Joe Rogan suggested that the January 6 Capitol riot might have been orchestrated by US government intelligence agencies to bring down former President Donald Trump.

Rogan claimed that it’s a common tactic for the government to use agent provocateurs to disrupt peaceful protests, and he referred to the theory that a man named Ray Epps, who was seen in videos breaching the Capitol grounds, could have been a federal agent.

“The Jan. 6 thing is bad, but also, the intelligence agencies were involved in provoking people into the Capitol building. That’s a fact,” the controversial podcaster said during a nearly three-hour episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience”.

“I think that every other person who was involved in Jan. 6 — who was involved in coordinating a break-in into the Capitol and then instigating people — they were all arrested. This guy wasn’t,” Rogan said of Epps, who filed a defamation suit against Fox News for a series of on-air claims that he instigated the insurrection.

“Well, he clearly instigated,” Rogan said. “He did it on camera.”

Rogan pointed out that while many others involved in coordinating the break-in were arrested, Epps was not.

He mentioned a video where Epps, wearing a MAGA hat, appeared to encourage fellow Trump supporters to enter the Capitol, leading to speculation about his role.

The comedian Jim Gaffigan, a skeptical guest on the show, questioned Rogan’s theory, but Rogan maintained that using agent provocateurs to turn peaceful protests into violent ones is a standard tactic employed by US intelligence agencies.

He also raised concerns about Trump’s open opposition to intelligence agencies, suggesting that such actions might have been viewed as dangerous by those agencies. However, Gaffigan disagreed with this perspective. Despite the controversy surrounding Rogan’s statements, they reflect ongoing discussions and speculations about the events of January 6 and their underlying causes.