CNN host busts Mike Johnson on air for Jan. 6 theory: 'It wasn't a false flag operation'

CNN host Jake Tapper pressed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) after he suggested that Jan. 6 rioters did not deserve to be indicted like former FBI Director James Comey.

"We have to ensure that the rule of law applies to everyone, and that's exactly what's happening here," Johnson told Tapper during a Sunday morning interview regarding the Comey indictment.

"Does the rule of law have to apply to people who stormed the Capitol on January 6th?" Tapper asked.

"Well, I'm glad you brought that up," Johnson replied. "There's new information over the last couple of days about that as well. Apparently, there were 274 FBI agents in the crowd on January 6th."

"No, no, no," Tapper interrupted. "[FBI Director] Kash Patel just brought enhanced understanding to that. They were sent there to do crowd control because of everything that was going on. It wasn't a false flag operation, as President Trump suggested."

"Well, Jake, wait a minute," Johnson remarked. "Hold on, Jake. How do you know that? Right? There's a lot of questions."

"Kash Patel said that," Tapper noted.

"I'm telling you that there's videos and it's always been disputed," Johnson deflected. "What involvement some of those persons engaged in? What involvement they had? Did they spur on the crowd? Did they open the gates to allow them in? I don't know. These are questions."

"The American people deserve full transparency," he added.

"I'm always in favor of full transparency, including for the Epstein files," Tapper responded.