Agenda. Thanks to the passage of the trump tax cuts they will now be able to expense 100 of investments they make in new equipment in the same year they bite. According to h h and k this mes their investment back into the company will be 50 higher than this last year. That means millions of dollars would will be invested in growing the business rather than propping up the bloated government in washington. When they buy more trucks and equipment for the rental fleet they hire more technicians to service them, they buy more Service Vehicles to transport those texan customer sites to customer site and they buy more parts from the supplies to keep the rental fleet running. All of his Economic Activity spurred by the tax bill result in more jobs, higher wages and a brighter future. The president looks for to spending time with some of the workers are reaping the benefits of the tax cuts and reform, we know this is just the beginning. On friday were excited to announce the president will become the first sitting president to address the march for life in the white house live via satellite. This will take place from the rose garden. The president is committed to protecting the life of the unborn and hes excited to be part of this historic event. We have a guest with us today from the department of justice, and ocallaghan is your to discuss the section 11 report which was released yesterday by the department of justice and the department of Homeland Security. I will not steal his thunder with this report highlights the urgent need for congress to adopt the immigration reform, identified in the administrations priorities. I will bring him up now so he can make a statement, answer a couple of questions, and as usual i know you all be on your best behavior, and asking questions on this topic only, and then i will be happy to come back up answer other questions. Ed . Good afternoon. My name is Ed Ocallaghan and im the Principal Deputy assistant attorney general in the justice departments National Security division. In my capacity, i assisted the acting assistant attorney general in the supervision of the 350 dedicated investigators and prosecutors who carry out the departments highest priority, protecting the United States from threats to our National Security. Ive been with the nationals could to Division Since november of last year. Previously from 19992008 i was an assistant United States attorney in the Southern District of new york. From 20052008 i was cochief of the terrorism and National Security unit in the Southern District of new york. And some of the cases i worked on of course during the time included the investigation into the 9 11 attacks that occurred while i was assistant United States attorney in organized crime and Terrorism Unit of the Southern District of new york. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today about yesterdays release of the Department Justice and department of Homeland Security section 11 report. The report of President Trumps executive order 13780 protecting from terrorist entry into the United States was a collaborative effort between the doj and dhs to respond to the directive to provide information to the American People regarding the number of foreign nationals charged with or convicted of terrorism related offenses or removed from the United States based on terrorism related or other National Security reasons. The justice departments National Security division maintains a list of individuals convicted of International Terrorism related charges and u. S. Federal courts between september 11, 2001, december 31 of 2016. As indicated in the report as of december 31, 2016, there were 549 individuals on that list of convictions of terrorism, internationalism terrorism related offenses or a subsequent dhs analysis of those 549 individuals convicted of International Terrorism related offenses determined approximately 73 , or 402, of hundred two, the 549 individuals were foreignborn. A further breakdown of use citizenship status of these individuals at the time of their respective conviction show that 254 were not United States citizens, 148 were foreignborn, Natural Light and received u. S. Citizenship, and 147 were citizens come, your citizens by birth. Ill point out one of the cases that highlighted in the section 11 report refers to a defendant who we convicted in the Southern District of new york. He came into the United States i believe in 1980 as as a Family Member of a legal permanent resident. He was ultimate convicted of providing Material Support to alqaeda, s supervise when as chief of the Terrorism Unit in the Southern District of new york. The evidence in the trial showed that he attempted to assist other individuals who were affiliated with alqaeda to try to enter the United States based on false statements in immigration documents and, in fact, he assisted and took on the persona of one of the individuals he was attempting to try to get back into the United States to commit terrorist acts here. The individuals statement provided by that individual demonstrated that he was attempting to come back into the United States to commit attacks on gas stations in new york, my hometown, and by the fact were able to prosecute him, stop that attempt to engage in additional terrorist attacks here in United States. Additional items included in your report demonstrate the u. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement provided information that showed there is an approximate 1716 removals of aliens since september 11, 2001, across National Security concerns, designation that is determined by ice within the department of Homeland Security. Obviously there are certain times where although there are National Security concerns about foreign individuals were in the United States, federal prosecution for one reason or another is not the suitable way to go about dealing with the threat posed by that individual bits of immigration authorities have other tools at their disposal. When attending the removal tool which is cited by i. C. E. In the section 11 report. It is the case the french are National Grid are not showing any signs of relenting. In fiscal year 2017 alone, dhs encountered 2554 individuals on terrorist watch list, formally known as the fbis terrorist screening database. Those individuals were of course attempting to get into the United States. Additional important statistics provide by dh and document in the report include the fact that between october 1, 2011, september 3030, 2017, a total of 355,345 noncitizen offenders were administratively arrested after praising been convicted of an aggravated felony for two or more crimes each punishable by more than one year of a regular felon. During the same time, according to just 372,098 372,098 noncitn offenders removed from the United States after conviction of an aggravated felony or two or more felonies. Between fiscal year 20102017 customs and border protection, cbp, identified and prevented deporting 72,261 for travelers on flights destined to the United States bromance presented in immigration security risk. In a statement yesterday about the report, attorney general sessions indicated that are currently thousands of terrorism related investigations into thousands of people in the United States including hundreds of people who came her as refugees. In addition, citing surveys present commission by doj components, the report noted there are an estimated 2327 killings in the United States and having women and girls in the United States at risk of undergoing the abort practice of female genital mutilation. In october of last year the Trump Administration laid out a series of immigration policy objectives to ensure safe and lawful admission to the United States, to defend the the state against good of our country and to protect American Workers and taxpayers. There are three pillars to this immigration policy. Border security, immigration enforcement, and a meritbased immigration system. From the cases ive worked on i know that for terrorist organizations, Transnational Criminal Organizations and other individuals and entities that wish to harm the United States undoubtedly seek to exploit weaknesses in our immigration system when it benefits them in accomplishing their unlawful schemes. President trumps immigration policy is designed to serve the interest of National Security. Enhanced vetting and screening and continuing screening to promote the discovery of information that would help immigration and Law Enforcement authority identify foreigners who may pose National Security threats to the American People. Rather than basing admission decisions on programs like accountability by diversity visa lottery and extended family chain migration, adopting a meritbased system rewards skills and qualities that include but not limited to education, englishlanguage proficiency or fluency, and or jobs skills. As a Prosecutor Task with protecting our Nation Security i know some of our cases have involved exportation of all of those in our current immigration system. The attorney general is committed to restoring law and order in our immigration system so that we can address a were to eliminate the vulnerabilities that can be exploited by those seeking to undermine our public safety. Those are my brief remarks. Happy to take some questions. Thank you. Do you find it alarming that more than 25 of people convicted of International Terrorism related charges were natural born u. S. Citizens . What is the administration doing to address that issue . So the department of justice enforcement of the International Terrorism, our focus on the contact of, that is down to be committed by individuals. No matter where they are born, the statistics that you have for the first time compiled in this way in response to the executive order directed to therein demonstrate that the International Terrorism offenses that we prosecute International Syndication achieve convictions on, that there 72 72 foreign corporate were going to prosecute. Anyone we can make cases against that are posing threats to the National Security of the United States. The statistics that are brought before you in the section respond directly to the directed in the executive order about international tourism. Those are the statistics that my division keep. Thank you, sir. My question is thank you. Your next. Basically this, has there been any change in the administrations stated policy about using guantanamo in dealing with International Terrorists at all . Are not aware of any change in the administrations stated use of guantanamo. The administration is committed to enforcing our terrorism laws and any law that we can against anyone who will present harm t to the United States. There are considerations as to any potential case may be addressed so that any threat that is posed by any individual is neutralized. The administration and attorney general sessions are committed to consider all options as to how we can neutralized any threats posed by anyone that may fall into a terrorism category. [inaudible] for a while and theres no plans to close it at all . Im not aware of any administration plans with respect to guantanamo. I can tell you its still around. Thank you. Im hoping you can explain some of your logic because you talked about immigration system and reforming the immigration system to protect americans in the United States. But a lot of the crimes that you are using as examples to justify changing immigration system are crimes that were attempted crimes or would have taken place outside of the United States, people wanting to travel outside the United States to like providing support to fighters outside of the United States. Committing more crimes inside the United States . Some better example than what you are trying to say . A few points to that. This is the first iteration of this report and response to the executive orders directors and to working together with the hs expect to have more specifics and address some of these in the initial report in future iterations of this report. In terms of the cases that are reported, if you look at the cases, some of which are included in the section 11 report, there are certainly cases thatrelate to conduct that had been committed in the United States. Conduct that is in support of for instance al qaeda or isis so there are plenty examples of conduct committed in the United States which would, in the way that we define it qualify as International Terrorism investigation because it leads to a Foreign Terrorist Organization or terrorist concepts. Thirdly, of course were trying to prevent through anyway we can the administration is tryingto prevent terrorist attacks. The most successful prosecution ive ever been involved in are ones where we are able to stop it at the editorial stage so there are individuals who clearly through their conduct an activity and what they are saying are agreeing to come meet a terrorist attack in bowls of a terrorist organization but we in conjunction with our Law Enforcement is ableto prevent it, and then and included in our National Terrorism trends. We are not understanding this, how preventing people from coming in who were conspiring for instance to in syria, what has protected people inthe United States. There are International Terrorism crimes and they were all planning attacks overseas. And you were courting the immigration system and it seems like the focus there should be on things that people did in the United States to people in the United States the Administration Immigration reforms focus on getting more information. Enhanced screening, and hands venting, more information, more agents, more officers asking more questions for prosecutors prosecuting more cases. All of that in conjunction with all the other National Security efforts the administration will lead to a safer, safer United States. I firmly believe that and i know that the fact that there are individuals here in the United States that are willing to in support of isis related philosophy. They talk about engaging in committing acts here in the United States that we are able to prevent, that makes the American People safer and i know that the administration does. Is there any designated focus on national concerns linked to the arrest of that eight fbi agents released . [inaudible] i will say that was a very important arrest as demonstrated in a complaint that was unsealed related to that case that the former cia officer retained classified information. As the case proceeds through the court i would expect more information about the conduct that underlies those charges in the complaint will come out but as of now, that case was adjudicated before, i came from the National Security division. Its an important case and it goes to illegal retention of classified information so its going to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. One more on the report, yesterday the white house set up a fact sheet that found that three out of four individuals involved in International Terrorism related charges are individuals who entered the United States. My understanding was that those numbers that you say included people who had been extradited here is face trial which is to say they didnt enter through our immigration system so my question is is that correct and if so how many of this report were immigrants. The data that was included focuses on foreignborn individuals, all the International Terrorism. InterNational Terrorism census is something categorized by the National Security division based on specific provisions of the United States attorneys manual and it details there are two categories of offenses. Category one offenses that expose sections of the federal code that are in and of itself it able to commit international offenders in category two offenders that do not categorize category one offenses but those are committed and individuals are convicted of those offenses by false statements or obstruction of justice committed in a course of International Terrorism study. Those are the ones that are reported in the 549 area that some of which include foreignborn, some of those are foreignborn but naturalized us citizens. There is undoubtedly because ive been involved in such cases, a number of those foreignborn individuals who have been brought into the United States by institutions or otherwise to face charges. But the underlying important fact about those cases is that if you were able to prove those individuals committed terrorism offenses against the United States and they are now serving either life sentences, very long sentences that will neutralize that Going Forward because we were able to convict them under an International Terrorism statute in the United States. Thank you all. Thank you mister ocallaghan. We will jump straight in to questions today. Go ahead. Have there been suggestions that the president does in fact suffer from Heart Disease as his chart as indicated yesterday. Does the white house stand by doctor jacksons report . Absolutely. Doctor jackson has been a white house physician for the last 12 years. Trusted by president bush, president obama and now President Trump. He is the only doctor that has weighed in on this matter that has actually examined the president. I think a doctor that has spent the amount of time with the president as doctor jackson has is not only the most qualified but the only credible source when it comes to diagnosing any Health Concerns and we support what he said yesterday 100 percent that the president is in Excellent Health and i think he exhausted just about every question that you guys had and it showed probably hes in pretty goodhealth to to stand up here for an hour and take questions. Not too long ago when senator jeff flake again denounced the president , this time likening him to stalin in his approach to the media saying that his dictators the world over, this is on these statements from john mccain saying the president should stop attacking the press. At some point today you are supposed to give out fake news awards. What do you think centers lake and mccain has said about these. In response to senator flake specifically, i found it quite interesting that he is coming out to attack this president considering hes one that was recently defending and actually oppressive regime. He went to cuba a few weeks ago, served as a mouthpiece for the oppressed human government. Hes criticizing the president because hes against oppression, hes criticizing the president because he has terrible whole numbers and he is, i think looking for attention. I think its unfortunate and certainly i think our position here at the white house is that we welcome access to the media everyday. Im standing right here taking questions. The president does so regularly and to act as if we are anything but open to that back Perfect Exchange is utterly ridiculous. I havent had a chance to read everything. We will keep you guys posted and there will be something later today. You are a wall waiting to see if you are big winners, im sure. Theres been frustration from both republicans and democrats who were in the room yesterday about language and some of the claims hes made about this administration and the president s family, specifically from those sitting at the white house because of diamonds that supposedly has been given as to what can and cannot be said, certain comments were offlimits in the scope of executive privilege. Without getting into the details, can you define for us what the white house is telling attorneys that falls into the scope of executive privilege. I can tell you that this white house is following the same practice that many white houses before us have that have gone back decades. That there is a process that you go through any time you have congressional inquiries touching upon white house, the congress should consult with the white house prior to obtaining confidential material. This is part of a judicial recognized process. We want to follow through that. Weve been fully cooperative with the Ongoing Investigation and were going to continue to do so and we encourage the committee to work with us to find the appropriate accommodations in order to ensure congress retains all the information they are looking for but theres a process and its not just isolated to this incident. Executive privilege is something that goes back decades because its something that needs to be protected whether its during this administration or 20 years from now, we want to make sure we follow the process and president and thats all its taking place. So that executive privilege, not just the time after and the position is broader than it has been in pastadministrations. That is the details that i can talk about the process. And that we are following this same process in past practice with previous administrations. Again, i the details, i can only discuss the process. There is a brought up today with the attorney, that the senate is committing, in your time for the white house, my questions are who was would you blame but is that something the white house specifically asked his attorney to do and if so why does the white house think that was a necessary step in handling their own testimony. Thats the same process is followed, sometimes they have a white house attorney present in the room. That was something that was relayed via phone and again, was following standard procedure for an instant like this. Its something that will likely happen again. Any other number of occasions in this administration but future administrations. The Republican Leadership is proposing a bill that would provide the government funding for several and reauthorize chip for years. Is that the white house support . We do support the shortterm vr. Howard is our first choice. Wed like to see a clean funding bill, a twoyear budget bill. But we do support the shortterm cr but we are going to continue to move forward in that discussion. Does anything acceptable for republicans or democrats who allowed the Government Shutdown. Obviously, does he think its acceptable for a shutdown to occur . The president doesnt want to shut down and if one happens, i think you only have one place to look and thats to the democrats who are holding our military and National Security hostage by trying to push through other policies that have nothing to do with the budget. We would like to again set a budget deal done, a twoyear budget deal and then focus on negotiations following that, that deal with finding a permanent solution to daca and immigration reform. We said that in our position not changed. Republicans control the white house. Republicans dont have 60 votes so democrats need to decide that theyre going to come here to do their job and theyre going to govern and put our National Security and of their own personal political agendas or they are not. Its really simple. Thats a decision you are going to ask the democrats whats important. National security or political agendas. I cant answer that for you. Last year he accepted a shutdown would be a good thing so what causes. Because its good politics. Look, its never been a preference of this administration. It wasnt then, it isnt now and again, if that does happen, the blame, the fault will all live at one place that you would like to see a budget deal happen. John. Given the interview last friday with television, the ambassador of pakistan commented on the president s decision to rollback most of the aid for Security Assistance in the islam of our government. He said pakistan has a but more importantly and i quote pakistan wants respect area pakistan wants recognition of our confusionand our sacrifices. Regarding the, the president s comments, pakistan is responded with quotes, lies and deceit. Simply said, we wont dwell on that part because its not been by either party. Yourresponse. Our position is firm that we believe that withdrawing aid is important and i would prefer you to the state and anything beyond that. And these, that the president made. Yes. [inaudible] broadly, is the white house afraid of what steve madden might say . Not that im aware of, weve been clear what our position is in regards to this entire process that there was absolutely no collusion. But in terms of what you might say, i cant answer that. I cant speculate on that. I can tell you we are following the procedure whether it was in this committee or any committee down the road on the process is important to protect and thats what we are doing. [inaudible] if there is a Government Shutdown, does the buck stop at the president s office . Im not sure how it would. The president laid out that you want to budget deal. He wants to have republicans and democrats agree on a budget and we are happy to talk about other things but the budget should not be tied to a political agenda that the democrats are driving, those are two separate things. The fbi is showing a subpoena for steve bannon has become more aggressive and winding down. Is the president prepared for this investigation to last into the months to come . And coming up on harry, would you encourage that man to tell all as they are saying he will . As we are saying regardless of who it is we are going to be cooperating with the special counsel and encourage everybody involved in the process to be fully cooperative. The first part of your question is are we prepared . I think weve been dealing with this hoax for the better part of the year. We have to endure the ridiculousness foranother month, we can certainly handle it. You americans deserve that . I dont think they do. In the interest of the white House Counsel being involved in this process, has the white house to this point asserted executive privilege or are you talking about potential . Im talking about the process, i cant go any further than that. The president would like tosee a shortterm cr, is going to lean on fellow republicans or inHouse Freedom caucus. So we support the shortterm vr preference is the longer the twoyear budget deal but we support the shortterm. Will he encourage the House Freedom caucus to vote for it . Said, we support the shortterm and think it is certainly better than not having that and having a Government Shutdown as the alternative but again, our preference would be a longerterm deal. When you look at the calendar january 17 and the budget deal, that goes to february 16, the daca expiration is march 5, the president want to see a daca deal get struck before the next er would end or is he willing to take this to the deadline in early march . What we like to see happen is lets make a deal by friday and then lets come back to work aggressively on monday and make a deal on daca and responsible immigration reform. We like to do all of those things and would be happy to do them quickly if democrats are willing to get on board. Rolling out infrastructure plan this month so if the er staff this week, be priority number one next week, doctor or trying to get support for the infrastructure . We want to get a deal done on daca. Thats priority for us right now but we can certainly manage more than one thing at a time. And its infrastructure just rolled out by the end of the month or the first part of next month, we will certainly be working on that as well. You. This weekend President Trump is planning to go to florida in celebration for the oneyear anniversary of his inauguration. That relates to Government Shutdown and when you consider changing it . Republicans and democrats will come together and have a deal still be our focus and that being our top priority. It doesnt happen and theres a change, we will let you guys know. I know youre pointing the finger at the president so how does he plan to make sure the government. [inaudible] i would encourage words from both sides to make sure we get a deal. The president has made clear that his number one priority is our National Security and fully funding our military. That would be obviously something of utmost importance and i would think that should steal that plane in passion and priority as the present president and hopefully we will have to go through this process come friday. One last question. Thank you sarah. North korea and south korea during the opening ceremonies under their unified korean flag, [inaudible] coming more closely together. We see this as an opportunity or the regime to see the value of ending its International Isolation by denuclearization. We are very much focused and hope that happens. This is the first time this country has marched together and we hope north korea and its athletes help the freedom that runs off and its something that has been attacking these conversations. Thanks, guys. Arizona republican senator jeff flake denouncing president ial use of the term news and enemy of the people described the news media in stories that he doesnt like. In a speech this morning on the senate for center like call President Trumps attacks on the media shameful
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