitt was the only January 6 homicide victim.
In October 2023, Judicial Watch received the declaration of James W. Joyce, senior counsel in the Office of the General Counsel for the Capitol Police, in which he describes emails among senior officials of the United States Capitol Police (USCP) in January 2021 that show warnings of possible January 6 protests that could lead to serious disruptions at the U.S. Capitol.
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