Defense attorneys for the man accused of being the 2021 D.C. pipe bomber want to block prosecutors from using statements he made during an FBI interrogation last year, saying the autistic man was “broken” by agents who pressured him into a confession after repeated denials.
In a 42-page court filing, Brian Cole Jr.’s lawyers described what they called “his deteriorating mental state” as federal agents pressured him to confess during a December 2025 interrogation and threatened to “drag” his family through a similar experience.
Pointing to a transcript of the interrogation, defense lawyers recounted that Cole told agents: “I did not place the devices. I did not place them … I’m maintaining my innocence … I didn’t, I didn’t place the bombs … How am I supposed to explain that I’m innocent?”
Cole explained to agents that he’s “super introversive” and has “trouble even maintaining a conversation like this” — a character trait that could be particularly acute for someone with autism — but agents pressed on, his lawyers say.
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“Lying to federal agents is breaking the law. That’s another crime … so more lies just makes it worse, okay?” one agent said, according to the filing. “No, look at me. Do you understand that?”
John Glover, one of five defense lawyers listed in the court filing, is asking for an evidentiary hearing to discuss their motion to keep the Justice Department from using Cole’s interview with investigators.
Lawyers wrote: “Alone in the interrogation room, shivering while wrapped in the blanket, he chanted to himself: ‘I didn’t, I didn’t, I didn’t, I didn’t. … [E]ven a small chance … Even a small, tiny chance. Smallest, tiniest chances. … Do whatever you can to clear your name. You can get out of this.’”
“This was ‘stimming’ — the self-regulating repetition characteristic of an autistic person in acute physical and emotional distress,” lawyers wrote.
The DOJ accuses Cole of being the mysterious, masked person wearing a hoodie who is seen on camera the night before MAGA protesters descended on the nation’s capital Jan. 6, when pipe bombs were discovered outside the headquarters of both the Democratic and Republican national committees.
When Cole was asked repeatedly whether he recognized the person in the footage of the D.C. pipe bomber — initially saying no, then finally switching to yes — agents congratulated him on being “brave,” the filing states.
“It’s over. Take a breath. Take a breath. It’s over. Let your mind breathe, okay? ... Cry, do whatever you have. It’s over. It’s over, okay? We can resolve this case,” agents said, according to snippets of the transcript included in the court filing.
Cole’s trial is tentatively set to begin in February before U.S. District Judge Amir Ali. He initially was indicted on charges of interstate transportation of explosives and malicious attempt to use explosives, but a second, superseding indictment, charged him with attempting to use weapons of mass destruction and violating a local D.C. code by engaging in an act of terrorism.
FBI investigators were stumped for years and made little progress in the case, and their inaction fueled conspiracy theories that pointed to a former Capitol Police officer and others — including then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
Dan Bongino, a conservative podcaster who fed into those theories by proclaiming that the pipe bomb placement was an “inside job” and that the government was engaged in a “massive cover-up,” was selected as the second Trump administration’s No. 2 at the FBI, where he made the investigation a top priority and claimed to closely monitor its progress.
Agents scrapped the previous approach and took a closer look at purchases near D.C. of items that matched the pipe bombs — including galvanized pipes at two different Home Depot stores and white kitchen timers at a Walmart.
They announced a breakthrough on Dec. 4, hours after arresting Cole, and Bongino quickly distanced himself from previous far-fetched theories about the suspect.
However, Cole’s defense lawyers are currently seeking to further probe evidence related to the people who had previously come under public scrutiny. For example, his lawyers have subpoenaed former U.S. Capitol Police officer Shauni Kerkhoff, who sued the right-wing media outlet The Blaze for defamation — noting in court documents that “the FBI interviewed her and administered a polygraph examination that asked her, twice and directly, whether she placed the pipe bombs. She failed it.”
A recent joint status report filed in court by prosecutors and Cole’s defense team pointed out that the government has already turned over information about a “gait-analysis” conducted by a forensic podiatrist named Dr. Michael Nirenberg that reviewed video footage of the pipe bomber.
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