Ed Martin, the incoming pardon attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice and newly appointed head of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s “weaponization of government” working group, has raised deeply unsettling concerns over one of the most underreported yet symbolically potent incidents related to January 6: the unsolved case of the pipe bomb planted outside the DNC headquarters. His comments, made during a candid discussion with Tucker Carlson, suggest that the federal government’s years-long failure to identify the perpetrator may not be incompetence—but something worse.
The night before the January 6 Capitol protests, a pipe bomb was reportedly discovered on a park bench just outside the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters. Despite the gravity of the event—an alleged explosive device in the shadow of a brewing political powder keg—the case remains unsolved, and as Martin noted, it’s been met with “a distinct lack of media coverage.”
Martin, who briefly served as interim U.S. Attorney for D.C., revealed that the case had landed squarely within his jurisdiction. This alone is significant: the U.S. Attorney for D.C. oversees not just local crimes but those involving federal lawmakers, executive agencies, and even national security issues.
His conclusion? The investigation had glaring gaps.
“They didn’t interview some of the people that you would have said, ‘That might be a suspect.’”
It wasn’t just a dropped lead—it was the kind of deliberate omission that raises the question of whether this was negligence or willful suppression.
“It feels worse than incompetence,” Martin said, echoing what many Americans suspect.
Martin suggested that under the new direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, the investigation has been reopened—this time with seriousness and breadth. According to Martin, agents have already been reassigned, and new leads are being actively pursued.
This marks a radical departure from the Biden-era DOJ, which seemingly shelved the case after superficial announcements, allowing public interest to fade while more politically convenient narratives took center stage.
The goal now, Martin insists, is simple: “Expose what happened.”
It’s not enough to suggest motivations. It’s not enough to blame “the system.” Accountability, he said, begins by laying out the truth—and letting it land where it may.
This incident matters for more than just security reasons. The DNC pipe bomb wasn’t just a criminal act; it was a high-stakes political event, discovered hours before the Capitol protest and often referenced in the same breath as a justification for ramped-up law enforcement presence. And yet, despite video footage, eyewitnesses, and security infrastructure in one of the most surveilled cities on Earth, no suspect has ever been apprehended.
Why?
That’s the question Martin is now asking publicly—and it’s one many Americans have been wondering privately.
The refusal to pursue the most basic steps in an investigation of this magnitude should alarm everyone, regardless of party. If it had been a right-leaning protester, would the case still be open? Or would the FBI have made a nationally televised arrest before sunrise?
Martin’s appointment is no coincidence. His work will unfold under the broader umbrella of Bondi’s “weaponization of government” initiative—an effort to uncover not just what the government did during the Trump years, but what it chose not to do, and why.
That includes a hard look at why some political violence gets magnified while other incidents—like this pipe bomb—get buried. It includes scrutinizing why local parents were investigated as terrorists, while a credible bombing attempt at a major party HQ is treated like a footnote.
