(WASHINGTON) — A new report from a government watchdog has revealed that the FBI might have been able to take more proactive steps to gather intelligence before the Capitol riot, even though they had made some preparations for potential unrest on January 6, 2021. The report also highlighted the absence of undercover FBI agents at the Capitol that day, as well as the fact that none of the agency’s informants had been authorized to engage in the events unfolding at the Capitol.

This report, issued by the Justice Department’s inspector general, directly counters a fringe conspiracy theory circulated by certain Republican lawmakers suggesting that the FBI played a role in inciting the riot. On that day, rioters, driven by a desire to overturn Donald Trump’s defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 election, violently clashed with law enforcement while breaching the Capitol.

The review arrives nearly four years after a critical moment in American history that has tested the very foundations of democracy.

While the report’s scope was limited, it sought to address urgent questions regarding possible intelligence failures that occurred before the riot and whether any individuals in the crowd were acting under FBI direction. This investigation is part of a broader series of inquiries into the extraordinary events of that day, which have already spurred congressional investigations and numerous indictments at both federal and state levels.

The watchdog found that 26 FBI informants were present in Washington for protests related to the election on January 6. Notably, while three of them entered restricted areas, none had received permission from the FBI to do so, nor were they allowed to engage in illegal activities or encourage others to do so.

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According to the findings, the FBI took appropriate measures in preparation for January 6 but did not conduct a thorough review of intelligence from its 56 field offices across the country.

The inspector general’s comprehensive review was launched just days after the riot, prompted by a bulletin from the FBI’s Norfolk, Virginia, field office on January 5, 2021, which warned of potential violence at the Capitol. The former head of the FBI’s Washington office noted that information from this warning was promptly shared with other law enforcement agencies via a joint terrorism task force.

However, officials from the Capitol Police have stated that they were unaware of this bulletin at the time and claimed that they had no specific or credible intelligence indicating that a protest at the Capitol would escalate into a large-scale assault on the building.

FBI Director Chris Wray, who has announced plans to resign at the end of President Biden’s term in January, defended the agency’s handling of the intelligence report. Wray told lawmakers in 2021 that the report was communicated through the joint terrorism task force, discussed at a command post in Washington, and made accessible on an online portal for other law enforcement agencies.

“We communicated that information in a timely manner to both the Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department through multiple channels,” Wray asserted at the time.

The conspiracy theory suggesting that federal law enforcement officers incited the mob has gained traction among some conservatives, with various Republican lawmakers endorsing it. Recently, Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., hinted on a podcast that agents disguised as Trump supporters may have played a role in instigating the violence.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who stepped back as Trump’s candidate for attorney general amid allegations of sex trafficking, wrote to Wray in 2021 asking about the number of informants present at the Capitol on January 6, questioning whether they were “passive informants or active instigators.”

Until now, the number of FBI informants in the crowd that day was unclear. Wray refrained from disclosing during a congressional hearing last year how many individuals who entered the Capitol and its nearby areas on January 6 were either FBI agents or had prior contact with the FBI. However, he firmly dismissed the notion that the violence was part of an FBI operation as “ludicrous.”

During the trial of former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio last year, one FBI informant testified about marching to the Capitol alongside fellow members of the extremist group, detailing communication with his handler as the mob of Trump supporters surged toward the building. Importantly, this informant did not participate in the Telegram chats that the Proud Boys allegedly used to plan violent actions in the days leading up to January 6.