Krystal Ball wants to know why all those FBI informants didn't stop January 6

On Monday I did a post about the New York Times report that the FBI had as many as eight informants embedded within the Proud Boys around January 6. The way the Times phrased it, the news raised questions about “how much federal investigators were able to learn from them before and after it took place.” That sounds like it should read, “how much the Proud Boys were able to learn from the FBI informants.” I got heavy “Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping” vibes from the piece. What was the ratio of informants to actual Proud Boys? Plus, the FBI had informants embedded with the Oath Keepers as well. Last September, the New York Times reported that the FBI had at least one informant marching with the Proud Boys on January 6.