When federal agents asked Houston police Officer Tam Dinh Pham why he was in Washington during the pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month, he said he had traveled there on business and then attended the president’s rally on a whim. But most importantly, Pham told the agents, he did not go inside the Capitol during the attempted insurrection.
That’s when an FBI agent showed him his own deleted images and videos from inside the Rotunda on Jan. 6, according to court documents.
Faced with the photo evidence, Pham then allegedly admitted to climbing over torn-down fences to get inside. But still, he insisted his reasons were benign: He just wanted the rare opportunity to view “historical art,” investigators said.