Four Years and 345 Days
As originally scheduled, Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey would have held a detention hearing today for Brian Cole, the guy accused of planting pipe bombs on January 5, 2021.
We might have learned more about evidence and motive at such a hearing, but now we’ll have to wait until December 30, if at all.
Last Wednesday, the AUSA in the case, submitted a filing basically saying, “Regarding your question about whether we still need a detention hearing on December 15, I respond that the defense wants another two weeks to review discovery before such a hearing, and we’d like an exclusion of time under Speedy Trial Act.”
The United States respectfully moves the Court to exclude time under the Speedy Trial Act from the date of defendant Brian J. Cole, Jr.’s arrest on December 4, 2025, through the date of the detention hearing, which the defense has requested to continue. 1
In response to the Court’s inquiry, the government conferred with defense counsel. Defense counsel has requested that the government represent the following to the Court in this motion: The defense requests that the Court continue the detention hearing in this case currently set for December 15, 2025, to allow the defense additional time to review the significant amount of discovery provided by the government to date. The defense consents to the exclusion of time under the Speedy Trial Act from December 4, 2025, through the date of the rescheduled detention hearing.
The government does not oppose a defense continuance of the detention hearing. The parties jointly request that the detention hearing be reset for December 30, 2025.
1 For administrative efficiency, the government is submitting a single motion reflecting the relief sought by both parties.
Before I unpack what this means — and what we can or cannot assume from this — let me point to this WSJ story that explains why it took so long to find Cole: Basically, an FBI Agent wrote code to be able to read cell tower dumps T-Mobile provided, which the government had claimed — for years! — was corrupted.
For four years, a tranche of cellphone data provided to the FBI by T-Mobile US sat on a digital shelf because investigators couldn’t figure out how to read it, people familiar with the matter said. The data turned out to be essential to cracking the case, the people said, a breakthrough that happened only recently when a tech-savvy law-enforcement officer wrote a new computer program that finally deciphered the information. That move led to the arrest of 30-year-old Brian Cole Jr. at his home in Northern Virginia, where he had been quietly living with his mother and other relatives.
[snip]
Increasingly desperate and under pressure to make progress, supervisors urged agents and analysts to take a new look at what they had, including the data from T-Mobile—reflecting phone locations based on internet usage—that investigators had set aside years earlier.
Once investigators were finally able to read the data, they said it led them to Cole’s phone number because his cellphone’s movements tracked what investigators had seen in surveillance footage.
I have no doubt that the government believed they couldn’t access some or most of the T-Mobile data; it is a problem that has shown up in court filings for years. How well-founded that belief was is something we may learn in the months ahead.
WSJ also describes why we’re getting — and why we should expect to continue getting — so much leaking from this investigation: Because Kash Patel is claiming credit and accusing the FBI of sandbagging before now.
In a four-hour interview with investigators, Cole acknowledged placing the bombs, people familiar with the probe said. He expressed support for Trump and said he had embraced conspiracy theories regarding Trump’s 2020 election loss, the people said. He had thrown out the Air Max sneakers, he said. Cole hasn’t entered a plea, and his lawyer didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Inside the Justice Department, agents and prosecutors have privately expressed widespread relief that an arrest has finally been made, but also resentment over FBI Director Kash Patel, who has suggested that they didn’t work doggedly on the probe until Trump administration leadership arrived.
The assertion that Cole is a Trump supporter, which was always the most likely explanation for his actions, adds to the likelihood of leaks. All the people crowing about the Cole arrest — Pam Bondi, Kash, and Dan Bongino — could well get fired if they find proof of another Trump supporting terrorist. So they’re no doubt trying to minimize the chances that becomes public via official channels.
The fact that the FBI had to write code simply to read the T-Mobile data may explain something that I allude to here: The language the complaint uses to refer to location data is not described in the normal way, usually expressed as a percentage likelihood that a device was within a certain range at the time in question.
The seven transactions between the COLE CELLPHONE and Provider’s towers occurred at approximately 7:39 p.m., 7:44 p.m., 7:59 p.m., 8:14 p.m., 8:23 p.m., and 8:24 p.m. Two transactions took place at 7:39 p.m. During this time period, the COLE CELLPHONE had transactions with five different sectors on Provider’s cell towers.
a. At approximately 7:39:27 p.m., the COLE CELLPHONE interacted with a particular sector of Provider tower 59323, which faces southeast (approximately 120˚) from its location at 103 G Street, Southwest in Washington, D.C. (“Sector A”). Also at 7:39:27 p.m., the COLE CELLPHONE interacted with a particular sector of Provider tower 126187, which faces east1 (approximately 90˚) from its location at 200 Independence Avenue, Southwest in Washington, D.C. (“Sector B”). Video surveillance footage shows that at approximately 7:39:32 p.m., the individual who placed the pipe bombs walked westbound on D Street, Southeast and then turned southbound on South Capitol Street, Southeast. These locations are consistent with the coverage areas of Sector A and B.
b. At approximately 7:44:36 p.m., the COLE CELLPHONE interacted with Sector B of Provider tower 126187. Video surveillance footage shows that at approximately 7:44:36 p.m., the individual who placed the pipe bombs walked east on Ivy Street, Southeast. This location is consistent with the coverage area of Sector B.
Here, the complaint claims only that the cell tower data is consistent with Cole’s presence in a certain cardinal directions from the cell towers; it doesn’t even explain how far that cell site is.
Even without the hack of the data needed to read the T-Mobile data, this case might have been vulnerable on Fourth Amendment grounds. While the geofences for the Capitol itself have been sustained in a series of court orders, these tower dumps did not (as the Capitol-focused geofences did) collect data of people who were by definition culprits or victims. But if the T-Mobile data showing Cole’s location comes from some untested code, it would be far more vulnerable to challenge, with the likelihood of dueling experts about whether the software hack faithfully rendered the location data.
Sure, there’s the confession, but any good defense attorney will attempt to challenge any Miranda waiver, particularly in the case (as here) where a suspect is reportedly on the spectrum or is otherwise vulnerable to pressure.
Meanwhile, consider the implications of DOJ finding a way to read T-Mobile data that had been unavailable for years. What else might that data reveal? Might that data reveal a meeting between Cole and someone else on Capitol Hill on December 14?
Approximately three weeks before the pipe bombs were placed, on or about December 14, 2020, COLE made a purchase at a restaurant located near First and D Streets, Southeast. The restaurant is located across the street from the entrance to Rumsey Court on D Street, Southeast.
I think it inconceivable that Cole placed those bombs at the perfect location set to explode at the perfect time for an attack the following day without consultation with others. Which means any investigation into Cole could break open (or reopen) an investigation into the far more coordinated attack that was evident in movement that day but — for whatever reason — not charged.
Imagine the possibility that the FBI could find proof — and a witness — to explain how January 6 was an exceedingly well-coordinated terrorist attack? That would be sure to get Bondi, Kash, and Bongino fired!
As noted, DOJ asked for and got an exclusion of the 15-day delay in detention hearing time from the Speedy Trial Act (STA). That’s actually a very big deal, because when DOJ arrested Cole on December 5, the month they had to indict Cole under the STA coincided with the month that existed before the normal 5-year statute of limitations on most crimes expired.
The charges against Cole, 18 USC 844(d) & (i), actually have an extended (at least ten year) statute of limitations, as would some other charges, but some other possible charges (or conspiracy charges) might not.
So several things are likely going on:
First, while I think it likely FBI got their guy, if Cole’s confession is at all vulnerable to challenge, the case might be exceedingly weak, not least because the data has been manipulated.
Meanwhile, DOJ really is in crunch time regarding both the charges and any further investigation. That likely suits Trump’s appointees, who could be fired if the arrest of Cole provides cause to investigate further.
And that’s all on top of any colorable claim that Cole is entitled to the pardons Trump has already given his mob (not least if he had contact with someone else who has already been pardoned).
That’s the kind of mix that gives DOJ strong incentive to push for a plea, using as leverage the possibility of further charges, on top of an already draconian possible 40-year sentence.
Everyone else may be focused on holidays. But the people involved in this prosecution are likely involved in a very delicate game of chicken, as the ticking clock of dual deadlines threatens to explode.
So if the current DOJ is hiding possible links to Cole to a further conspiracy, could that not be a further act of the conspiracy, extending the SOL on the conspiracy as a whole?
That could be a double edged sword, because any linkage would imply that Cole would be included in the J6 pardon, as EW noted above. I had also wondered if the defense plays the pardon card as well.
As EW noted these plantings could be part of a distraction campaign by diverting attention from the main event at the Capitol. It seems likely Cole was told where to put these relatively-less-dangerous devices, and it is possible that whoever told him left breadcrumbs to find. Under Biden, we’d get the answers but under Convict-1 / Bondi / Patel / Bongino I suspect we’ll get ‘cleanup on aisle 6’ action.
The December 14th meeting is weird but who would rely on a person living in parents basement, on spectrum, and with no training of any kind?
I wonder if there’s a song or limerick Savage Librarian could repurpose on the theme of the patsy.
If he’s involved, he appears to be more of a disposable element than someone who planned the event, constructed the bomb-like materials, and determined how best to place them at the chosen spot.
But, if he knew about anyone else overtly involved in those goings on, he does not seem to be someone who could long keep a secret about it. If there’s a concern about this being a conspiracy, one would think he would be closely watched while in custody.
Your “disposable element” brings to mind Butler, PA.
I wish it didn’t.
This story about “corrupted data” does not make any sense to me. I don’t have time right now to dig into to it because I need to switch over to my work computer to do my day job. Believe it or not, my current task involves interpreting location data from a vendor that’s not in the format we expected….
This story is totally bizarre. Did the FBI really do nothing with this data for four years? That’s mind-boggling.
That might depend upon which office or agent had the data. Recall that the SDNY office was riddled with RWNJ sympathizers (it’s allegedly why Comey betrayed HRC) and I’m sure they aren’t alone.
Rugger, do you mean the NYC field office of the FBI? That’s the one I’ve mentioned here many times due to my own personal connection.
SDNY is a completely different thing–the prosecutors’ office where Geoffrey Berman got forced out by Bill Barr during Trump 1, and where several prosecutors resigned when forced to drop charges against Eric Adams this year. Not a haven of RW anything…at least historically.
The description reads like it is based on directional facing to nearest tower, from which you have to trace backwards to probable location, updated almost constantly. If that’s the case, it won’t give position from the data directly, but infer it from “facing X direction to Tower #1 at Time A and facing Y direction 10 seconds later to Tower #2”.
Pretty easy to mess up in reading that data and think it is corrupted. Multiply this by however many cell phones with T-Mobile are in DC at any given time and you are looking for a needle with a defective eye in a needle factory.
To be clear, the part of this story that doesn’t make sense is the management side. When I’m involved with a important project that requires integrating data from a bunch of different third party systems and the data from one provider doesn’t look like the data from the other providers (which is, as best I can tell what happened here), I can’t get by with saying the data is corrupt. I’ll have management breathing down my neck. I’ll get pulled into meetings with the vendor (literally this is happening today for me) and me and the technical folks from the vendor will figure it out.
This was an important project for the FBI. I just can’t imagine that they didn’t haul T-Mobile in and demand some answers. I can’t believe nobody got fired over this, if the story is as it is presented here.
Would the Sprint merger have caused any potential glitches for reading T-Mobile data?
Sprint merger causing issues isn’t a bad idea. My thought it was a gluttony of evidence, so that one piece causing problems gets filed away and they work on ID’ing people from faces, social media posts, chatroom boasting, others’ testimonies, etc.
Exactly, William!
Keep in mind DOJ did extremely similar things for the events of THE FOLLOWING DAY! Once you’ve reconstructed a suspect’s location/timestamp path from CCTV footage, you can practically REUSE THE SAME CODE to trawl the haystacks for needles. (As if they didn’t have libraries for each provider’s formats already on the shelf…)
“…a breakthrough that happened only recently when a tech-savvy law-enforcement officer wrote a new computer program that finally deciphered the information…” Sounds like a new guy who didn’t get the willful ignorance memo from upstairs — he might be manning a weather station in Nome, AK pretty soon.
This happened before Steve D’Antuono left.
The solution?
Or did D’Antuono preside over the long failure to seek out a solution, notably by not looking for an outside contractor?
ew:
Might that data reveal a meeting between Cole and someone else on Capitol Hill on December 14?
Re: “On or about 12/14/20… re restaurant purchase:
12/14/20 was a Monday. I’ve noticed that sometimes credit purchases [maybe particularly on weekends] aren’t recorded on the actual day of purchase.
Saturday, 12/12/20 was the second MAGA rally.
Now that’s food for thought. Excellent analysis and deduction, harpie.
Thank you SL…
I’m back in that rabbit hole and I’m finding so many important and helpful conversations with you and all our friends!
Thanks for that as well. :-)
One place we talked about that rally:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2022/04/08/back-was-stood-and-by-was-stood-the-passive-voice-behind-the-top-down-structure-of-the-charles-donohoe-statement-of-offense/#comment-930867
I thought of that too. I haven’t seen (but admittedly haven’t looked for) a picture of this guy’s face, but I have wondered if it will be discoverable in other footage from J6, 12/12, etc.
Brilliant connection, harpie!
Another possibility: Cole had come in on 12/12/20 and just hung around a couple of days.
I wonder what Roger Stone’s cellphone location data says around Dec 14 2020.
THIS ^^^^. I’m sure the actual experience varies dramatically by court and by the actual jury selected, but if I wanted a jury to zone out during my client’s trial, this is a near-perfect scenario to make that happen.
More broadly, it’s great that WSJ found a single hero of the investigation, but I find myself wondering about the relationship between Trump’s DoJ, data fusion centers, and Palantir, these days. “Couldn’t connect the dots for years, and suddenly connected the dots” might be skipping over a lot of details.
Wouldn’t DOJ have had to map any code results back to the original datasets for court/jury proceedings (whether the code was “tested” or not) in a manner similar to the J6 prosecutions?
I’m not a lawyer, but I’d expect “beyond reasonable doubt” extends at least as far as “we got THIS dataset from T-Mobile, transformed it in THIS way, and matched that transformed data to the suspect’s apparent location HERE”.
i’m a tech flat-lander. however, if T-Mobile data can be linked to brad cole’s phone, why can it not be linked to whomever cole’s phone was in communication with at the critical times that have been identified?
As I understand it, it’s merely the phone linking to different masts as its owner moves around. That tracking process doesn’t imply any actual phone calls.
(Though won’t there also be phone call metadata available…?)
The tracking of the subject using cell phone data seems very similar to the recent arrest of the suspected Brown University shooter as I had read reports of the FBI tracking this “person of interest” using cell phone data. Now that person has been let go, so I have to wonder if the FBI has any credibility left?
They haven’t had any red since Patel took the helm.
Oops! s/b “cred.”
We are just up the road with the Clark, Holy Cross, WPI, WSU etc Consortium kids also in end of semester crunch time and public schools closing with this terrorist on the loose.
Very (thankfully) unusually tight & cagey pressers. This is Senators Whitehouse & Warren constituencies’ state & local gov & LE. Providence Mayor unSmiley et al were not havin’ a Kash presence at these, & clearly determined to keep ‘helpful’ interference at arms length.
Despite that steely resolve, by the third one, there was palpable irritation, especially of the state AG/prosecutor, at perhaps (?) having been misled —during critical getaway window, by FBI ‘tip’ on that person (detained for under 24 hours), who was, throughout second & third pressers, pointedly referred to only as ‘person of interest,’ and absolutely pissed that that person’s name was leaked.
Thanks for the context as I was tracking the story through at least 5 separate sources. I used all of these to look at these sources to observe the story of that named person to the backtracking within 4 hours. I use Bing News to look at the rumors revealed on other sources and weirdly, at least to me, that the Hindustan Times had faster tracking and backtracking on the release of the name of the “person of interest”. No connection to Hindustan TImes, just MSN’s “deal” to show the text from these sources?
I am used to having information about the gun, ammunition and description of the attack long before I get cell phone tracking data, but in this case the description was “reversed”.
When I read the information today and watched the actions of the new “suspect” it seems to me the gentleman fits the profile of one that knew the area, but had the obscurity and opsec to not get caught. He also has a distinctive gait, but not one of an athlete nor was he as an accomplished 9mm shooter like the Virginia Tech individual. He could have easily held two 9mm semi automatic handguns under that hoodie.
I found it ironic that the Providence Police expressed that they were in the “49th Hour” of this case. Ah the First 48 and its impact on society.
The Hindustan Times often gets things early, and usually at least as correct as, say, NY Post.
Hindustan has a broader connotation than Hindu or India (Times); associated more with northern India, inclusive of Urdu speakers, Pakistan, Kashmir etc (ie before those borders were drawn). (fwiw)
It’s not a new person. The private home camera clips you’re finally seeing now are the same person they’ve been looking for all along, in the city’s street clip, produced earlier.
But now we have another murder associated with higher ed Physics & Engineering, in Newton MA, a Portuguese man with plasma nuke expertise; the MIT dept chair.
Would a plea deal leave all the undiscussed elements of Mr. Cole’s behavior before 1/5/2021 permanently private? Does the Court have enough information to question whether a deal presented is in the interests of Justice (or whatever the standard is…)?
That’s where a pardon would come in. Or a no lo contendere plea.
*… a device was within a certain rage at the time in question.*
Oops. Or can Stingray & related technologies now detect the emotions of cellphones as well as their signals?