Internal records indicate the FBI paid more than $100,000 to members of the Sedition Hunters group despite documented bias, foreign involvement, and the use of facial recognition tools.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The FBI during the Biden administration paid more than $100,000 to members of an anonymous online group known as the Sedition Hunters to assist in the January 6 Capitol riot investigation and the related Arctic Frost probe, despite internal concerns about political bias, foreign involvement, and compliance with FBI informant rules, according to memos reported by Just the News.
The payments are expected to be disclosed to Congress by FBI Director Kash Patel, along with concerns that the bureau’s approval of certain Sedition Hunters members as confidential human sources may have violated the FBI’s Domestic Investigation and Operations Guide. Officials said the issues included informant bias, secrecy requirements, foreign influence risks, and transparency in contracting.
Government officials said members of the group were first engaged in January 2021, days after the Capitol riot, to help identify suspects using video analysis and facial recognition technology. The group received at least $150,000 for that work and for assistance related to the Arctic Frost investigation, which examined whether Trump supporters violated the law by promoting alternate electors during the certification of the 2020 election.
An internal email from the FBI’s Washington field office showed that bureau officials were aware early on that foreign nationals were involved. The late January 2021 message stated that “we have a sedition hunter from the United Kingdom running facial recognition software,” and that the individual had just identified a possible match to a January 6 suspect, according to an email reviewed by Just the News.
Patel told Just the News that he believes the informant relationship was inappropriate and said he is committed to working with Congress to prevent similar arrangements in the future. “The American people deserve the truth about how the FBI was weaponized against them,” Patel said. “Paying openly anti-Trump activists to identify Americans using questionable technology is a stunning abuse of bureau authorities and a clear violation of longstanding informant rules.”
Patel added that under his leadership the bureau will fully disclose the actions to Congress and ensure the FBI does not serve partisan or political ends. Officials said supervisors involved in approving the informant relationships have been dismissed, though an audit is underway to ensure no individuals were overlooked.
Officials said one Sedition Hunters member was also engaged as a confidential human source in the summer of 2023 and received $20,000 for work tied to the Arctic Frost probe. That individual was tasked with finding video evidence linking attendees of Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech at the Ellipse to the later violence at the Capitol, as investigators sought to establish a criminal conspiracy.
That $20,000 payment was approved by a top deputy to then-Special Counsel Jack Smith, according to documents obtained by Just the News. One memo documented emailed concurrence from Counselor to the Special Counsel Raymond Hulser on June 2, 2023. “As discussed, request your office’s concurrence in our proposed payment of $20,000 for CHS’ provision of information,” an FBI agent wrote. Hulser responded, “Concur, thank you.” The documents were redacted and did not identify the informant by name.
While the Sedition Hunters’ assistance to the FBI has been widely reported, the scale of financial compensation is expected to draw scrutiny from lawmakers. Ryan Reilly, a Justice Department reporter at NBC News, wrote a 2023 book titled Sedition Hunters that praised the group and acknowledged that some members had formal informant relationships with the FBI, though the book did not disclose that they were paid.
The group’s political views are visible on its X account, which includes posts mocking or attacking Trump and his administration. In one recent post responding to a Department of Homeland Security warning about assaults on ICE officers in Minnesota, the account wrote, “If you don’t see the problem, then you are part of the problem.” In another, it praised Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, writing “Love this guy!” in response to a post calling Trump incompetent. The account also joked about renaming the Justice Department as the “Dept of Trump’s Agenda.”
Republicans said the revelations revive concerns dating back to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which relied on former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele despite his foreign status, political bias, and work for the Clinton campaign. Steele was later terminated as an FBI informant for violating confidentiality rules.
Similar issues emerged with the Sedition Hunters, who publicly acknowledged their cooperation with the FBI despite confidentiality requirements. On its website, the group stated it was a global open-source intelligence community that assisted the FBI and Capitol Police in identifying alleged January 6 offenders, a claim captured in screenshots reviewed by investigators.
Several prominent figures associated with the Sedition Hunters reside outside the United States. Forrest Rogers, who says on X that he is based in Switzerland, has described himself as an open-source investigations reporter and has been identified in multiple media reports as a German-American living abroad who helped run related sleuthing efforts. Rogers told Bloomberg in 2021 that he wanted those involved in January 6 “brought to justice,” and told NPR that volunteer sleuths filled gaps as the FBI was overwhelmed.
Another figure, Tommy Carstensen, has been described in press reports as being from Denmark and creating tools such as Jan6attack.com and Jan6archive.com, which were used by Sedition Hunters. NPR and NBC News reported that Carstensen relied on facial recognition software, acknowledging its controversial nature, while spending months reviewing footage from his home in Denmark.
Other contributors identified in media accounts include individuals based in Canada and the Netherlands, some of whom openly discussed aggregating and analyzing videos of suspected rioters. The group’s own resources included facial recognition apps, Capitol riot maps, and other investigative tools, according to archived versions of its website.
Court filings show that the FBI cited information from Sedition Hunters in numerous January 6 cases. NPR reported in 2021 that the group was referenced by name in at least 13 prosecutions. An analysis by IEEE Spectrum later found that the FBI cited efforts from Sedition Hunters and related sites in at least 63 legal documents.
Multiple affidavits from 2022 and 2023 described a confidential human source who led a team of open-source researchers and, in at least one filing, acknowledged that the source had been compensated. Reilly’s book described the informant, using a pseudonym, as a central intermediary between the sleuths and federal agents.
Officials said the bureau is now reviewing whether the relationship amounted to informants performing de facto contract work while expressing overt political hostility toward Trump. The Sedition Hunters group did not respond to requests for comment sent through contact information listed on its website.
Original article
Comments