Inside the FBI’s Paid Network of Jan. 6 Online Sleuths
Newly reviewed internal FBI documents reveal that the bureau paid more than $100,000 to members of a loose online network known as the “Sedition Hunters” to identify and analyze video evidence related to the January 6 Capitol riot and a separate investigation into alternate electors—despite internal concerns about bias, foreign involvement, and compliance with FBI informant rules.
The payments, first reported by Just the News, are expected to be disclosed to Congress by FBI Director Kash Patel. Officials familiar with the matter say the disclosures will include acknowledgments that the FBI’s use of certain Sedition Hunters as confidential human sources (CHSs) may have violated internal policies governing informant bias, secrecy, foreign influence, and contracting transparency under the bureau’s Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG).
Paid Civilian Sleuths and Facial Recognition
According to government officials and internal emails reviewed by Just the News, the FBI began engaging members of the Sedition Hunters in January 2021—just days after the Capitol riot—to help identify suspects by combing through publicly available photos and videos. Some members used facial recognition software to match individuals seen near or inside the Capitol with social media profiles and other images.
Documents indicate that at least $150,000 was paid for work related to the January 6 investigation and the FBI’s later “Arctic Frost” probe, which examined whether Trump supporters unlawfully promoted alternate electors during the certification of the 2020 election.
One early email from the FBI’s Washington Field Office acknowledged that a Sedition Hunter operating from the United Kingdom was using facial recognition software to identify potential suspects. The email noted that the UK-based individual had just produced a “possible match” minutes before contacting the bureau—raising questions about the use of foreign-based technology and personnel to identify American citizens for arrest.
Private Carriers, Public Power, and Informant Rules
The FBI’s reliance on Sedition Hunters came as the bureau faced an unprecedented volume of digital evidence. NPR, Bloomberg, and NBC News reported throughout 2021 and 2022 that volunteer online investigators—many outside the United States—had taken it upon themselves to catalogue and analyze January 6 footage using increasingly sophisticated tools.
However, internal FBI rules require heightened scrutiny when informants display strong political motivations, have foreign ties, or publicly disclose their cooperation with law enforcement. In this case, multiple Sedition Hunters openly discussed their work assisting the FBI on social media and on their own website—conduct that mirrors past violations that led the bureau to terminate informant relationships, most notably with former MI6 officer Christopher Steele during the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
In a statement to Just the News, Director Kash Patel said he was troubled by the arrangement.
“Paying openly anti-Trump activists to identify Americans using questionable technology is a stunning abuse of bureau authorities and a clear violation of longstanding informant rules,” Patel said, adding that the FBI would fully disclose the payments to Congress and develop safeguards to prevent similar entanglements in the future.
Jack Smith Approval and Arctic Frost
Documents reviewed by Just the News also show that a $20,000 payment to a Sedition Hunter in 2023—related to the Arctic Frost investigation—was approved by a senior deputy to then-Special Counsel Jack Smith. The payment was authorized after consultations involving Smith and his top aides, according to internal FBI communications.
The Sedition Hunter in question was tasked with finding video evidence linking attendees of President Trump’s January 6 speech at the Ellipse to the later riot at the Capitol—footage prosecutors hoped could help establish a broader conspiracy theory, despite Trump never entering the Capitol himself.
Foreign Participants and Global Reach
Public reporting from NPR, Bloomberg, and NBC News confirms that several prominent Sedition Hunters operated from outside the United States, including individuals based in Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Canada.
Some built widely used databases such as jan6attack.com and jan6archive.com, while others created facial recognition tools and interactive maps. IEEE Spectrum later reported that FBI filings cited Sedition Hunters or their platforms in at least 63 court documents.
While some participants insist they acted out of idealism and deny direct contact with the FBI or receipt of payments, court filings and internal memos indicate that at least one Sedition Hunter leader served as a paid confidential human source across multiple cases.
Echoes of Past Controversies
The revelations are likely to revive longstanding concerns among lawmakers about the FBI’s use of politically motivated or foreign-connected informants—concerns that trace back to Crossfire Hurricane, when the bureau relied on Christopher Steele despite his foreign status, partisan funding, and public disclosures.
Officials say supervisors involved in approving the Sedition Hunter payments have since been fired, though the FBI is conducting a broader audit to ensure no additional violations occurred.
Unanswered Questions
What remains unresolved is whether the Sedition Hunters functioned as informants, contractors, or de facto outsourced analysts—and whether the FBI blurred those lines in ways that undermined due process, transparency, or public trust.
As Congress prepares to examine the payments and approval chain, the controversy raises a larger question: where does citizen-driven open-source investigation end, and where does government surveillance—especially when aided by foreign actors—begin?
DailyClout will continue to track congressional inquiries and document disclosures as more details emerge.