Ryan Lucas

What evidence do the prosecutors have that allegedly ties coal to these pipe bombs?

Well, an FBI affidavit says that records of financial transactions show that Cole bought items that were the same as the components used to build the pipe bombs that were found.

So galvanized pipes, end caps used to close the ends of the pipe bombs, steel wool, the same kind of white kitchen timers and red-black electrical wires.

There's also cell phone location data that shows that Cole's cell phone was pinging cell towers in the area where the pipe bombs were left on the night that they were placed there.

And then the affidavit says that a license plate leader picked up Cole's car getting off the interstate near the Capitol on the evening of January 5th, just a half hour or so before the bombs were put in place.

Well, those really are the million-dollar questions, and unfortunately, no.

At this point, we don't

no answers to those.

Ironically, one of the conspiracy theories that was out there, that the pipe bombs were an inside job by the FBI, that was pushed by Dan Bongino when he was a podcaster.

Dan Bongino is now the deputy director of the FBI, and he got a lot of credit yesterday for this arrest.

Now, Cole is expected to appear in court here in D.C.

later today, and answers to a lot of these outstanding questions are most likely to come in court over the weeks and months to come as the Justice Department prosecutes this case.

Thank you.

Court papers identify the defendant as Mohamed Alokozai.

The FBI received a tip from Texas law enforcement about a video making the rounds on TikTok X and Facebook.

Court papers say a man seen in the video claimed that he wanted to conduct a suicide attack against the other participants of the video call and that he wanted to build a bomb in his vehicle.

The FBI used facial recognition technology to identify the man in the video as Alokozai, leading to his arrest.

Court papers say Alokozai later told investigators that he made the statements in the video and he is now charged with transmitting threats.

Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.

Joaquin Guzman-Lopez pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and continuing criminal enterprise charges.