Biden FBI put Texas Catholic school teacher on J6 'watchlist' after false tip from 'former friend'

In documents released by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Tuesday, the fifth anniversary of January 6, it was revealed that the Biden administration’s FBI placed a Texas Catholic school teacher on a watchlist after being in DC on January 6, 2021, based on an unverified tip.

The FBI received a tip in the days following January 6 who identified themself as a "former friend," claiming to have recognized Christine Crowder, a Texas Catholic school teacher and the wife of senior federal air marshal Mark Crowder, from news footage taken on January 6 at the Capitol.

The FBI opened a full investigation into Crowder later that year, recommending "watchlisting and selectee status" for Crowder. They alleged, based on the tip, that she "participated in the illegal entry into the United States Capitol, with the intent of interrupting the congressional proceeding. These actions resulted in the death of a Federal law enforcement officer, injuries of multiple officers, and damage to the United States Capitol."

The FBI conducted physical surveillance of Crowder at least four times between 2021 and 2022 and kept tabs on her travel throughout the United States on aircraft. The FBI also combed through surveillance footage of the day, writing out a timeline in which Crowder was alleged to have been inside the Capitol. 

The US Attorney’s Office said in July 2022 that it was accepting the case for prosecution, urging that a social media analysis be conducted. The FBI conducted a search warrant for Crowder’s Facebook account on October 27, 2022 through Facebook’s Law Enforcement Portal.  

Crowder was interviewed by the FBI in May of 2023, in which she told agents that she attended Trump’s speech at the Ellipse that morning. She attempted to get into contact with her friends following the speech but was unsuccessful, and ducked into a Starbucks to charge her phone, where she began feeling tired and got a headache. She decided to call a Lyft passenger car, which dropped her off near Touchstone Gallery on New York Ave at around 2:30 pm and walked into her hotel. A receipt from Lyft confirmed her story. 

An FBI internal document from June 2023 announcing a closure of the investigation read, "FBI Houston opened a Full Investigation on Christine Janet Crowder based on an anonymous tip provided by a tipster. The tipster provided the following, 'We were aware of one of our former friends who was supposedly onsite during the Capitol invasion. I recently reviewed a video [redacted] where is appears that Christine Crowder [redacted] is existing [sic] the Capitol at :25 into the video. On Christines FB profile, there is a link to the event on Jan6th as well as a profile pic showing her with the same hat and sunglasses.'"

The document stated that the FBI "found no evidence that Crowder definitely entered the Capitol building. Review of the video footage both inside and outside the Capitol did not positively identify Crowder. A geofence query was performed on captioned subject’s known cellphone number which returned a negative result for being inside the Capitol grounds." They said that a face search returned "a result of possible misidentification of the subject," and that the clothing worn by Crowder that day "was inconsistent with the images provided in the original tip."

The FBI interviewed Crowder at her home, who provided authorities with photos and video of her activities in DC on that day, and "Crowder advised that she was indeed in DC on January 6th, but never stepped on to the Capitol grounds." The timestamps of the videos and photos she provided showed she was elsewhere in DC at the times she was said to have been in the Capitol. 

"In light of this new evidence, writer recommends closing captioned matter." 

FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement, "This case is an example of misplaced priorities and everything that went wrong with federal law enforcement in the aftermath of January 6. When a Catholic kindergarten teacher from Texas can be surveilled for more than two years simply for being in Washington, D.C., without entering the Capitol, without committing a crime, we have crossed from legitimate investigation into political overreach. That is not equal justice under the law. Senator Paul is right to demand accountability, transparency, and an end to investigations that target Americans for their beliefs or proximity rather than evidence."

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said, "In June, I ended Quiet Skies and called for a Congressional investigation to unearth further corruption at the expense of the American people and the undermining of US national security. It is clear that the Quiet Skies program was used as a political rolodex of the Biden Administration—weaponized against its political foes and exploited to benefit their well-heeled friends. The Trump Administration is returning TSA to its true mission of being laser-focused on the safety and security of the traveling public."