Pentagon hires man who pleaded guilty in Jan. 6 riot for sensitive civilian job

Politics Pentagon hires man who pleaded guilty in Jan. 6 riot for sensitive civilian job in special operations policy office By Eleanor Watson, Eleanor Watson CBS News Reporter Eleanor Watson is a CBS News multi-platform reporter and producer covering the Pentagon. Read Full Bio Eleanor Watson, Joe Walsh Joe Walsh Senior Editor, Politics Joe Walsh is a senior editor for digital politics at CBS News. Joe previously covered breaking news for Forbes and local news in Boston. Read Full Bio Joe Walsh June 4, 2026 / 6:18 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google A man who pleaded guilty to participating in the Jan. 6 riot as a 19-year-old — and later described the events of that day as a "disgrace" — works in a sensitive job in the Defense Department, a defense official confirmed to CBS News. Elias Irizarry serves as a special assistant to Assistant Secretary of Defense Derrick Anderson, who leads the military's Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict policy office, a division that oversees special operations and irregular warfare capabilities, the official said. As part of that role, Irizarry has a top-secret security clearance. He has worked as an employee at the Defense Department since early last year.Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez confirmed that Irizarry works for the department, writing on X: "Mr. Elias Irizarry is a qualified, patriotic young professional, and we are proud to have him as a political appointee at the Department of War."CBS News has reached out to Irizarry's attorney for comment.The Washington Post was first to report on Irizarry's job at the Pentagon.In early January 2021, federal prosecutors said Irizarry — then a student at the Citadel Military College of South Carolina — traveled to Washington with a friend and an internet acquaintance, attended President Trump's "stop the steal" rally on Jan. 6 and marched to the Capitol. An image of Elias Irizarry on Jan. 6, 2021, that appears in a Justice Dep...