Recently unveiled court documents allege that a man from Virginia admitted to placing pipe bombs near the headquarters of both the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., just a day before the January 6 Capitol riot. Federal prosecutors claim the man confessed to this act to voice support for those denying the results of the 2020 election. Now, his lawyers argue that the case is being unnecessarily delayed.

In a 15-page motion for discovery filed on Monday, attorneys for Brian Cole Jr. demand that the government provides all evidence against him immediately. This includes any “statements, confessions, or admissions” made by Cole.

Cole’s legal team asserts that the Justice Department is attempting to postpone his preliminary hearing to January 7 or 8 without offering a solid justification, aside from typical scheduling issues and the potential for a new indictment, as per court filings.

In a motion submitted late Sunday, Cole’s lawyers argue that the request for delay is untimely. They point out that the government has not cited any exceptional reasons in their communication with the defense.

Cole’s attorneys are urging the court to require the government to be ready to present evidence supporting probable cause during Tuesday’s preliminary hearing, should it proceed as planned. Although Cole has agreed to reschedule the hearing for Tuesday, his lawyers emphasize that he has not agreed to any further postponements.

“Dec. 30 is the proper, timely date for the preliminary hearing,” Cole’s team says. “The government’s desire to accommodate ordinary scheduling or the pace of a grand jury is not a lawful basis to continue the hearing for which it has had more than three weeks to prepare.”

Cole, 30, of Woodbridge, was arrested and charged in the District of Columbia earlier this month with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce with the intent to kill, injure, or intimidate any individual or unlawfully to damage or destroy any building, vehicle, or other real or personal property. He was also charged with attempted malicious destruction by means of fire and explosive materials.

According to federal prosecutors, Cole drove his Nissan Sentra to Washington, D.C., by himself on Jan. 5, 2021, to plant at least two pipe bombs downtown “in the immediate vicinity” of the RNC and DNC headquarters. The improvised explosive devices had 60-minute timers, but failed to detonate. Cole allegedly said he planted them at night “because he did not want to kill people,” according to the DOJ.

Federal prosecutors say Cole learned how to make the bombs by playing video games. He allegedly admitted that he is a Trump supporter but does not like “either party” and wanted to go after the RNC and DNC because he was sick of election deniers being called “conspiracy theorists” and other “bad” things.

“The defendant felt that ‘the people up top,’ including ‘people on both sides, public figures,’ should not ‘ignore[e] people’s grievances’ or call them ‘conspiracy theorists,’ ‘bad people,’ ‘Nazis,’ or ‘fascists,” according to a DOJ memorandum that was filed Sunday in support of pretrial detention.

“Instead, ‘if people feel that their votes are like just being thrown away, then . . . at the very least someone should address it,’” Cole allegedly told federal investigators. “He explained that ‘something just snapped’ after ‘watching everything, just everything getting worse.’”

The DOJ says Cole’s pipe bombs were not discovered until approximately 1 p.m. on Jan. 6. “The FBI explosives examiner assessed that the pipe bombs were constructed using all the components necessary to explode and that they were viable explosive devices,” prosecutors say in the pretrial detention filing.

Cole initially claimed he traveled to D.C. to show his support for Trump in the Jan. 6 protests and riots before allegedly admitting he went to plant the bombs ahead of the demonstrations and Capitol attack. “I didn’t agree with what people were doing, like just telling half the country that they – that their [votes] – that they just need to ignore it,” Cole allegedly told federal investigators. “In the defendant’s view, if people ‘feel that, you know, something as important as voting in the federal election is being tampered with, is being, you know, being – you know, relegated null and void, then, like, someone needs to speak up, right? Someone up top.”

Cole explained that the idea to use pipe bombs came from his interest in history, specifically the “Troubles in Ireland,” according to prosecutors. He allegedly denied that his actions were aimed at Congress or related to Jan. 6.

“After planting the devices, the defendant returned to his car, left the city, picked up food from a restaurant in Virginia, and returned home,” the DOJ filing says. “After seeing himself on the news, the defendant stated that he discarded all the bomb-making materials he had at a nearby dump.”

Cole was arrested at his home in Woodbridge on Dec. 4 following a federal investigation.