They dont seem to be Wearing Masks or separated from each good morning everybody and thank you for joining us at our second Virtual Press conference. I am joined by fbi director chris wray and we are here to discuss developments in the fbi investigation of the shooting at the Pensacola Naval air station that killed three u. S. Sailors and wounded eight other americans. Four months ago i announced this shooting was an act of terrorism. I also publicly asked apple to help us access the locked contents of the two iphones belonging to the terrorist who was killed. It was clear at the time that the phones were likely to contain very important information. He attempted to destroy both phones going so far as to disengage from the gunfight long enough to fire a bullet into one of the phones. Within one day of the shooting the fbi saw it and obtained court orders supported by probable cause authorizing the bureau to search the contents of both phones as part of the investigation. The problem was the phones were locked and the fbi did not have the passwords so they needed help to get in. We asked apple for assistance in the president asked apple for assistance. Unfortunately, apple would not help us unlock the phones. Apple had deliberately designed them so that only the user, in this case the terrorist, could gain access to the contents. Announcem pleased to that thanks to the relentless efforts and ingenuity of fbi technicians the fbi finally succeeded in unlocking alshamranis phone. They contained information previously unknown to us that definitively establishes his ties to the arabiancer peninsula. We have a clearer understanding of his associations and activities in the years, months, and days leading up to the attack. Phonesormation from the has already proved invaluable in protecting the American People. Operationerrorism operative, one of the overseas associates, was recently conducted in yemen. We will not hesitate to act against those who harm americans. I would like to turn the podium over to director wray who will provide further information and an update on the fbis investigation. Thank you. I deeply appreciate your leadership for the fbi both in our relentless fight against terrorism and our drive to obtain vital evidence we need to protect the American People. Today because of a tragic reminder on how grave, how imminent, the terrorism threat still is. Murder of three people and wounding of eight , as then america attorney general described, through skill and determination the men and women of the fbi have succeeded in accessing the two phones both of which he tried to destroy. Our investigation into decembers terrorist attack into pensacola continues. There are limits on what i can say today but this is an important moment in an important case. It is important because of what accessing the evidence of this killers phone allows us to do to protect the American People. In just a short time we finally accessed the evidence we and our partners have already put to good use. Among other steps we have taken you heard the attorney general describe the recent counterterrorism operation. We are targeting one of the overseas operatives that alshamrani associated with while here in the United States. It is also important because it underlines how serious our fight against terrorism is and how vital it is for the fbi to maintain its unflagging vigilance against the threat. The evidence we have been able to develop from the killers devices show the pensacola attack was actually the brutal culmination of years of planning and preparation by a long time a qap associate. It shows alshamrani radicalized net after training here, but as far back as 2015 and he had been connecting and dissociating with a number of dangerous operatives ever since. It shows that allison ronnie alshamrania desire described a desire to learn how to fly to carry out what he called a special operation. He pressed plans forward joining the air force and bringing it here to america. Thanks to a lot of hard work by our people. We know that he continued to associate with operatives even while living in texas and florida. In the months before the attack, while he was among us, he talked with aqap about his plans and tactics taking advantage of the information he acquired here to assess how many people he could try to kill. He was meticulous in his planning. Videos as aet cam case to the building. He wrote a final will to explain himself and saved in his phone. Qapexact same will that a released when they claimed responsibility. He was not just cordon it in with them he was helping the organization make the most it could out of his murders. He continued to confer with his associates right up until the end, the very night before he started shooting. We are still exploiting the evidence and are continuing to run our investigation now with the benefit of a lot more insight into the murderers mind and intentions, his relations with aqap, and his tactics. We have more to learn but we know enough now to see alshamrani for what he was. A determined terrorist who spent years preparing to attack us. Him wehave a picture of did not have before we obtained this evidence, before we could confirm his connection to aqap was real. Before we could track his long and methodical path of violence. A picture we would never have obtained without accessing his devices. Case is a potent reminder for anyone who needed one of the stakes of our work. We protect the American People from a staggering range of threats, but make no mistakes, securing the homeland against terrorism remains our top priority. The men and women of the fbi are deployed aroundtheclock all over the country and around the world identifying and disrupting threats and pursuing those who would do us harm. At the fbi we remain laser focused on the terrorism threat not just because of how much damage and cause our country, but because we know that even as we speak, there are evolving and sophisticated groups around the world intent on striking us. Whether core al qaeda or offshoots like aqap or isis or the many others, we are working with partners to find and disrupt them wherever they are, whether they are plotting attacks here at home or abroad. Our people are attacking every aspect of the threat. International like we are talking about today and domestic with dedication and expertise, innovation to more than match the evolving threat, and a commitment to getting the job done right. On the topic of innovation i want to thank and congratulate the men and women of the fbi who devoted months of hard work to accessing these devices. They successfully tackled a problem that required tenacity, creativity, and technical expertise. Those qualities are valuable in any organization so i know how fortunate we are, and the American People are, that we have so many people with those qualities at the fbi. That is why we work to recruit the kinds of people we do. The magnitude of the challenge they faced is hard to overstate. Effectively, no help from apple. We canvassed every partner and company that might have had a solution to access these phones. None did despite what some claimed in the media. So, we did it ourselves. Unfortunately, the technique we developed is not a fix for the broader apple problem. It is a pretty limited application, but has made a huge difference in this investigation. While we are thinking the fbis computer scientist, engineers, and other workers we should also be thinking about the cost of that work. Swampedervants already with important things to do to protect the American People, toiling through a pandemic and the risk and hardship that entails, had to spend all that time just to access evidence we had Court Authorized Search warrants four months ago. Our engineers and computer scientists working to access these phones were also needed on other pressing National Security and criminal investigations. The delay from getting into these devices did not just divert personnel from other important work it also hampered this investigation. Finally getting our hands on the evidence alshamrani tried to keep from us is great, but we really needed it months ago back in december when the court issued its warrants. Attackaftermath of the we and our joint Task Force Partners worked urgently to collect and analyze evidence. In the weeks immediately following december 6 we conducted over 500 interviews of witnesses, personnel, and the shooters friends, classmates, and associates among lots of other efforts. Because the crucial evidence on the killers phones was kept from us we did all that investigating not knowing what we know now. Valuable intelligence about what to ask, what to look for. If we had our all hands on deck effort, this would have been more productive. Months after the attack anyone he spoke to hear or abroad has concotnths to stories and destroy evidence. There is a lot we could not do at this point we could have done months ago. You will hear more from the attorney general in a moment on how vital lawful access is to every part of our Law Enforcement and National Security missions. Cybercrime, opioid trafficking, child sex exploitation, you name it. Lack of lawful access affects every fight we are in and americans need to understand this is not just an issue for lawenforcement. Lack of lawful access certainly affects our ability to do our jobs, but we know where the harm really falls when evidence is kept unavailable. It falls on innocent people. The people we are sworn to protect. In this case we and our partners are not the only ones who needed that information months ago. The victims, those who were wounded, and those who lost loved ones, deserved to know then what happened and not wait to hear it from aqap months after the fact when one of the killers own associates, the operative we both mentioned claim ofissued aqaps responsibility. Forget that never three brave members of our armed forces were killed in this attack. Mohammed fromen watson ofoshua alabama, and Cameron Walters from georgia. They were serving our country and died as heroes. We have them front of mind every day as we continue the battle against the same threat they did. I want to end by extending my and the fbis thanks to all of our partners. They are essential to everything we do and this case, in many ways, has been a perfect example of that. Jacksont task force in and pensacola have let this investigation and partnership with colleagues in the Attorneys Office for the Northern District of florida. Ncis,ssential help from atf, Homeland Security investigations, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The assistance of state and local partners in pensacola has been invaluable as has been that of the Intelligence Community partners. I especially want to recognize the brave Naval Security forces personnel and deputies from the Sheriffs Office who responded to the initial call for help. Department has also been an essential partner in addition to dods work the Navy Officials in pensacola and dod personnel at all levels in washington and around the world. They have been vital to the effort to investigate this heinous attack and prevent others in the future. To the victims and their families know that our work continues. We and our partners are exploiting the evidence of this investigation pursuing the killers potential associates and new evidence these devices can lead us to. We and our colleagues come in every day dedicated to preventing terrorism from anyplace by any actor. That work will never rest. Thank you. Thank you, director ray. Wray. Let me think all colleagues at the fbi that they have done in this case and it serves as a reminder of the relentless efforts of the professionals at the fbi who, every day, stand on the ramparts protecting the safety of the American People. Hard work has led to this breakthrough and it should be celebrated on must also express great disappointment it took over four months and large sums of taxpayer dollars to obtain evidence that should have been easily and quickly accessible when we obtained court orders. Apple has made a business and marketing decision to design its phones in a way only the user can unlock the contents no matter what the circumstances. In cases like this where the user is a terrorist, or in other cases where the user is a violent criminal, human trafficker, child predator, apples decision has dangerous consequences for Public Safety and the National Security. It is, in my judgment, unacceptable. Apples desire to provide privacy for customers is understandable, but not at all cost. Under our nations longestablished constitutional principles were a court to authorize a search for evidence of a crime an individuals privacy interests must yield to the broader public interest. There is no reason why Companies Like apple cannot design their consumerproducts and apps to allow for court authorized access by Law Enforcement while maintaining very high standards of data security. Striking this balance should not be left to Corporate Board rooms. It is a decision that must be made by the American People through their representatives. And privacy are not usually exclusive. We are confident Technology Companies are capable of building secure products that protect user information and at the same time allow for lawenforcement access when permitted by a judge. As apple had done willingly for many years and others are still doing today. Many of the Technology Companies that advocate most loudly for warrant proof encryption in the name of privacy rights are at the same time willing to accommodate authoritarian regimes when it serves their business interests. For example, it has been widely reported apple has worked with the communist party of china and the russian regime to relocate data centers to enable both surveillance by those governments. Apple also has reportedly disabled features and applications on iphones used by prodemocracy advocates thereby facilitating censorship and oppression. If technology Companies Like apple are willing to oblige the demands of authoritarian regimes, they certainly have no excuse for failing to cooperate with rule of law nations that respect Civil Liberties and privacy rights and have judicial safeguards. The developments in this case demonstrate the need for a legislative solution. The truth is that we needed some luck in addition to the ingenuity to get the phones this time. There is no guarantee that we can be successful in the future or that we can avoid massive delays, in this case more than four months. These will have significant consequences for the American People. In addition to the cost of time and money to develop alternative methods to access encrypted information they can be enormous. This is not a scalable solution. There are many phones at the federal and state level we still cannot unlock despite having court orders. As commercial encryption becomes more sophisticated our odds of success diminish with each passing year. We cannot do our jobs when Companies Put the ability to defeat Court Authorized Searches in the hands of terrorists and predatory criminals. When combating threats to our homeland we need american tech leaders to work with us, not against us. Over the past year i have repeatedly asked Tech Companies to work with us to provide better solutions. Unfortunately, no progress has been made. For the safety and security of our citizens, we cannot afford to wait any longer. Thank you. That is the end of our prepared remarks and we will open it up for questions. We will begin the question and answer section. To ask a question you may press star and then one. If you are using a speakerphone, pick up your handset before starting. When you pose your question please state who the question is for. We will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Fromirst question comes Pete Williams with nbc news. 2027488002 mr. Attorney wasral, you said alshamrani associated with al qaeda. Would you describe this as inspired or directed . Secondly, President Trump said he wants to see the Justice Department prosecute figures of the administration for what he calls crimes. Is that something doj will do . Let me ask the director to respond and then i will answer the second. With respect to alshamranis connections with aqap i think we are describing today what we are able to share at this point. Some of it is still ongoing as we exploit different leads coming out of his two devices. It is certainly more than just inspired. For example, we know he was sharing plans and tactics with them. We know he was coordinating with them and providing an opportunity for them to take credit for the attack. I think we will have to come up for the moment, stick with the verbs we have used already and more to come on that as we continue to build out what we now know from his phones. Pete, i am not going to comment on what the president or Vice President biden say in connection with their campaigns, but i will address the role of the department of justice. Commentedw i have since i have been attorney general, and even during my confirmation hearings, that over the past few decades there have been increasing attempts to use the criminal Justice System as a political weapon. Ginlegal tactic has been to up allegations of criminality by ones political opponent based on the flimsiest of legal theories. This is not a good development. This is not good for our political life and it is not good for the criminal Justice System. As long as i am attorney general the system will not be used for partisan political ends. For theespecially true Upcoming Elections in november. We live in a very divided country right now and i think it is critical that we have an election where the American People are allowed to make a decision, a choice, between President Trump and Vice President biden based on a robust debate of policy issues. We cannot allow this process to be hijacked by efforts to drum up criminal investigations of either candidate. I am committed that this election will be conducted without this kind of interference. Any effort to pursue an investigation of either candidate has to be approved by me. President ,ed to the and i have said this many times, in the 2016 election in the first two years of head is administration were unprecedented and abhorrent. The Law Enforcement and intelligence apparatus of this country were involved in advancing a false and utterly baseless russian collusion narrative against the president. Andproper investigative prosecuted standards of the department of justice were abused, in my view, in order to reach a particular result. We saw two different standards of justice emerge. One the applied to President Trump and his associates and the other the applied to everybody else. We cannot allow this ever to happen again. Investigation is trying to get to the bottom of what happened and it will determine whether there were any federal laws broken and if there were, those who broke the laws will be held to account. This cannot be, and it will not tat exercise. We are not going to lower the get aards just to result. The only way to break away from a dual system of justice is to make sure we scrupulously apply a single and proper standards of justice for everybody. Under the longstanding standards of the department criminal charges are appropriate only when we have enough evidence to prove each element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. That is the standard we are applying. Now, i have a general idea of how mr. Durhams investigation is going. Aspectse indicated some of the matter are being examined as potential crimes. But we have to bear in mind with the Supreme Court recently reminded in the bridgegate case if the court said there is a difference between an abuse of power and a federal crime not every abuse of power no matter how outrageous is necessarily a federal crime. As to president obama and Vice President biden whatever the level of involvement based on the information i have, i do not expect mr. Durhams work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man. Our concern over potential criminality is focused on others. Thank you for your question. Next question. Question comes from tj thomas with abc. Reporter thank you for your time. Ive two questions. What can you say about the relative strength of al qaeda to what this case shows and what it says about the saudis ability to vet people before they send them to the United States . Second, you made clear that neither the Vice President biden or president obama are the subject of an investigation. Can you make it clear what group of people you are focused on in terms of possible wrongdoing. Are we talking about fbi officials or intelligence officials . Or both . Thank you. Obviously with mr. Durhams work underway i cannot comment on specifically who was being looked at. Familiarnk we are all with the set of circumstances that is generally being reviewed. On the first part of your question let me just Say Something briefly about the ve tting process. Before this incident it was not sufficient. The saudis have been fully cooperative up until now. We are working closely with the saudis and the Defense Department and saudis have been working to buttress the screening process to ensure this kind of think is not happen again. As to the relative strength of al qaeda let me ask the director to comment on that. On the issue of al qaeda and relative strength i think with this investigation reveals is something we have been saying for some time which is that al qaedas offshoot, including aqap, remain intent on attacking us wherever they can including here in the u. S. I think it also illustrates just how dangerous when operative can be and the number of ways in which we can be hit we do not stay vigilant. That is why counterterrorism remains our number one Priority Partners are so focused on this issue. It is important americans not get complacent because the threat is here and real and we are determined to thwart it. Reporter thank you. Next question. As a reminder if you would like to join the queue, press star then one. The next question is from david martin with cbs. Reporter thank you. One, the counterterrorism operative, wase it an airstrike and did the operation kill him . Second, did the information in the phones implicate any of the other saudi pilots at pensacola . For instance, the ones who had dinner with alshamrani the night before or who used their cell phones to record the actual shooting . Thank you. As to the first part, we cannot get into further details. The we were talking about question of relative strength of al qaeda the group has been seriously degraded and i am very pleased with the results of the counterterrorism operation. I believe that has further degraded the capabilities of al qaeda on the arabian peninsula. For the second part let me turn to the director. At this stage in terms of our exploitation of the information on alshamranis phones we have not identified any current or currenthe u. S. Operative based on the information. It is certainly an Ongoing Investigation and there are questions based on information we now have that we would have liked to have asked all the people he was associating with while he was here. More to, that. That. N we can take one more question. This comes from david with fox news. Reporter thank you both. Attorney general, you mentioned President Trump specifically got in touch with tim cook at apple. That did not seem to do anything. Do you feel like apple is moving the needle at all . I know you want this to be a good conclusion or do you think this is going to be a standstill for years to come . I have seen no sign that apple has moved the needle or is willing to try move the needle. You know, this is not a unique situation. Businesses frequently make products that, if allowed in the market in the form the business dangert, could create s to Public Safety. Normally what we do is we do not leave the decision up to the public about the exact details and configuration of their product. If we feel it will cause harm to the public, that decision is not left to the business. It is a social decision that is made by our society, made by the interestn the public and we see that with restrictions or limitations or required features that are sometimes imposed on manufacturers to make sure the public is not put in danger. This is nothing new. This is what we normally do, but for some reason there are Tech Companies that believe they are above that. That they, unilaterally, can make decisions based on business interests and regardless of the dangers posed to the public and we cannot let that happen. With that i will conclude the Conference Today and i appreciate all of you attending. Announcer now we go to new york were Governor Cuomo will be giving an update on the coronavirus response. You are watching live coverage on cspan. I dont think you should care about my personal opinion because it is not about a personal opinion or an ideological opinion. It is not about a geographic opinion. It is not even an opinion that is relevant. This is about facts and science and data. These decisions are being made as a matter of math. It is numbers. That is all it is at the end of the day. You start to increase economic activity, you have more people coming out of their homes, more people contacting other people, and then you measure the impact of that increase with numbers. Not with opinions, not with politics, not with partisanship, with numbers. Then you just measure the impact. You make sure you do not go above 70 of hospital beds so that if a large enough people get affected, you have the hospital beds to take care of them. You make sure you do not go over capacity because when these people are infected they need icu beds. We learned that the hard way. You have testing up and running of 30 tests per 1000 residents. Where did that come from . That is the White House Coronavirus task force, dr. Birx. Forhave 30 tracers ready 100,000 residents. That comes from the experts and then you watch the infection rate. You make sure that you do not get near