The government's case against the man charged with planting pipe bombs before January 6 is falling apart, which is bad for the FBI and the Trump appointees who announced the arrest.

• Brian Cole Jr., a young Black man from Virginia whose lawyers say he is autistic, doesn't match the person on the security video, who walks with a limp and wears sunglasses he can't use because of a serious eye condition.
• His shoe size is three sizes bigger than the shoes the bomber wore, and he claims to have thrown those shoes out years before that model existed.
• The confession came after hours of denials and only once agents threatened to haul in his family, a known trap for pulling false admissions from people with disabilities.
• Journalist Steve Baker and former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin point to a different suspect, and say the bureau had Cole's phone and car records within weeks of the attack and ruled him out at the time.
• Capitol police found the second bomb in under 12 minutes after checking just two spots, then stopped searching, which suggests someone knew where to look.

Outlook: Prosecutors keep stacking charges to push a plea deal, but the family is fighting, so expect more embarrassing revelations and pressure to drop the case.