By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER (Associated Press)
A former government employee has been charged with regularly sending untrue information to the FBI, claiming that several of his co-workers in the intelligence community were involved in the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to court documents revealed on Friday.
Miguel Eugenio Zapata, 37, was arrested in Chantilly, Virginia, on Thursday for making false statements to law enforcement.
Zapata made at least seven anonymous reports to the FBI expressing that seven government employees and contractors took part in the Capitol riot, according to an FBI task force officer’s statement. FBI task force officer’s affidavit.
Court records don’t specify which government agency Zapata worked for, but the affidavit states that the Chantilly resident had previously worked with all seven individuals mentioned in the fake reports to the FBI. One of them had hired Zapata and served as his program manager.
“None of the seven government employees and contractors were in Washington, D.C., on January 6 or attacked the Capitol,” the affidavit states.
The reports had similar wording and were submitted from four different IP addresses. The affidavit states that Zapata used a company’s “web anonymizer” service to submit the reports.
The unknown company’s logs indicated that Zapata’s user account accessed the FBI’s report site, researched two of his targets, searched Google for the term “fbi mole,” and accessed the website of an Office of Inspector General for an intelligence agency, the affidavit states.
The document doesn’t specify a possible reason for providing false information.
Zapata’s initial report, submitted on Feb. 10, 2021, states that a former colleague was attempting to overthrow the U.S. government, promotes conspiracy theories and retaliates against colleagues with different political views, according to the affidavit.
Another report that month accused an intelligence agency contractor of sharing classified information with far-right extremist groups, such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, “to incite terror and violence.” Zapata worked with that individual from 2017 to 2019, the affidavit states.
The FBI verified that all seven people mentioned in the reports were working in Virginia when supporters of Donald Trump breached the Capitol, disrupting the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win.
An email requesting comment was sent to Zapata's lawyer.
Following the Jan. 6 uprising, the FBI received a large number of tips from acquaintances, relatives, and co-workers of suspected rioters. Over 1,300 individuals have been charged with involvement in the attack.
