Authored by Ken Silva via HeadlineUSA,

Remember Ray Epps, the J6er who encouraged others to go into the Capitol and committed violence against police officers, only to receive a year of probation for his crimes?

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., hasn’t forgotten. Massie announced on Friday that he wrote a letter to the FBI about Epps last month, seeking answers about its investigation into him.

Massie asked why the FBI initially closed its investigation into Epps by July 2021, despite having an abundance of evidence about him.

According to FBI records, agents had “photographic/and or video evidence that James Ray Epps conspired to and/or recruited others to storm the United States Capitol Building.”

However, a July 29, 2021, FBI report said that its “investigation did not reveal sufficient evidence that Epps … engaged in acts of violence or committed any other criminal violations.” That’s despite the fact that video had already surfaced showing him pushing a sign into a group of police officers, and that Epps had admitted to trespassing on Capitol grounds.

The Justice Department apparently reopened the Epps case after Massie, Revolver News and other conservatives began to question whether he was being protected by government. The DOJ eventually slapped him with a lone misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, and he received one year of probation in January 2024.

“This disparate treatment is particularly troubling when contrasted with the cases of most January 6 defendants,” Massie said in his recent letter to FBI Director Kashyap Patel. “Moreover, it raises the broader question of whether other defendants were similarly spared prosecution under comparable circumstances.”

Massie seeks all internal communications between FBI Headquarters and its Phoenix field office, which initially investigated Epps. He also seeks all communications between the FBI and DOJ about him.

Additionally, Massie wants to know whether the DOJ or any of its components, including the FBI, had any communication with Epps prior to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest. Such communications might indicate whether Epps was working for the government at the time.

Massie sought answers by Oct. 10. It’s unclear whether the FBI ever responded to the congressman’s letter, which is dated Oct. 3.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.