DC pipe bomb suspect voted for Trump twice, attorney says
Brian Cole Jr.
WASHINGTON - For the first time, lawyers representing accused pipe bomber Brian Cole, Jr., are speaking out on behalf of their client.
In a wide-ranging interview, FOX 5 learned more about Cole’s political beliefs — specifically, that he voted for President Donald Trump twice — and his attorney's plan to argue that Trump’s Jan. 6 pardon applies to Cole.
What they're saying:
Cole's lawyer, Mario Williams, says Cole voted for Trump twice before he was arrested and charged with interstate transportation of explosive devices and malicious attempt to use explosive devices in December.
Williams also says he believes the president's pardon for all Jan. 6 defendants applies to Cole.
Cole's lawyers plan to make a filing with the court soon, laying out their argument that the pardon applies.
"For purposes of the pardon, I absolutely agree with it," Williams said. "I think you have to employ some kind of common sense as applied to the allegations. So, if the allegations are that he went out there and he set down these components and that they were found on Jan. 6, the judge says that it's a part of Jan. 6 apart and says that you were allowed to get a pardon for everything related to the events that occurred on or at the Capitol building on Jan. 6."
Williams said he believes his client should get a pardon — "100%."
Dig deeper:
The text of Trump's pardon is broad. It says the president can, "grant a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021."
The government says Cole confessed to making the homemade devices and walked investigators through how he built them before driving to Washington, D.C. and placing them outside the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention headquarters the night before Congress certified Joe Biden's victory.
When the government put details of what they call Cole's confession in a public filing, Cole's lawyers demanded to see the evidence.
Williams says he has now watched footage of Cole's interview after his arrest. He says the statements that are in the government's filing are missing context, and at some point, the government is making affirmative false statements.
When asked if he felt the government was directly lying about his client, Williams said, "I believe the manner in which the government made those statements is incorrect and acontextual, and in some instances, absolutely false."
"Some of the representations that the government made, in our opinion, are false," he went on to say.
The backstory:
Cole was arrested in early December 2025 and is accused of placing two pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Both devices were discovered before they were detonated.
Prosecutors say Cole confessed to placing the devices outside the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters just hours before a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol. They say he told investigators he hoped the explosives would detonate and "hoped there would be news about it."
After his arrest, Cole told investigators he believed someone needed to "speak up" for people who thought the 2020 election was stolen and that he targeted both political parties because they were "in charge," according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors say Cole continued buying bomb‑making components for months after Jan. 6.
Investigators used credit card records, cellphone tower data and a license plate reader to identify Cole, according to an FBI affidavit.