Ashan M. Benedict, a senior Capitol Police official once with the ATF, has quietly retired amid allegations he blocked testimony from officers who found a Jan. 6 pipe bomb near the DNC building, and the move has renewed Republican demands for a straight, sworn accounting of what happened that day. Evidence reviewed by investigators raised questions about how the device was found, why other searches were not conducted, and why key cameras were turned away, prompting calls for FBI involvement and transcribed interviews under oath. This article lays out the timeline, the disputed actions by officers under Benedict’s command, and the ongoing demand for answers.
Benedict left the Capitol Police after less than two years on staff, surprising people inside the department since his contract was due to end at month’s close. He had come to the force from the ATF, where he led the agency’s response to the same Jan. 6 pipe-bomb threat and later served in roles overseeing counter-surveillance and training. His abrupt exit follows reporting that raised fresh doubts about the discovery and handling of the DNC device.
Video and witness accounts show plainclothes counter-surveillance officers walking past the device and checking another nearby location tied to the suspect before one of them returned and found the bomb. The discovery occurred without visible crowd control, and nearby cameras were reportedly turned away at critical moments, leaving gaps in the public record of what happened. That sequence has left lawmakers demanding clearer answers.
Rep. Thomas Massie has been outspoken, laying out his growing suspicion from the evidence and interviews he’s seen. “I went from 90% certain that some Capitol Police were involved in the Jan. 6 pipe bomb to 95% certain, and now I’m at 99% certain after this new story,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) told Blaze News last week in an interview with Steve Baker broadcast on Matt Kibbe’s “Free the People” podcast and posted to X. “I’m doing this on probability. The probability may even be higher than that.”
After the discovery, three separate two-man counter-surveillance teams were reportedly dispatched to check for other devices, yet footage shows the pair who found the DNC bomb did not search broadly or continue looking once the device was located. Massie says the officers simply moved on, a detail that has raised red flags about protocol and intent. ‘They never looked for a third or fourth or fifth pipe bomb.’
When Massie tried to interview the officers, cooperation was limited and the encounters were tightly controlled, he says. “So they came over to my office, but not ‘backpack guy,’” Massie said. “’Man-bun guy’ came over, and he had a handler, who would often interrupt and answer questions for him.” That handler was Benedict, according to Massie, and the congressman describes repeated interruptions that stifled direct answers.
Massie showed the officers video that undercuts the official description of a cautious, safety-first response. “Look, there’s pedestrians still walking around, and this is allegedly a pipe bomb,” Massie said. “And that’s when his handler [Benedict] stepped in and said, ‘Well, you don’t want to alarm people when you have a lot of crowds. You know, when you find a bomb or something, you can’t yell, ‘Bomb!’ You gotta just play it cool.’” That explanation did not satisfy him, given the lack of nearby crowds and continued train traffic.
During the interview, Massie pressed for why the search for additional devices stopped after the second bomb was found. “So then you obviously went looking for another pipe bomb, right?” Massie recalled. “You found two of them within 30 minutes. You must believe the whole place is riddled with them if you’re finding them this quickly.
“I actually knew part of the answer. I watched the video of where he went after,” Massie said. “They just kind of wander off. Their job was done. They had found the second pipe bomb. They never looked for a third or fourth or fifth pipe bomb, and they didn’t have an answer to me for why the search for pipe bombs was over once they found the second pipe bomb. No answer. Weirdest meeting in the world.”
Massie continues to press for sworn, transcribed interviews with both officers and Benedict, arguing that informal conversations won’t resolve lingering questions. “Those need to be transcribed interviews. They need to be sworn in. I feel very strongly about that,” he said. “But the reality is the FBI should be doing these things.” Republicans on oversight panels are echoing that call for a federal probe with real teeth.
Committee reports have noted the presence of multiple counter-surveillance teams that day, but they have not resolved why the pairs who found the bombs behaved as they did or why camera coverage failed at key moments. Massie asked pointedly, “How did they know exactly where to look, including the place [Congressional Black Caucus Institute bush] where the pipe bomber tried to place a bomb?” The answer remains incomplete, and the appearance of a conflict of interest has fueled suspicion.
Two officers identified in reporting remain with the Capitol Police in intelligence and liaison roles, and the man who discovered the device now serves as a liaison to the FBI, the agency charged with the broader investigation. Benedict’s retirement is the latest development in a string of disclosures that have Republicans demanding accountability and transparency. Requests for comment went unanswered before Benedict’s departure was announced.
