Court documents filed in the prosecution of Brian Cole Jr. for the January 6 pipe bomb incidents disclose that the FBI investigated former U.S. Capitol Police officer Shauni Kerkhoff as a person of interest. Kerkhoff, who later joined the CIA as a security guard, was interviewed on November 6, 2025, and submitted to a polygraph examination in which she was directly asked if she placed the devices. The defense motion claims she failed the test, with the examiner noting a "very controlled reaction" and "seemingly rehearsed responses." The FBI briefly pursued her before closing the case against her. This development, first highlighted through gait analysis reporting by The Blaze that was later retracted, has sparked renewed scrutiny. Rep. Thomas Massie has publicly referenced the polygraph failure, leading to a public dispute with former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who has criticized such reporting as inaccurate and misleading while defending the integrity of the investigation that led to Cole's arrest. The pipe bombs were placed on January 5, 2021, outside DNC and RNC headquarters and remain one of the more puzzling unresolved aspects of the January 6 events, with official accounts framing them as part of the broader unrest but without a fully transparent resolution on the perpetrator until Cole's charging. The involvement of a Capitol Police officer who transitioned to the CIA adds layers of institutional overlap that challenge narratives of purely organic protest violence. Mainstream coverage acknowledges the court filings while noting the defense strategy aims to cast doubt on the primary suspect.