Transcripts For CSPAN FBI Director Testifies On Agencys Mission Operations 20220805

s hearing of the Senate Judiciary hearing comes in order. We will hear from christopher wray. His second i promise to restore the traditional oversight will including annual oversight hearings from key agencies in the jurisdiction. There is more to come. You told us that domestic terrorism was, quote, metastasizing across the country and it is not going away soon. Today, 10 years later i am afraid the threat has grown worse. In the decades, violent white supremacist have slaughtered people. They included the Mass Shootings in the manual ame church in 2015. The pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 and a walmart in texas in 2018. A white list supremacist last year, you told the committee that the top domestic terrorist threats continues to be those who are identified as racial extremists, specifically those who advocate for the superiority of the white house. White race. I look forward to hearing from you from the steps the fbi is taking to prove protect communities. Racist acts of terror like in baltimore buffalo socalled alyssa violent extremists and other antigovernment extremist pose a threat to Law Enforcement and government officials as we saw on january six. Everyone of us should join in condemning the use of violence just yesterday, the Committee Heard from Election Officials who were receiving Death Threats because of their work during the 2020 elections. We have seen violence against school officials, judges, members of congress and the Supreme Court and we have seen unacceptable and deadly violence towards Law Enforcement who have put their lives on the line. The dual threats are heightened by easy access to firearms in america. Matthew also, the Justice Departments top counterterrorism official, said contribute significantly to their ability to kill and inflict harm. We cannot ignore the dominant role guns play in the assault and killing of Police Officers. Estimates are 400 million firearms in the nation. Some guns can peers the kevlar vest that are supposed to protect officers. We have a lot of ground to cover and i look forward to your testimony. I turned to my friend for his Opening Statement. Thank you for your service to the people of america. This committee has a constitutional obligation to ensure that the fbi complies with the laws that we write and execute those laws. In performance of our constitutional duties, we often seek answers and records from the fbi and if Congress Finds potential wrongdoing, we have an obligation to make that public. Transparency brings accountability. Just last week, the Justice Department failed to be transparent. The department failed to provide underlying information to support their assumptions that a jury would not convict fbi agents for botching the nasser investigation. I asked the fbi about the steps taken to investigate the afghan evacuations. Evacuees. Senators have done the same thing. The fbi wont Tell Congress which officers are responsible for these security matters. How does that make our communities and safer . Furthermore, based on the killing of al qaedas leader, it appears that terror terrorist groups are still using afghanistan as many of us, including you, director wray, have feared. The fbi must provide congress concrete information about the National Security and criminal risk of our communities, what they may face with reef respect to evacuees that were vetted properly. Violence is a major problem in america with rates of Violent Crime skyrocketing. The start of this violence crime rate began in 2020 asked police nationwide were pulled off the streets. Some of the main causes of this rise are antipolice rhetoric, progressive prosecution and bill form bail reform. This is happening at the same time the progressive prosecutions reviews the hold violent criminals accountable for their crimes. Witness after witness in this committee has told us that the veil Bail Reform Movement helped release violent criminals so they can commit more crimes. Congress must treat Violent Crime as a topical mooring top priority. I introduced a bill to counteract this. It contains common sense proposal to reduce the bound spike in crime. Proposals that will expand federal for expenses like murder. The Justice Department and the fbi must also make a make Violent Crime a top priority. It seems like the biting Justice Biden this department and the fbi it has been reported that the fbi has labeled parents with threat tax to investigate them tags to investigate them. This administrations failure to manage the mortar has been a drug trafficker 53 hers dream traffickers dream. Thanks to the open borders, drug traffickers are poisoning the streets and they are trafficking in a sit victims with reckless abandon innocent victims with reckless abandon. This administration is feeling the people by not securing the border. Mike rawlings my colleagues have heard me on the issue of political bias affecting the fbis decisionmaking process. Multiple Justice Department officials have approached my office with that vice bias. According to whistleblowers, babyn yar opened an investigation on the top campaign and its advisors. The ugly memo opening memo of this investigation is based on liberal news reporting and information derived from left wing nonprofits based on allegations director what director wray and another person looked at the memo and approved the investigation. If the fbi is going to open an investigation, they have to do it the right way. It appears the white the right weight was not done so lets contrast this investigation with what the fbi has done with allegedly criminal information received from numerous sources related to hunter biden. The fbis shutdown investigative activity. In august of 2020, the fbi supervisory Intelligence Analyst opened an assessment. This served as a vehicle by which the fbi headquarter team falsely labeled hunter biden information as this information disinformation. October 2020, an avenue in reporting on hunter biden was reported closed. That hunter biden information related to potential criminal activity. The reporting was either verified or verifiable via both search warrants criminal search warrants. It was shutdown. Based on allegations, the evidence did not support the finding so lets look at both of these fact patterns. The fbi green lit default investigation on from based on liberal news items and information from liberal nonprofits. The fbi close investigations and sources that provided verified or verifiable reporting on hunter biden. Director ray, you will have to explain to the committee and country on how you manage this best mess. In august 2020, and i hope my colleagues will Pay Attention to this timeline. Senator johnson and i received an unsolicited and unnecessary briefing from the fbi. This briefing related to our heart Biden Administration i did biden investigation. It was instituted after the content of that breathing was later leads in order to falsely paint the investigation as an batting advancing russian this information dis information. The fbi open the assessment that was used to label as best the hunter find information as disinformation. I am asking you, he fbis credibility the fbis credibility is on the line. Director wray, will you please stand . Did you swear the testimony will be truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you guide . God . You may perceive oc you may proceed. I passed the fiveyear year mark for my tenure director and i am proud i proud to serve along the men and women who make up the fbi. I have traveled to all 56 Fbi Field Offices. All over the country, i have spoken with prosecutors, justices and others and i continue to be impressed and moved both by what i see firsthand and what i hear from others about the quality of our workforce. We serve the public with regular rigor. The complexity of the threats are quotes are tackling rms and i continue to be inspired of the work they do each and every day. The man and the fbi are taking on the Chinese Government, our economic security, they are working with the government and private sector partners to meet the danger of cyber actors including fighting that scourge against cyber attacks. They are battling domestic terrorism and for terrorist organizations Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Pay are going after those who pray against the vulnerable. Religious institutions and other public spaces across the country. They are ensuring the integrity of elections and working to exactly election workers who administer them. I want to use these minutes to focus on one threat. Senator grassley mentioned it which is the threat of Violent Crime. I speak with cheese and sheriffs all the time chiefs and sheriffs all the time and the number one concern i hear from them isnt rising violence, whether it is gains, trigger pullers who find their way back to the streets, robbery cruise crews, the Violent Crime problem is real, we are determined to combat. The core we are working shoulder to shoulder with local partners across the country through more than 300 fbi taskforces. We are using intelligence to drive proactive investigations to identify and target the most dangerous offenders, the worst of the worst. We are working with partners to build capacity to provide tools including by providing Additional Resources to maximize impact. And we are seeing was also. Results. Fbi phoenix arrested morgan a dozen individuals on drugs and firearms charges as part of a gang investigation. Fbi sacramento has arrested eight and seized pounds of method vanity methamphetamine and fennel and seized fentanyl and seized ghost guns. Picking large quantities of methamphetamine. That is three Fbi Field Offices. You step back, fbi taskforces focused on Violent Crime, sees more than 80,000 firearms and dismantled nearly 300 gangs and criminal enterprises and we are not going to let up. Every chance i get, i try to highlight that Law Enforcement is taking on this challenge at a time when jobs are becoming more dangerous especially for our state local brothers and sisters. In 2021, 73 officers were baloney asleep bird were murdered. Pi dfp i experienced loss d f e investigating crimes against children at one of our longtime taskforces officers were shot and killed in a ambers out ambush outside of our office. This years deaths are keeping pace with last years. This june, more officers were murdered in this country than in any single month in the past four years. Men and women of Law Enforcement make orourke sacrifices and adr support heroic sacrifices and they need our support. This year has brought the harbor of Mass Shootings harbor of Mass Shootings horror of Mass Shootings. These attacks on regular people are devastating for the communities. They touched us all, i can assure you he fbi family the fbi family feels it and we are doing our part to assist our partners to support victims and families. All levels of government we make sure americans feel safe and secure and violence is one part of the at that. The range that we face range of threats that we face have never been more diverse. Our fellow citizens look to us to protect the United States from all of those threats and i am grateful to the men and women of the fbi who continued to rise to legal challenges every day to meet those challenges every day. Thank you so for your support and i am am happy and i am happy to address questions. Incomes a shooter with an ar 15. Three rounds work levered in a matter of a minute or less. There are wounds that will be there for a long time. A nineyearold boy named Cooper Roberts who was shot by this government by man gunman was released from the hospital and will be paralyzed for life. I can go through the same list you have any more but i will also i am noticing that Law Enforcement is more are more vulnerable. Bullets fired from ar 15s are powerful enough to peers soft body armor. Bullets fired by spirits are fired at a greater range and to peers all kinds of body armor. This proliferation of guns is deadly and dangerous when it comes to our Law Enforcement. What is your observation . Chairman, there are dangerous people are bare and some days, i will say to those of us in Law Enforcement, it seems there are more of them and those people are more dangerous with more dangerous weapons and i know just this week, we had a couple of our agents who were shot at with an Assault Rifle that multiple rounds penetrated the vehicle they were in that they were not injured. I worried i worry every day about that and i know my counterparts, my fellow Law Enforcement leaders worry about it all the time. We are trying to do the best we can with better protective equipment and better training and better munitions of our own. It is a dangerous world and that statistics i cited in my Opening Statement are illustrative of the dangerous world. It is up at 73 that are murdered on the line in the line of duty last year, and they alarming percentage of those were killed in ambitious ambush situations not unlike our Task Force Officer in indiana. I worry about our folks every day. The hardest thing i have ever had to do is sit and talk with the families of our fallen. One of the most outrageous examples of violence against Law Enforcement occurred right here in the u. S. Capitol complex on january 6, 2021, when an insurrectionist mob attacked the men and women trying to defend me and us and that resulted with at least five people died and 140 lawenforcement were injured. It has resulted in the largest prosecution and entered in the justice apartment History Department history. The fbi is trying to identify within 350 suspects who happen have a believe to cause attacks on capitol grounds. What has made it so difficult to identify these 350 additional suspects . In some instances, a lot of the initial people we were able to find an arrest, car arrest and charge, made himself easily identifiable on social media there were but there were more people who concealed himself themselves so that is a challenge. We are continuing to develop some of the more complicated parts of the investigation in terms of conspiracy charges. One of the other elements is whether the fbi and others should have been forward of what occurred on january 6. Would you like to comment on that . We and dhs were putting out intelligence projects worrying about the prospect of different forms of politically related violence including related to the election and potentially related to january 6. It is the reality that we did not have any specific credible intelligence that point to thousands of people preaching the capital breaching the capital so one other things we are determined to do to make sure that doesnt happen again is to see how we can develop better sources. Any in the intelligence field where there is any kind of successful attack, you make a point in trying to figure out are there better ways to develop higherquality sources. Given the extensive online planning of the violence on january 6, i was surprised to hear jill sanborn saying last year that is not within the fbi s authorities to monitor publicly available social media channels. Have you wrecked the tile how do you reconcile s reference, what we can cannot do is cover the and it is more complicated topic but what i would say and i think what former ead jill sanborn was trying to say is that we dont have the authority to participate persistently and passively monitors social media. There are things we can do in terms of publicly available social media but it is a longer and involved topic. I am not an expert in this area but it seems to be that the use of Artificial Intelligence has made this more efficient. You are spot on. Artificial intelligence is an important tool. The fbi like other organizations has a big data problem and Artificial Intelligence is an important tool as we get through the mountains of information. Senator grassley . On our june 16 phone call, we discussed the need to protect was a horse that have approached my Office Protect whistleblowers that have approached my office. I appreciate your commitment. Two questions. Do you agree any retaliatory conduct against whistleblowers must be disciplined . I think retaliatory conduct against was a horse is acceptable. Whistleblowers is unacceptable. We have a number of mechanisms to make sure that they have the mechanisms to report but he was over one other things i have done is that every time you bring our special agents in charge across the edge and we have the Inspector General to talk to all of them to talk about the importance of whistleblowers and making sure they are protected. Let me take one step before that. And you commit to me and this committee and the senate that the fbi wont take any action to determine who the whistleblowers are . We will be scrupulous in our rules related to the whistleblowers. We want to make sure we get the information so we can use the tools we have to handle that conduct but certainly, i condemn in the strongest possible terms any prospect of retaliation against whistleblowers. I would like to know at the fbi received any information, and i am just information that formed persons have foreign persons have received at the fbi received information that formed persons foreign persons had unlawful or other politically exposed persons, would that pose a National Security concern . I think the kind of conduct you are describing is something we would look at closely through our efforts. It starts to shape into a blend of what we call with public corruption and something we take seriously. Other question following up pursuant to fbi policies and protocols, what steps to be should the fbi take to that vet or investigate any sort of unlawful payment to elected officials or politically exposed persons . At the risk of sounding like a lawyer, it depends on the facts and circumstances of each case but we would certainly need to look into that, depending on the circumstances, there could be an assessment or investigation. There could be a number of steps taken to make sure it is not a National Security risk. It follows up on what you just said, does the fbi have a criteria uses to evaluate whether information or is or is not disinformation and what is that interior criteria . Sometimes this gets lost in a lot of public commentary. We are not investigating whether or not information we see is truthful or false. Our focus in the maligned foreign influence space is whether or not there is a foreign adversary pushing the information and we look into bit its its. When it comes to thisinformation disinformation. A lot of information that speaks on whether or not something is d isinformation doesnt come from the fbi but it comes from foreign allies so it is a process that that we are approaching the information effectively in the briefings we do for officials and businesses, the whole point of the defense of the defense everything is to share information with the recipient to educate them so they can make decisions on what they want to do but that is not an f an fbi process. When the fbi receives potential political investigations relating to matter subject to information and prosecution by a u. S. Attorney, is it the fbis Standard Practice to share that information with relevant u. S. Attorneys office . My expectation is that when a particular office has the lead of the u. S. Attorneys office and the relevant Fbi Field Office, that if other offices come across that information, we want to make sure the tips are passed to be responsible office the responsible office. The fbi has a fbi special director Asian Advisory Committee that presents concerns you director agent Advisory Committee that presents concerns to you. It has been expressed to me that agents have presented information concerning that the rpi has been too political with their decisionmaking. It has been alleged that those concerns have been removed from the final report. Would you agree that these sort of concern should be in the report . What steps will you take to address these concerns . I have conversations with this topic with agents all the time. When i go to field offices, one of the things i do, especially in the second round of field office visits, is that i want to cut away all the layers between me and the front line supervisors. Every one of these field officers in these visits, i said no management, me and them, 45 minutes, i want to hear it directly without the bubblewrap. I found that to be a productive way to get closer to the action and the people we have. You have entered the process answered the process but you have an answer the specific thing on why that information was taken out of the report. I am not familiar with let me see if there is something i can share with you on that. Senator feinstein . After the release of the ig report on the mishandling of the larry nasser investigation, the fda fbi publicly promised to take all necessary steps to ensure the failures of the employees outlined may be report dont happen again. Our office is have discussed what steps the fbi has taken to ensure that these failures are never repeated. One of these improvements includes making sure in cases of suspected child sexual abuse, that fbi uses child and adolescent forensic interviewers. They are trained to conduct interviews of minors who may have experienced sexual abuse. Outlined for us other improvements the fbi has made on how it handles investigations of the sorts. I am concerned with is particularly in regard and how the fbi engages with survivors of child sexual abuse and what more needs to be done. Let me say at the outset that this Committee Heard me say when i appeared before you on the larry nasser report, words escape me to describe to you how upset i was when i learned what our folks had failed to do in 2015 and we have taken steps, the increased use of child adolescent interviewers but a few others. We have strengthened our policies, and we have double or triple text checks to make sure that employees are handling the reports with urgency and communicating with the right people, local Law Enforcement and within the fbi. That is one piece of it. We have new training and mandatory training for everyone in the fbi. I have taken my the training myself to make sure we learn the lessons from that her thick horrific chapter. We are learning the lessers from pip lessons from the ig report. Those are a few things we have to. I will tell you we have adopted every single one of Inspector General horwitzs recommendations and gone above and beyond. I am concerned about the rise in gun purchases, especially since the fbi is required to abandon any background check that is not completed in 88 days. This is a loophole that is dangerous and would be addressed by a bill i have introduced coffee called the data integrity act. What has the fbi done to ensure the background checks system remains effective during this spike of sales in the guns and do you need Additional Authority to make sure he checks are done officially . We have done it have a significant increase in volume of checks. With some of the recent legislation, i suspect we will have more. We have resources to keep up with the volume. We will need more. Congress has been helpful in giving us some Additional Resources my expectation is we will continue to need more, not just Personnel Resources but systems, the whole essence of the nicks system is taxing. We will need more resources. I am confident to tell you that we will continue to need resources in personnel and i. T. Upgrades. Stans over the 300,000 potential firearm sales were boxed in 2020, i congratulate you for this. Can you give us some reference to the kinds of things that were blocked . The transactions that were blocked were transactions where someone a prohibited person is trying to purchase a weapon. The biggest chunk is convicted felons. It is remarkable how many convicted felons walk into a gun store and try to buy a gun. There are a number of other creditors as well prohibit service prohibit source prohibitors as well. They are all involved in deep denials we have a in the denials we have made. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the amazing asianamerican and Pacific Islander community have seen a increase in hate crimes. Last year in home san francisco, city officials reported a 567 rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. San Francisco Police received reports of eight incidents of hate crimes against in this community in 2020. It is up. This is that you need to california not unique to set california. How is the fbi working with state officials to combat the crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islander communities . We elevated silver rights, which hate rhymes hate crimes is a big part, to a high priority. In 2021, we have the highest number of hate crime initiations that we have had in the past five years so there is a lot of investigative work. We are doing outreach to the community. In 2021, we had Something Like 140 different training or liaison events with the aap i community and we have had listening sessions and we have provided forensic support. We try to help in terms of forensic support. We are concerned about a lot of the same things. Thank you for that. Our friend and colleague, senator cornyn is recovering from covid. We wish him well and he will join us virtually. Argue with us argue with us argue are you with us . Sector grassi talked about people amount of Illegal Drugs across the border that contributed to the 800,000 Americans Last year alone. You talked about the taskforces that deal with crime across the country. Our criminal street gangs the primary Distribution Network for the drugs that come across the border . I dont know if i have the intelligence assessment in front of me but we would say that criminal street gangs argue vehicle we interact with the most asked distribution mechanisms for drugs that are coming from cartels and criminal organizations south of the border. Criminal street gangs are responsible for a significant portion of violence in communities across the country as a battle for market share and territory, correct . When i am talking with sheriffs and i talked to them every week, i find that that is what we are seeing. There are National Gains gangs we are concerned about but americans might be surprised to hear that many neighborhood gangs are the biggest driver of violence. They deal with all sorts of illicit activities but the profits of the drugs, is it a significant portion of how they make money . Yes. Ok, and when you talk about the rise in Violent Crime being one of your most urgent concerns, i think the country certainly would agree with you that statistics tell the tale of a significant spike in crime and along with the public concern of that. Would you attribute some of the violence that you are seeing to these games and their drug businesses . I am trying to figure out if there is a net since between drugs, gangs and guns. Is that correct . Absolutely. One of the first things i asked about i have listening sessions that is something i hear about over and over again. There has been a lot more attention but we are on the water in terms of margarets oppressive 3 million encounters border controllers have but one of the tactics it looks like the cartel is using is to overwhelm the Border Patrol and other agencies so they can move their drugs across the border. We know how many people were encountered, roughly 3 million and the Border Patrol estimates that there are 300,000 getaways where people are seeking asylum and turning themselves in to engage in the process. When director mayorkas was asked about the border, he may be frankly, impossible statement that the border was secure. From your vantage point, is the border secure . Boy, i guess i am hesitant to substitute my judgment for the secretary of i have spent a lot of time with field offices down that have border responsibility. I have spent time with officers walking me through it and ill all i can say is that they have a heck of a challenge and i admire their grit and determination to get the job done. Director ray, i always thought of you as a straight shooter but you will not answer that question . The border present significant Security Issues. There is a wider array of threats we encounter at the border. You mentioned the transnational the criminal organization that use ways to transport drugs and that cascades to shrink gains street gains gangs. Just on our side of the water through the taskforces but also on the others out of the border, we have one of our biggest offices in mexico city. We have Transit National transnational Antigang Task Force that we work with. It is a major challenge and it represents say that if you cant concern for us and it represents significant concern for us. We continue to hear the same sort of message from the Border Patrol in terms of the nationalities of the people they encounter. My recollection is in one sector, they reported encounters from people from 150 plus countries. It is not just south of the border in terms of mexico and central america. This is an International Human smuggling network. Would you agree with me . I dont have the numbers but i know it is an eclectic race of nationalities and the volume is century staggering. That is a Public Security threat, you agree with me . It represents a significant security issue and a y away of a wide array of threats. Thank you very much. Has you know, we are entering the fourth year of eight frustrated a frustrating saga regarding the cavanaugh supplemental Background Investigation. Is it to that after Brett Kavanaugh related tips are separated from other tips, they were forwarded to the white House Counsel without investigation . I apologize in advance, it has been frustrating for you. We have been answer the question. When it comes to the to blind, we wanted to make to the white house had all the information we have so when the calls came in, we gathered those up and reviewed them without investigation . You reviewed them for purposes of several relating several really separating to find traffic but did not investigating investigate those related to cavanaugh . Correct. It is true that consistent with the longstanding process that we have had going all the way back to the List Administration bush administration, and continue to follow under the Biden Administration, we take direction from the requesting entity was asked in which case, was the white house, as to what followup we want they want. That is what we follow through the decades. You asked specifically who and what it is true as to the who. I am not sure as to what questions but it is true to what interview interviewed. Are the way, is it true even today we have not been provided by the fbi its written to flying procedures written to line tip line yours procedures . I know there is some information that is not our call. What seem to be information that your clip provide. Again, i am not aware of anything related to that, but i will be happy to look with where that stands and we will followup. First, there is a april 19 letter from chairman durbin, senator kunz and myself, have you received that letter . I believe we have, yes. Theres another july 20 seventh letter from chair durbin, appropriation chairman lahey, senator koopman and myself. Have you received that . Yes. I would have you to take the questions in both of those letters, which have not been answered and treat them as a series of questions for the record from this hearing to so i could get them answered, would you do that . I would be happy to respond to the letters. The first two letters you mention, the april 1, if it is the letter i am recalling, unlike the recent one you mentioned, i think the other one goes not just to as, but also to white House Counsel and the attorney general. That one is not entirely within our control. We will do everything we can to make sure you get answers to all of the questions that we can provide answers. That will work. I also sent you a letter dated july 28, that consist of our overview of what transpired in that supplemental Background Investigation. What i would like to do is to ask you to respond to these q f ours, as i mentioned in take a look at those july 28 letter. It is my intention to use that july 28 letter as the basis for a report to the chairman, and to the rest of the committee about what our oversight work has determined. Ok . You now have the qfrs from the april letter, july 27 letter, and the sort of call it a draft, whatever you want it, proposed our findings today from the july 28 letter. What i would like to do is to make sure that whatever response the fbi wants to provide, that you have factual corrections that you would like to make, now is the time to make them. If you think that any of the information is subject to a privilege of any time, now is your time to research it. You think it is reasonable to ask that the review of the july 28 letter and the qfr through the april and july letters be provided a month from today . That sounds reasonable to me. For some reason i am not doable, we will let you know. Sen. Whitehouse theres a point at which we have to come to an end. This has been years of unanswered questions. Please do your best, but it is my intention in a reasonably short. Period of time to proceed and not to allow more years of delay to go with this. This is like last call at the factual correction saloon, with respect to the cavanaugh supplemental bia, if we can get that sorted out within the next 30 days so we can get a report that does not have to quarrel with the fbi, that would be great. At some point, i just got to proceed. It is my intention to proceed within the timeframe we have tried. Fair enough . Mr. Wray understood. Thank you, senator lee . Sen. Lee were going to talk, what about foreign Intelligence Surveillance act. As you know, section 702 authorizes a collection of electronic communication, not just the metadata, but the contents of the communications themselves, including communications of nonus persons outside the United States. As you know this, inevitably leads to the incidental collection of communications that involve, or include u. S. Persons, including u. S. Citizens. They 2018 reauthorization of section 702 required the fbi to obtain an order that is described in section 702 f2. You go to the foreign Intelligence Surveillance cord and they have to get an order authorizing them to query the database, the Committee Case and, substance of the medication involving a substance communication involving a u. S. Person. If the query is involved in criminal and not related to National Security, there is a statistical transparency report that is required by the usa freedom act that we passed in 2015. Your statistical transparency records that was issued for the year 21 and a few months ago. Estimates that the fbi did not obtain a single order under section 702 f2 from the Foreign Surveillance court in 2021. The fbi, i understand the fact that they did not get a single one of these orders under f2, they identified four instances that the electronic medications of u. S. Persons were unlawfully searched without the required order of court. Can you tell me how you found those four instances, and how you can be certain that there are not more than four instances in which someone did a backdoor search of u. S. Persons communications . Mr. Wray as i sit here right now, i am not sure i recall exactly which of the oversight mechanisms that we have produced. I know we have everything from reviews that the Justice Department National Security division does. I think cody and i, we also odi, we also have internal office that is specifically focused on compliance in the first instance. There are some other mechanisms as well. I just do not remember. I will be happy to have us follow back up with you. Sen. Lee i would appreciate the followup. When our government is able to collect as much information as it is, we do need these authorities to keep ourselves apprised of Communications Going on outside the United States by nonus persons about us and bad things they want to do with us. When it comes to american citizens, they have reasonable expectation of privacy. When you have that much ability to collect that much information, record conversations of unsuspecting lawabiding law abiding citizens, they really have to be procedures in place to make sure there is probable cause and a probable causebased warrant in order to search. That is a backdoor search around the fourth door amendment. I have other issues i want to cover. I would appreciate a followup from you on that. I really do believe this helps approve. The idea that they never needed to get a 702 f2 order, secondly, there are only four instances in which this provision was violated, i call that find that im plausible. Another issue i want to discuss to you relates to what we have seen ever since the leaked draft of justices opinion in the case. We seen a pattern in which proabortion activists have violently targeted over 82 churches and Pregnancy Centers, spray painting, threatening messages, breaking windows, firebombing in some instances. This is occurring in addition to those who have encouraging protest outside the homes of Supreme Court justices and otherwise threatening the type of things that could lead to violence, and encouraging what could become violent behavior. The proabortion group has taken credit for many of the attacks on Pregnancy Centers and on churches across the country, these endanger a lot of people, including volunteers, employees, people who are just coming to worship or to seek health care. How many domestic terrorism investigations that the fbi currently have open under the category of abortionrelated violent extremism . Mr. Wray i do not have the exact number. We have opened a number of domestic violent extremism investigations using our joint Terrorism Task forces that are focused on attacks or threats against churches, prolife organizations, pregnancy resource centers, including for example, i know off top of my head, we have one in senator grassleys home state of iowa in des moines. We have one in senator blackburns state of tennessee. We have one in north carolina. There are a number of them that are opened. Sen. Lee Congress Passed a law dealing with this. It prohibits the obstruction, injury, intimate nation or interference with any person who is either seeking to enter a clinic to obtain Reproductive Health services, and also people seeking to exercise their rights religious freedom at a place of religious worship. Any idea how many investigations of proabortion activists have resulted in federal prosecutions under the freedom of access to clinic entrances act . Mr. Wray i do not. Sen. Lee i would appreciate if you could get that to me. Considering the large number of churches and Abortion Centers that have been firebombed and attacked, a threat has been has a attacked threat investigation been related to those attacks . Mr. Wray when the opinion first leaked, we put out a directive to all of our field offices to be looking actively for potential threats. Sen. Lee i want to be very clear strictly or Crystal Clear on this. From our perspective, i do not care what side of the issue you are on, i do not care what you are upset about on abortion or anything else, you do not get to use of violence or threats of violence to act on it. We are going to go after that conduct aggressively. I feel very strongly about that. I have communicated that strongly to all of our field officers in our work was. Sen. Lee thank you. Sen. Whitehouse thank you, senator klobuchar. Thanks for your really good work and the work of your agents. I think i should followup on senator lee west talking about. That is that last month senator durbin held a hearing and dr. Helene gave a horrible testimony to the committee about how her fellow doctors and clinic workers have been killed for helping women get the care they need targeting Abortion Clinic staff. Including a 600 increase in stocking. Since actually the leak of the cream court opinion, Supreme Court opinion, we have seen violent threats on both side of the debate, but a molotov cocktail was not in a Pregnancy Center in nashville was thrown in a Pregnancy Center in nashville and i know you condemned islands. Could you talk about what you yourself are seeing the clinic seeing threats . Mr. Wray we have seen attacks against Abortion Clinics and protest organizations over the years. I think what has happened since dobbs opinion leaked, as a general intensification of violent across the issue. We have seen a notable uptick in violence, what to have not seen as much before directed at the kinds of organizations and facilities that senator lee mentioned. There is absolutely the kind you mentioned. I think this is part of a larger phenomenon that we are experiencing in this country. I understand that passions run high, especially on issues like abortion. There are way too many people who seem to think that that justifies engaging in violence and destruction of property, threats of violence, you mention molotov cocktails, i feel like everyday im getting break on someone throwing a molotov cocktail on someone from some issue. It is crazy. Sen. Klobuchar you think violence shows up on social media. When i think of some of the indications we have seen in the shootings as well, separate issues of Mass Shootings contribute to this . Mr. Wray i certainly think that social media has provided a bullhorn for issues and animosity, anger, passion, rage, that it may exist anyway. It provides for a level of speed and dissemination of hate and anger that is definitely part of the issue. Sen. Klobuchar im going to do some quicker questions. Our u. S. Attorney in minnesota, he has announced a new strategy to address violent rhyme, direct federal Law Enforcement to prioritize these cases, including carjacking, trafficking of firearms, every federal prosecutor in his office is now taken on violent cases. Can you talk about how the bureau is scored they did with our u. S. Attorneys on the Violent Crime issue . Mr. Wray Violent Crime i think is the number one issue i hear about from our Law Enforcement partners and from the u. S. Attorneys, including europes attorney. We are try to go into a whole bunch of mechanisms. Our task force is the biggest vehicle. We also create a Violent Crime rapid employment team, which we have searched to individual hotspots to surge and bring additional impact. We have local taskforces that are formed to deal with specific carjackings, which seemed to be on the rise again in a lot of cities. Our taskforces south of the border are also engaged in trying to prevent the violence from coming across. Our next denials, the rate has already been talking about here, those are preventing guns from getting in hands of prohibited persons, people who should not be under anybodys definition. There are a number of things that we are doing. Sen. Klobuchar you and i talked last time about the report that came out the rules committee on january 6 in terms of recommendation and peters and i did. Can you talk about the actions fbi has taken to coordinate better with the Capitol Police of intelligence . Mr. Wray certainly. We took to heart the recommendations coming out your committee. We have tried to do a couple of different ways building in greater redundancies in the weight which we communicate the information, including the instructions to make sure that the information, for example like the much discussed, that gets to the right people at the right levels within the organizations. This is one of the lessons in a way we learned from 9 11 uncle he is applicable 9 11 here that is applicable. This is a place of redundancy. It is a good thing. It is a way to make sure that information gets to somebody who will essentially action it in a responsible way. Sen. Klobuchar the Justice Department sent a letter of support for the bipartisan bill that senator grassley and i introduced my discounting American Innovation and choice online act. It would. Came out of this committee 166, the Big Tech Companies now spend 120 million against this bill. It is actually more money. The reason i am asking you the director rate, one of the things they are putting up on these absent, is that the bill will hurt National Security. Last week the assistant attorney general of the National Security division confirmed that the Justice Department letter and support of the bill reflects the National Security divisions input. Can you confirm that the department of justice is letter report reflects the fbis input . Mr. Wray yes. Sen. Klobuchar thank you. Last question. Peters and i introduced a bill on the conversion of semi automatics into fully automatic weapons, we are seeing a spike in these. Can you talk about what the fbi as seen in respect illegally modified weapons and the need to keep them off the street . Mr. Wray i have not seen the latest ration legislation itself appeared we are seeing legislation. We are seeing an Alarming Number of situations which weapons are modified to make them fully automatic. It is almost inherently happening in the hands of somebody who is a dangerous criminal to begin with and is now just more dangerous. Sen. Klobuchar thank you. Mr. Chairman, you held a important hearing on president election workers. I hope one of my colleagues asked about that, otherwise i will put the question in writing. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I am deeply concerned that the fbi, department of justice have become thoroughly politicized. I think this is a problem that began during the obama administration. I think it continues and even worse today under the Biden Administration. I do not believe you personal reflect that politicization, but i think you have been unwilling to roll it out and unwilling to hold people accountable for the politicization. I hear from fbi agent and from professionals at the department of justice who are dismayed that our Law Enforcement has been weaponizing politicized, rather than remaining apolitical as it has been as the history of our country. Yesterday, it was reported that project had obtained a copy of the fbi training material. Which listed various symbols and things, which in the fbis estimation is indicative of malicious violence extremism. The simple word things like the ku klux klan, or the nazi party would be symbols of that, but instead they included astonishingly patriotic symbols of our nation and our history. Included on this list is the betsy ross flag. That is fairly remarkable that it is indicative of malicious violence extremism, among other people who have been publicly alongside the betsy ross flag. We have president barack obama, who was sworn in directly underneath to betsy ross flags. It is not just president obama. We also have president biden, who was sworn in under betsy ross flags. It is not just the betsy ross flags. Also on this list is the gaps in flag. As the symbol of violent extremism, the state of virginia has license plates for the flag as do other states. Many people would be astonished to have having that license plates in the fbi indicates that you are a violent extremist, also included on this is a test that i was stuck was the gonzales battle flag. As indicative of being a violent extremist militia, i will self report right now, everything in the senate i wear my boots with the gonzales flag on the back of them. Director wray, what are you all doing . This makes no sense. Do you agree with this fbi guidance, that the betsy ross flag and the gaps in flag, gonzales battle flag are signs of militia violence extremism . Mr. Wray i am not familiar with the documents you have behind you. I am not in the practice of trying to comment on documents i have not recognized. I will tell you that when we put out, it tells us products, including ones that reference symbols, which we do across a wide variety of context. We usually make great pains to put caveats and warnings in the document to make clear that a symbol alone is not considered evidence of violent extremism. Sen. Cruz you do not include things like antifa, black lives matter, instead you identify patriotic americans as suspect. I would note there is a parent have disappeared as you are aware, the National Association of school board asked the attorney general to investigate parents as domestic terrorist under the patriot act. It did so because it was upset because about moms and as coming to School Boards and disagreeing about the policy of schools your to five days after that d attorney general sent a letter to you directing the yet to target parents for investigation. Since that time, the National Association of School Boards has then apologize for the letter because it is so indefensible. That has not stopped the fbi. You have created a red tag threat tag directed at parents. How many moms and dads, who have spoken up at School Boards have the fbi interviewed or investigated since the memo from the attorney general . Mr. Wray i am not aware of any. Let me address the issue. Sen. Cruz you are not aware of any . Mr. Wray if you would let me. Let me say to you and to this committee, the same thing i said to every Fbi Field Office after i read the memo, which was that the fbi is not going to be in the business of investigation speech or investigating speeches in School Board Meetings or anywhere else. Threats of violence, that is a different matter altogether. We will work with our state local partners as we always had. Do you know how many parent to have interviewed or investigated since that memo . Mr. Wray we have had a small number of assessments and a few full investigations. Hold on. Let me finish. Sen. Cruz i am asking you a question. Mr. Wray let me finish. We have individuals who have made threats against a variety of people, sometimes a school board officials, sometimes other people. Sen. Cruz the house of representatives have sent you oversight letters detailing dozens of investigation under a threat tag directed at parents, moms, dads, who have came in because they spoke out against mask mandates, vaccine mandates, critical race. This was after the attorney general claimed it was not happening. The pattern, sadly we have seen, you said you do not know how many they are your the followup is i will send out a letter and you will send out a letter saying you are unable to answer it. Let me give you an example, recently there was the case against individuals charged with kidnapping and murdering governor the government in late michigan. The four people who went to trial, two of them were acquitted, none of them were convicted of a single charge. The basis of the defense was that the fbi, paid enforcers from the fbi had suggested and incited the conduct. How many fbi agents were disciplined our reprimanded after that disastrous case and the misconduct that led to every defendant being acquitted or having the less charge on every charge. Mr. Wray i cant comment on every charge appeared that case is pending a retrial. Sen. Cruz it now leads the investigation involving january 6. Is that correct . Mr. Wray that does not sound right to me. Sen. Cruz the name of the individual is stephen, he is the runner of the Fbi Field Office. The lead investigator, special agent, are you aware that he was apparently fired for allegedly beating his wife after coming home from a Smokers Party . He made multiple derogatory posts about President Trump showing political bias . Are you aware of that . Mr. Wray i am aware that a action that was taken about it. He was the special agent responsible for the office and now the assistant director of the field office. I thought you were asking about the agent who was responsible for this. Sen. Cruz the guy in charge got promoted and in charge of the january 6 investigation . Sen. Whitehouse senator kunz . Thank you. I want to start by thanking you in the men and women of the fbi for their service and devotion to our country, constitution, rule of law, i want to thank you for the fbis first that have made a concrete difference in my home time hometown and state. In a few weeks and months, the fbi has worked with Law Enforcement and prosecutors in delaware to secure convictions in murder for hire, stocking, kidnapping, child pornography cases. I played close attention to mike turner two years to my 22 years in elected office. The fbi is making a difference in reducing Violent Crime in wilmington and delaware. President biden in the state of the union six months ago, said clearly we should not have to choose between safety and equal justice, we should come together to protect our community to restore choice. Our answer is not to defund the police but to fund the police with training properly to check our community. The American Rescue plan, through to 50 million available for state, cities, counties to hire bullies to invest in proven strategy higher to invest in proven strategy. 13 billion in hiring and training 100,000 Additional Police officers for Accountable Community policing and make an investment in Community Violence prevention. We see the valley of this late wilmington as there has been a sharp decline in gun violence. Law Enforcement Community leaders have contributed to a multifaceted approach that brings together a focus on gun crime enforcement, investment in violence interruption programs. Could you speak directly to the valley of the approach that combines investment in Law Enforcement and Community Programs in violence interruption efforts . Mr. Wray i think the point you are getting at is spot on. One of the things that we find dealing with anything, especially like to Violent Crime threat, is that we cannot invest our weight out of it by ourselves. That is important. We have to find a way to prevent it from happening in the first place your Community Outreach is an important secondary important component to that, to do everything to get people to see something at Say Something to connecticut with law or, developed sources in that regard. Also to educate juveniles about what they may face if they pursue a path of violence. When i talked to cherubs around the country, sheriffs around our country, the phenomenon of juveniles in crime i am hearing everywhere. The loss is currently stand, limited effectiveness against juvenile violence. Those juveniles go on to graduate to more and more serious violence. If we can figure out a way to start to address a problem when they are juveniles as well come i think that has got to be an important piece. No substitute for aggressive strong Law Enforcement. As an additional component to the overall strategy. Sen. Coons one of the laws i would like to talk about is, how you are proceeding with implementing the next notification act . You referenced earlier, it is striking how many felons walk into gun stores and try to buy guns, even though they know they are a person who is prohibited. Senator and i led the passage of the notification act, which said that local Law Enforcement needs to be alerted when someone who is prohibited lies and it tries to your eye will be interested to see with the fbi is doing that requires enhanced background checks for people under 21 two by guns. Mr. Wray on the notification, i am aware that this is an issue that he have led for a long time. We are in the process, we are going to need significant system upgrades to implement that. We are in the midst of that right now. That expands the interconnectivity that we will need to have so that there is a heavy i. T. Systems upgrade dimension to fully implementing that. On the more recent legislation that you mentioned, there will be a number of new fronts interacting both with state and local colleagues on the juvenile issue with ffls under the stolen gun, potential offer for resale issue, also on the option for ffls to use the system for their employees that they are on boarding. There is going to be significant demand on both our personnel and particular in our systems as we go forward under both pieces of legislation. Sen. Coons i have one more question. Senator whitehouse asked a whole series of questions, i have joined him in a series of letters simply trying to get to the bottom of the representation that were made to me and to us, by then white House Counsel about the supplemental Background Investigation being done by the book and trying to identify whether clarity what happened in terms of the tip line, management. I think we should get answers to our questions and resolve these issues. I look forward to working with you and hearing from you in the months ahead to bring this to a close appeared mr. Wray we will work with you on that. I think i managed to get this across to senator whitehouse. I have been assured back then and repeatedly ever since that the process that we followed, practice that we follow the limited supplemental Background Investigation in this instance, who is consistent with the same process that we follow going back to the earlier trump administration, obama administration, bush administration, and we continue to follow now under the Biden Administration. Sen. Coons one of the key failures of the nasser investigation was the improper way fbi agents interviewed and interacted with victims of child sex abuse. This is something that i have long worked on both in my elected role here. Using personnel is critical in protecting victims and ensuring the integrity of the investigations, a tremendous resource is Children Advocacy Centers that provide exactly this coordination. I am working with senators klobuchar in bipartisan bill that will work higher the fbi to bring together require the fbi to bring together teams in child abuse investigations. Could you speak about the value of partnering with the existing Child Advocacy and whether or not he would support legislation that will codify so it would extend permanently . Mr. Wray i would have to review it. I am not a position to comment on legislative ideas. I share your view that this is a very specific skill set. It requires specific touch and sensitivity. That is why the child adolescence forensic interviewers that we have are so important and such a important to the recommendations we got from the Inspector General. I think the point you are getting at is consistent with that. Sen. Whitehouse thank you senator kunz. Im going to ask you to enter in the record, a copy of the page that was a part of the exhibit of the senator for texas related to symbols of militia violent extremism published by the fbi. Notes in bold print it reads, the use of a share of the symbols alone should not independently be considered evidence of militia violent extremism presence or affiliation, or service or indicator of illegal activity, as many individuals use the symbols where the original story meaning or other nonviolent purposes. Without objection, i will that into the record. Director wray, i send you a letter lasted about the fbis decision to try to obtain sensitive personal information related to concealed carry permits in the state of missouri. Have you read this . Mr. Wray i have had a chance to glance at it. Yes. Lets talk about it. Why is the fbi attempted to audit concealed carry permit records in missouri . Mr. Wray the first thing i would say is a, we would get to a longer or detailed specific response to your letter. I am generally familiar with the laws we are talking about. We will followup with you in writing to giphy a more full answer to your letter. The kinds of followup with you in writing to give you a full answer to your letter. These are audits that we do, not with agents, if there are no agents out talking to people, there are routine audits of the system to make sure the system is in use properly. They do that at the direction of an advisory policy board that is manned with not just fbi agents, not just federal Law Enforcement, but state Law Enforcement from all of the country. These audits go on. They look at small samples in order to make sure the system is being used properly. They are not focused on individuals for the Second Amendment rights or anything like that. These audits, which go on every three years i think it is the cycle. We had one in your home state in 2018. I think it was very uneventful, i would expect just one to be as well. Sen. Hawley there was one in 2018. The sheriff said in 2018 is that the bee i not request concealed carry records. You are requesting it this year. Only the sheriffs have these concealed carry records. Missouri law pervades concealed carry permit information to be permits concealed carry permit information to be carried. I just want to understand why it is the fbi is seeking from our sheriffs. We are talking about multiple shares who have contacted me, contact their state officials, spoken to the press, saying the pi is now asking for the fbi is now asking for the names of concealed carry permit holders in the state of missouri. Why is that . Mr. Wray im going to have to look deeper into that to give you more fulsome answer to your question. My limited understanding right now, not having a chance to drill into it more deeply. The Missouri State law checks for concealed carry permits are run using one of the systems that and ministers. Administrators. I think that may explain the answer. Let me follow up with you in more detail in writing. Sen. Hawley so you can confirm . You just said that would be the reason for requesting this information. Mr. Wray i do not know that for a fact. That is what i heard maybe they explained the disconnect appeared sen. Hawley you said you heard from your agents . Mr. Wray i heard from people within the organization. I am trying to unpack what exactly is going on with the particular audit. I have committed to that we will make sure to give you a detailed response in writing. Sen. Hawley what could you possibly be doing with the personal information of these individuals . Are you doing this to other states as well . Or is this just missouri . Mr. Wray i know we are doing routine audits in some other states. I think it is a function of different state laws as to what is exactly in scope in terms of the use of the system. Why are you asking for it now in the state of missouri when you do not ask for it in the past . Mr. Wray im going to have to give you more information to provide a written response to your letter. Sen. Hawley what steps will the fbi take to make sure it remains private . Mr. Wray the same answer. I want to be careful not to speak when i do not have all of the facts. Sen. Hawley ok. So youre not good to answer my question as well . Mr. Wray i do not have the answer. Sen. Hawley you are not prepared to answer them. I sent you this letter days ago. This has been on your radar screen. The attorney general of our state you a letter prefer that. You have known about this. This affects Missouri State law. You praise your Law Enforcement partners earlier today. Youre putting them in a terrible position, state law says they cannot turn over these personal records, sheriffs cannot. You are asking them to. Apparently, what a unprecedented fashion, i want to know what in the world you are doing with this. I do not like the fact that the fbi is snooping around the concealed carry permit records of missouri, i do not like it at all. I do not know what youre going to do with the information. I do not like that youre putting our sheriffs in this position. Im disappointed you are not asking my question. Afghan refugees, the agency has said in the past hoping to bet refugees who are brother after the you are brought here after the. Im sure the Inspector General has said there are at least 50 afghan personnel who are brought to the United States you have derogatory information could be a terrorist, could be involved in terroristic activities. 50 of them who have been brought here released in the United States cannot be found. The information was turned over to you. Heres my question. A whistleblower has come forward to senator johnson and myself and i. Despite the appearing on dod watchlist, this is a watchlist that identifies biometrics who have determined by threats or potential threats to the National Security including noun suspected terrorists. There is a lot more than 50. 324. Are you aware of this as a dod or has this been committed getting to the fbi . Mr. Wray i do not know that i have the exact number. I know that there are a number of individuals that we are actively trying to investigate as a result of. Sen. Hawley how many . Mr. Wray i do not know if we can get you a number. I will see what i can do as a followup. Sen. Hawley as many as the 400 individuals who have been brought to this country, heavy interview any of them . Apprehended any of them . Mr. Wray i know that there have been a number of individuals, lots of individuals who came as part as the evacuation. I think there have been a number of destructions. How many of those who have been arrested and so forth, i will have to get back to you on that. Sen. Hawley dod instructed Agency Personnel to cut corners when they were processing afghan evacuees. Fingerprint test to abbreviate those tests in order for evacuation. They also alleged personnel and dhs who worked on the venting have been authorized to delete all biometric data whenever they personally want to. These are troubling allegations. Are you aware of these allegations . Mr. Wray i am not familiar with the report you are referring to. This was a massive number of people to be venting in a extraordinary period of time. In my view it raises concerns. Sen. Hawley i think you are right about that. In fact, we note that the basic procedures were not followed i know that the basic procedures were not followed. Hundreds of people connected to terrorism arent loose in this country as a result. Sen. Whitehouse senator bloomfield will be recognized next. Then we will have two more individuals questioning. The director will take a fiveminute break at that point. I just want to say at the record, you made it clear, you have a hard stop coming up soon. Were going to try to keep everyone within the time that they are supposed to take. Thanks. Director wray, thanks for being here today and thank you for your five years of dedicated service to our country. Thanks to all of those 38,000 men and women with whom you have also dedicated their lives to making our country safer. I believe that the fbi is a Law Enforcement organization of preeminent skill, dedication to preserving our rights and liberty. I welcome your accommodation of the master investigation. I was deeply disappointment disappointment. I remain angry that there was no prosecution of the two agents, not only for their actions in failing to pursue those allegations, thereby putting more young women at risk. In fact, more than at risk, they became victims as a result of the failure to investigate. Also im true lies untrue lies to the investigation. The declaration of prosecution was infuriating to many of the survivors and to me. Were you consulted in that . Mr. Wray as you may appreciate in your role as a former u. S. Attorney, prosecuting decisions are made by persecutors over the department. My views on the in particular of the couple of people in the indianapolis field office, their failures have been publicly emotionally by me. On our end fired the one individual who were still at the fbi. That is all i have to say on this. Sen. Blumenthal you are not consulted on the decision . Which eisai may not be understandable because you are not the investigative body in particular for the mind to the fbi and prosecution . Mr. Wray my views about the conduct, more importantly what did not happen in the master case were communicated in a variety of ways, including the department. As to the declaration decision, i am not aware of us having any role in that. Sen. Blumenthal did you agree with it . Mr. Wray im going to respectfully decline to answer that question. My views on the ages conduct are best reflected in my Public Comments and the actions we took with the fbi. Sen. Blumenthal thank you. You have been very forthright and aggressive, condemning the violence. I think you agree with me when we last talked about it, you agree that the most persistent and lethal threat to the homeland and quoting from the department of Homeland Security is domestic terrorism, violent extremism, White Supremacy in this country from within. Is that still your view . Mr. Wray close. I will put it slightly different but somewhat similar. The greatest that we face in the this domestic terrorism highlight extremism and White Supremacy in this country from within. Is that still your view . Close, i would put it slightly differently but it is somewhat similar. And that is the greatest that we face here in the homeland is from our largely lone actors already here. Largely radicalized online a big chuck of those are violent extremists another big chuck of those chuck but there are people who are here and have a lot in common. Of domestic violent extremists, racially motivated violence extremism is responsible for the most lethal attacks that weve seen in the country over the last several years. And of the racially motivated extremes, the biggest the superiority of the white race. Continuing on to the present. And we have that government and violent extremism. Sometimes there is an overlap but it is different. That includes everything from alisha violent extremism and anarchist violent extremism. They have a focus on institutions and government as their likely target. What they want to do is tear down the government and support insurrections like we saw january 6. They are fostered by a lot of Online Communications using social media. Correct . Correct. And what can be done to counter the use of social media to incite violence . And is social media doing enough now . Well, what can be done, i would say we are trying to encourage more people just as they do in the physical world, or the cultural the Virtual World is if they see something to Say Something. If they see someone expressing violence and criminal activity on the internet we want people to reach out to Law Enforcement and let them know so they can prevent an attack. So we need more of that. You mentioned social Media Companies. We tried to work with the social Media Companies and there are things that they can and do using their terms of service. And violations of their terms of service to take accounts down and things like that. But there is i think a phenomenon that we all have to recognize. Which is that the social Media Industry enjoys the ability to amplify and connect people. There are good things that come with that and bad things that come with that. We would all be in a better place the more the Companies Take risks responsibility for misuse. An abuse of the platforms. One question for you, two of my colleagues have written taken action to try to gain back gain expedition of fugitives that are presently in cuba. I do not know whether you are a mayor aware of the initiative. But today we are aware that theres at least 70 fugitives from american justice in cuba. And a full list will not be available by the fbi for perhaps decades. Is there a reason that that list has not been available . And would you commit to making it available . Whether there are fugitives from american justice . I am not familiar with the specific list or issue you are listing so let me drill into that and circle back. I am aware of one case that is prominent. Most wanted terrorist who killed Law Enforcement. In new jersey. It really is something that strikes Law Enforcement and he is believed to still be in cuba. So its an initiative we feel strongly about. Would you circle back and provide i see no reason that will or are a nation. And could perth confirm and provide that list. Let me follow up on what information we can provide. Im not familiar with the issues that are implicated. But i will be as transparent as we can be. Thank you chairman. Who is the most significant geopolitical photo the United States faces in the next decade . That would be china and the chinese part of inc. You. We get you and your team on Intel Committee is it your view that the u. S. Government has made massive improvement in thwarting economic espionage from the ccp . I think is a country, weve made significant strides in terms of recognition of the problem. I think i i find what i deal with is leaders for example, and adversity and the level of concern they express and the level of awareness that they reflect about the threat. And it is moving in the right direction in my view. But this is a problem of massive scale. For sharks jet to some extent to some extent we are catching up as a country. We are beating the bushes and interacting with the business community. Trying to raise awareness it is hard to think in some ways that something that significant could fly that far under the radar for so many people. But i am committed to making sure it does not stay that way. There is so much Public Awareness we are raising at hardening the targets that are targeted by the ccp to steal economic assets of the American Invasion and taxpayers and firms. The numerator is the awareness but conversations that weve had with you in private. Can you explain the history of justices view on Chinas Initiative . On the China Initiative, i would largely defer the department on its description of its change in the initiative. The original was just the department construct. I will tell you, i have been consistent. Both under the initiative and cents. In my assessment of the threat. And we at the fbi are not taking our foot off the gas. We have the proper predication and we will not be basing investigations on national origins. And when i look at my state publicly when im giving speeches on this topic to make a point this is not about the Chinese People or chineseamericans i want you to continue but i want to stop this pitches because chairman warner and i have said the same thing. Theres one put 4 Million People in china created in chinas in gods image. They are a small portion of the are part of this. And dictator there is genocide happening in our time and that is because of a few bad actors part of the Chinese People but chairman g xi are our appointments opponents and we need to say that clearly. It feels like we are killing China Initiative because of rhetorical challenges where you have said many times that china are a longterm geopolitical threat. So please continue, but i agree with the point you are making but nobody has been arguing a counterpoint. The way i understand the initiative, and i will refer you to the department to try the initiative, but the way i understand it but it is to broaden the focus to make sure that we are focusing on the transactional pressure from other nations and not just on china. And we have been doing that but that makes it clear. There is only one nation that can defeat the u. S. Again, i said i have probably spoken more on this one topic they may be other topic since ive been around. And i think i have been maybe almost painfully consistent all the way through. One point that goes to the heart of what you are driving at with the big push right now that goes on with the espionage peace and cyber peace. The oppression you are describing in china is an export of the peoples republic of china that they are engaging in included right here in the u. S. And, so, we have tried with the Department Support to be more aggressive in calling out the conduct and show how that conduct is designed to people like that here in the u. S. Is designed to help facilitate the Economic Economic espionage. Because the more it is available the easier it is to engage in this campaign. We had a case not that long ago and baffled that it hasnt gotten more attention in new york. We are actors affiliated with security salt to derail a congressional candidate. First, by trying to see if they could dig up dirt on the candidate and then to see if they could make up dirt on the candidate. And then to see if they could figure out a way to have the candidate before all and accident. And in some form of physical violence all because this candidate had been a challenge where a protester and prodemocracy voice. That is one candidate but this is happening in the u. S. It is not happening back there. They are doing it here. We are trying to call it out. Claxton executives fired the nba ended they get workers the marriott and nebraska fired for the state of hong kong. I complement the support of the work you are doing and encourage you in the patriotic americans of the bureau to keep focusing on the thank you director. Thank you we recognize senator and after her question there will be a five minute break and we will return for recession. Thank you mr. Chairman. Welcome. When we talk about your concern about domestic terrorism which you indicated in prior testimony was a top concern, that racially and ethnically motivated violence extremism is at the highest threat level. So you know noted that some of the indicators that you look at in terms of who commits domestic terrorism you suggest that if you see something you have to Say Something. The second factor is largely radicalized and difficult to get at because we have First Amendment issues and other issues. And then that other point was easy access to weapons. I am looking at the third act factor and wondering what you suggest for limiting the easy access to guns. Briefly. Certainly, guns are one of the weapons that Domestic Violence extremist use and have easy access to. We want to make sure we are focusing on the laws that we have and the individuals who pursue we are also seeing violent extremist use crude ieds that they can make easily off the internet. Lets focus on guns. Should people be able to have easy access to ar15 . And you noted you saw an increase in modified guns and automatic. On those areas that we can and should address to limit the last the Mass Shootings we are seeing virtually every day in our country . As you can appreciate, i will not comment on specific legislative ideas. That is not my place or role, that i will say there are individuals who represent danger and those are people we want to prevent in whatever way we can from getting access to weapons. It would be great if we had Law Enforcement officials they came forward and did not credit set that because our nation is on guns. And theres been an increase in violence after big decision. Historically weve seen against the murder of abortion doctors. Have a bombing of Abortion Clinics and i note that today you said you do not care where the orientation is. Anyone who threatens or engages in this violence should be prosecuted. So, do you keep track of the rise in violence after the Dobbs Decision . Because i think that information would be very useful. Claxton we have various ways of keeping track. I forget how it is broken down i cannot tell you that right now but i know we keep track of abortionrelated violent extremism which is designed to capture the full spectrum of people who commit violent on either side of that issue. And, i believe that we have seen an uptick in the category. I think it would be really important for us to have because frankly, theres been a tremendous increase in threats against members of the house and senate. And i actually have been the threat in person was prosecuted and he threatened me because i supported abortion. So you have a situation such as in the state of texas where you have bounty hunters that can go after people who provide abortions in that state and who assist. These are not even Law Enforcement people. You have concerns about what might happen if you have all of these people literally able to go after people for 10,000 of bounty . I have concerns about anybody who is going to violate federal criminal law and engage in violence whether it is by violent extremism related to abortion or anything else. I would say with the buyer meant been in, nonLaw Enforcement people can be induced by 10,000. I think that is an issue and area of concern. That will be an area i will be playing paying special attention to states that can provide that. Let me turn to Child Exploitation among native hawaiians. This impacts native children in the state of hawaii disproportionately. Women and girls represent 67 of sex trafficking dictums in recent studies. Native hawaiians represent 37 of child sex trafficking cases. And the same trust wrong we owe the same trust responsibility to them as we do to other native americans. Tribal nonprofit organizations are eligible for the same programs, but the vallow bill fails to allow native hawaiian women and children to apply for support. Here is my question, i hope that the bureau will begin to include native hawaiians in the work to address missing and murdered Indigenous People. And crisis against Indigenous People because even though it does not specifically allow for protection of hawaiian women and children there is nothing that stops it from including native hawaiian women and children as part of your charge. Can you begin to talk about this and your programmatic efforts . I will say that you put your finger on and in portion important issue. Our office has been working hard to target and pursue federal charges unknown and Human Trafficking defenders and what they tell me is that you are seeing gangs and Drug Trafficking organizations exploit vern noble victims. And as you say with the statistics you are citing, is on marginalized sectors. Especially native hawaiians. It was just this past week that our Honolulu Office recovered three minor females who were missing and at risk on the island. I know they are they are aggressively working on that issue. You are asking other a number of questions about the China Initiative and when you have an environment where you talk about the pandemic and the chinese virus, you see a rise of hate crimes against asians. And as some people can recognize, that i do not happen to be chinese, but a lot of people think i am. The China Initiative to abuses and including who they will target. Including researchers and others that the fbi admitted so i hope the fbi has guardrails and how they will pursue investigations that do not target based on drug trafficker. What is a result, in 2021 we had over 100,000 drug overdoses and fentanyl crossing the border at 70 was about 70 of the 100,000. Thanks to the open borders, drug traffickers are poisoning our streets and killing our children. And they are trafficking innocent victims with reckless abandon. This administration is failing mr. Chairman could i have a minute to have a discussion with the fbi director. Of course. We just heard a half hour ago about how you have to leave it 1 30 when he announces meeting and he said we will have seven minute first rounds, three minutes second rounds, ive got seven people on my side of the aisle wanting their additional three minutes. Is there any reason we could not accommodate them for 21 minutes . Or whatever democrats want second rounds four. President i senator i have a flight im supposed to hightail it to after here i thought we would end it 1 30 so that is how we end up where we are. If it is your business trip you have your own plane. Can it wait a while . Sorry, to be honest, i have tried to make my break as fast as i could to get out of here. Took more than five minutes. This is a tight ship mr. Director. I do not recall mentioning a second round. I want to keep it as minimum as i can and be respectful of the fact that this is your third appearance in two years before the committee and i appreciate that very much. You want to make sure we do this at a regular basis. So i want to ask to stick to your seven minutes. Weve had violations of that but if we can stick with it i would appreciate it. And then we recognize senator go out of his way thank you chair durban. And director i think you for being here. I particularly appreciate your opening comments with respect to the 38,000. People that work in the fbi being good hardworking, honest people. Doing their job and doing a dangerous job. We have seen that with some of your testimony related to the loss of life. I will stick to my time or yield back a little bit more because my colleague senator lee cited concerns of that i have about past investigations. And senator cruz pointed out important issues that we can deal with. And i can submit questions for the record. I put a copy of this on your desk so you can see it. Because i did not have time to have it blown up but i talked about this at a Committee Hearing a week or so ago. A lot of your testimony talked about what a dangerous job it is for fbi and local Law Enforcement and state Law Enforcement last week i happened to do a google primary fundraising engine for democrats. We have an equivalent. They raised 513 Million Dollars between april 1 and june 30 this year. But the result came back to a sub page which is sponsored by black lives matter. In is called the 13. 12 mile run for justice. And so far they raised about 1. 1 million. And this is directly from the website. By 3. 1 two miles. Three point 12 equals aca be which equals all cops are bast roots. Bastards dismantling White Supremacy and demand telling the police. Do you think that all of them are bastards . Do you think that most of them are white supremacist . Absolutely not. Do you think that this is unhelpful to address the issue that you raised in your opening testimony about the safe security of Law Enforcement in this nation . I have a lot of things i would say about this and the message in it many of them are not appropriate for the hearing. It is a piece. I was thinking about senator cruzs comment. I could actually see based on the appeal, and it is still on the website, they are trying to raise 1. 1 three 2 million or 1. 1 million so far. It would seem to me, that the people that would actually say this and say that you should run around police stations to do 13 miles and that you should make noise to make yourself known. It seems to me they are rising and extremist organizations. That organization. And unlike blacks black lives matter black and blue i do not think that most people in black lives matter i think some of them are and the statements published on the internet to make Police Officers less safe may warrant an opportunity to have a black lives matter flag somewhere in the fbi saying not all of them are bad. Just like he said some of the people observing the civils of our nation are not all bad. Why would it not be logical to say the people that say this stuff could actually have a number or a small number for taking an extremist position that makes Law Enforcement less safe. It potentially instigates attacks against Law Enforcement officers. Whys that something the fbi should study and make that known that the community should look at this . I think comment number one, i want to be careful, im not commenting on First Amendment expression. But when it comes to violent extremism of any kind, it does not matter to me or us at the fbi of whether you are upset with the election or the results of our criminal justice system. You do not get to use violence to his express that sentiment. And we have put out intelligence products that we call violent extremism. Some of it is actually not advocated in spirit against the white race. But violent extremism is another way as well. In some instances, weve investigated those that brought charges. I hope you will. I will continue to monitor this and the fundraising process, this is not the last time this committee will see it. But as long as they are doing the stuff we have to call them out for it. The same way i would call out anyone at the other end of the spectrum for citing violence against anyone it is wrong and making the Community Less safe. Last question, be quick so i can yield back my time, can you give me an idea of anyone that has been held accountable who is involved in crossfire hurricane investigation and what actions have been taken and if any . We taken a whole slew of actions. Over 40 plus corrective measures. Is anybody in the bureau discipline . Theres a number of people in our office of professional responses. You may wonder why that has not yielded results yet and that is because we are working closely with cooperating closely with assisting the durham investigation. The whole process is not unusual. And it has slowed down to make sure he does not interfere with the durham investigation. Out want to thank every employer the hard work that they do and thank you mr. Chair. I know my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, i hope that they are wider to the American Public as a whole. I do not think americans understand the extraordinary work the fbi does. I want to thank you and know what it means every day that our officers are putting their lives on the live on the line to protect other americans. I know this from my work in 2006 when i took over the city was with the Jersey Office of the fbi. And i learned a lot about what they do for counterterrorism and dealing with the number one issue of my city. If i remember correctly it was 90 of residents concerned about their physical safety in communities as a rise in Gang Violence was happening. Here is the f ei working hand in hand with global Police Officers local Police Officers you and i both know the number one victims of gun violence in the United States are black and brown. And so, when folks say black lives matter, when folks say they are concerned about violence that we see in the communities, i want you to understand, and i know you do, there is a deep appreciation of Law Enforcement. There is a desire for more of Law Enforcement. That is one of the reasons i have a bipartisan bill to give resources to clear murders because a clearance rates in our cities are low. And i recognize the work you do and celebrate and thank you for the work you and your agents do. I also recognize how dangerous it is for law officers at a time these weapons are proliferated. Not one of the shootings one i can find in my city hundreds of shootings were done with someone who acquired a gun illegally. We are not talking about Second Amendment rights but we are talking about the ease in which people can get their hands on guns in the community. But i want to talk about the guy who walks through neighborhoods to come here that i know africanamerican that people put up an amount of subscribing to violence or whatever the internet meme is about. They say we have a disproportionate number of africanamericans that are dying and we should do something about it as a society. You understand that, correct . Yes. Collects one of the ways i found in running the Police Department when i was mayor of the city, is collecting data that helps you understand i want to drill into that because you have a lot of reporting in the area. The fbi under james comey they talked about how critical collecting data was in march of 2022 you said their participation by state and local Law Enforcement agencies has reached a reporting use of force 60 of force mandated by the omb to release that data. And the fbi plan to release certain aspects of the data. I am not sure why it has taken them so long to get to 60 participation at this data is important to understand the use in force. You agree with that, correct . Yes. And i try to message the importance of submitting data and the use of force data with local counterparts all across the country and the point i tried to make to them is discuss sins on this issue and use of force happen no matter what. We are better off if the this cautions happen on the cold hard data. Innovative everybody interest particularly Law Enforcement to get the data so we can have an accurate picture. Collects if you cannot measure it you cannot manage it. And it is estimated because we do not have the data that over 1000 people were shot and killed by the police every single year. Making no judgment on whether it is justified or not but you and i have seen the videos of unarmed people being shot and killed. We understand that this is not a number that Police Officers want to see they want to see the number as low as possible. Not having one officer fired their weapon was a very good year. That i am curious about something, since the fbi collects data on is this is resulting in death or serious Bodily Injury is that type of reporting burdensome on agencies . It depends on the department. As you know from your past life, the kinds of departments nationwide range wildly in terms of their i. T. System it may vary from place to place. We try to do what we can to provide assistance to them to figure out how to do it more efficiently. And a low cost system. It is a critical tool. The better data we get, the better lawmakers can make decisions. I was interested in the data that was released in 2021. The number one reason some was subject to the force of a Police Officer was because of a failed to comply with verbal commands or other types of passive resistance. This is a more common display of threatening a Police Officer more it was failing to comply with verbal commands. Do you understand what kind of passive resistance can result in a person being shot by a Police Officer . I would have to give that were thought to give you a good answer on that one. Ok because i would really like to understand that. I talked to my lease officers and they tell me that they have training on the issue they do not have to use force if they were better trained. They may be justified in that but the importance of that. It is a general matter. Yeah ok. 40 percent of state and local agencies did not successfully report fraud including the new york and the majority populous states. The low Participation Rate complicates our ability to federally respond to the Public Safety trends and challenges that is a yes or no question you agree with that, right . Yes we need complete data as possible. It is in everybodys interest to give the most comprehensive and accurate picture. Class a month ago i think the q hoping you will respond asking questions about the fbis plans to increase her dissipation and reporting and communicating the importance of that. I hope that you can engage. Because as a manager, i cannot manage something that i cannot measure. I am hoping that is being prioritized. I would like to say in conclusion, you have been phenomenal in responding to me and engaging with the own staff. Especially getting women and minorities moving up in the ranks at the fbi. We have been grateful that the attention you give into this and engagement with my office i would ask that you would continue to do that because you and i agree when it comes to gender, religion, and Race Diversity we are not where we want to be. And we know from policing how powerful it is in Building Trust and achieving our goal in Public Safety to approve of women and minorities in Public Safety. I know you would agree. I agree. We have a long way to go even though we are making strides. I8 knowledge that are both men. Thank you chairman. We appreciate that. From several that have question you. There appears to be a perception that we have two tiers of justice. And one is for people that are favored and one that is for ordinary americans and that his come through many of the questions you have heard from us. I want to ask you a few things so that we can get it on the record. And it may help restore faith in the bureau. And the work they are trying to do. Americans looked at what they perceived to be and i think rightly so a ton of money that was wasted on the russia investigation. Do you agree that the allegation of secret collusion between President Trump and russia was a hoax . Yes or no . I do not think that is the terminology i would use, but i think there is a lot on this subject. And both special counsels would report yes or no. Yes but that is not a term i would use. Do you agree that the laptop was not and for disinformation . Now you are asking about an Ongoing Investigation that i expect our folks to pursue aggressively and i cannot comment on that. And you possess the laptop, right . I cannot answer that. When do we expect to hear from general durham with his report . That is a question for special counsel durham. We are actively assisting him in that investigation. Do you agree that an open border is a National Security threat . As i said in response i think theres serious Security Issues on the border and a wide range of criminal rents we are concerned about at the fbi. And that transitions from everything in game violence, yes the county continues to tell me last friday i was with seven different counties and the number one issue for them is an open order and the presence of drug traffickers. Drugs, Human Trafficking, they talk about the cartels that have set up hubs. They can tell you where the drugs are coming from that are coming into the community. Human mention 300 taskforces you have. Do you have one that is specific to this . I was surprised yesterday with mr. Polito who was before us for the Criminal Division they did not seem to have one that was focused specifically on these cartels. We at the fbi have a number of things focused on that. We have what we call our talk program which is an organized criminal program and another program is focused on the western hemisphere of cartels. Thank you. Theres a number of taskforces they are. I think one of the things that has concerned me is the number of terrorists that are coming across that border. So far in fiscal year 22, weve had 56. There were 15 noncitizen terrorists across in 21, three in 2020, and zero in 2019. What are you all doing to help apprehend these individuals . Senator holland talked with you about the afghan refugees. People remember what happened on 9 11. They remember what happened to see this number of terrorist that are coming across that border and into the country, how are you tracking, monitoring, apprehending, and investigating these individuals . There are two things i would say. One is that we are constantly sharing information with dhs and our partners to improve Border Security in that regard. And second, through george Terrorism Task forces across the country we are investigating any number of individuals here in the u. S. Attempting to put together cases. Let me ask you this once a local sheriff reports to an Fbi Field Office that they have someone they think is a bad actor, how long does it take you all to do that . You use the term audit, assessment, an investigation. How long does it take you to respond to that and get these going . As you could imagine it depends on the circumstances. We give investigations the same day. Let me move on and you can send that to me in writing. I want to get to the issue on china with you. We continue to be concerned and i appreciate your intention to china, but we are continuing to see beijing, the Chinese Communist party, not the people, but the Chinese Communist party on the u. S. Government disrupt our military operations. Are you all working with the department of defense to address the threat of equipment that is coming in. And we know the Chinese Communist party is buying property and farmland near our military installations and our sensitive infrastructure. Are you all on top of that . We are working closely with a number of department agencies. There is a lot happening in this case. One of the things i would suggest is my folks coming up and giving you a classified briefing. I would appreciate that. It would be helpful. We had a situation last year with the university of tennessee professor who came through the program to ut. It goes to trial and the uses the familiar line they started to do to say this is an issue of race. We are continued in that what they used to defend this individual. We are concerned about that. And how all of that inks to the confucius institute. A lot of universities have shut that down and they are renaming them chinese language and culture programs. So how are you all monitoring and tracking the individuals that are under contract to the ccp that are coming in with these programs to spy and still our intellectual property. Steal our intellectual property propaganda and programs. We are working very closely with universities on this subject. Instances like the one you cited, where the case went south, theres a lot of Media Attention but theres a lot happening all the time across the country in a positive way. Are you tracking the monetary donations from china that are all ccp linked that are going into universities . Well, you talked about two Different Things in the academic setting. There is the Research Theft piece and the confucius institute. Im putting the second one to the side for a minute, the first, the whole way in which the plans are used involves funding of researchers from Chinese Government to essentially steal u. S. Taxpayer funded research here. Our investigations inevitably get into that. Is the end of my time. Thank you mr. Chairman. I recognize sinner thank you mr. Chair. I want to ask a continuation of a conversation we had earlier. Rules committee broadly related to account act. Just yesterday we talked about the rise of threats to Elections Officials and administrators. And it stems from a Briefing Held earlier this week by the assistant attorney general that took place on monday. It indicated the department of justice elections threatens task force 1000 contacts reported as hostile or harassing by the election committee. Of these 1000 contacts, about 11 were found to in a federal criminal investigation. About four cases have been charged so far. So 11 of the 1000, four cases have been charged. In the first place, the task force has reportedly reviewed are there additional contacts waiting to be reviewed . How familiar are you with this activity . I am not sure i am familiar with the flow of the numbers, i know that there has been a significant over the last year a uptick an engagement. With Election Officials. As been tabletop exercises we have done calls with 1000 plus election workers and officials. In not sure i think i am lost on the numbers of it. That is fine i am guess the more important question is a matter of policies. To your knowledge, does the task force review every contact that has been reported as hostile . To my knowledge, but i would have to circle back to you in case there is clarification. I would like clarification of the policy what to further investigate and whatnot. And what to not investigate. In the same spirit, we are living in an era where elections workers at the state level, local level, and volunteers feel that they are under increased rent from election deniers and others who may we believe its critical that the federal government demonstrates that it stands ready to respond to election communities concerns. Doing that requires an adequate allocation of resources to the problem. First of all, the question to what i asked, assistant attorney general yesterday is in each of the Fbi Field Offices, is there a special agent assigned specifically to the task of responding to interest concerns raised about election response . Or is it an additional responsibility on top of others . Let me answer your question this be this way. We have at the fbi every field office somebody specifically designated as an election crimes coordinator. That is their responsibility and it is a program weve had in place for a while. Within uptick in the trend you are talking about, the burden and workload of those people has significantly grown. I think before those coordinators would see huge uptick in work around the time of the election, but now, with electionrelated violence and Political Violence becoming a 365 days a year annulment on, those folks phenomenon, those folks with the uptick in engagement between the fbi and the field offices and the state and local election counterparts, the job has grown significantly. B emphasize a point you just made. There is a highlight. It is no longer just around election time. When this starts up, we start making a focus on this. In the 2016 election because the world changed in that cycle. It was not just election day it was leading up to election day but it was a registration in. Two underscore it has been almost two years since november 2020 election, and yes or no, are there people still challenging the results of the november 2020 election . And not just social media posts and tweets, that activity threatening activity that stems from that yes or no . Certainly, all of the various election threats we contend with have become more of a ubiquitous all year long phenomenon. Not the ones you just mentioned but also the foreign influence piece. The foreign governments and the efforts a lot of people do not realize because they focus on the election time, but those efforts, cyber targeting and other efforts, those are happening in the same way all year long. One more statement and final question. This, we appreciate how quickly the fbi and other agencies not up to speed on this information and the disinformation dangers physical and otherwise it creates her confidence in the democracy. Specifically the general policy and others not taking public action for written statements close to election as it pertains to candidates for office. We now have more and more of election deniers and conspiracy theorist running for office specifically for Office Related to Election Administration at the state and local level. I hope that we are thinking ahead on that and strategizing how to maintain the policies of neutrality and not being political but at the same time doing what is necessary to defend our democracy. Final question, what else do you need from congress or this committee specifically to receive adequate resources and attention for the issues . Our budget request calls for a significant upgrade in the i. T. System. We talked in thank you, senator padilla. Senator kennedy . Sen. Kennedy thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Director, who is Timothy Tebow . Dir. Wray mr. Tebow was, for some period of time, until relatively recently, what is called an asac in our Washington Field office. Sen. Kennedy he was the assistant special agent in charge . Dir. Wray there is a number with of them in the Washington Field office. The structure is there that is the head of the office, then sacs, then the level he was at. Sen. Kennedy and he has or had been with the fbi about 25 years, is that right . Dir. Wray now you are testing my knowledge a little bit. Sen. Kennedy ok. He was a powerful guy, is that correct . Dir. Wray im sorry . Sen. Kennedy he was a powerful guy is that correct . Dir. Wray i dont know that i would use that description. Sen. Kennedy ok. He had no power . Dir. Wray i think every Law Enforcement agent in the fbi, with the responsibilities they are entrusted with, has significant power. Sen. Kennedy did he work on the President Trump russian collusion investigation . Dir. Wray uh, im not sure i know the answer to that. Not that i am aware of, but i cannot say that with certainty. Sen. Kennedy did he or does he work on the fbi investigation of Esther Hunter biden . Dir. Wray so, the investigation that you are referring to, and i have to be careful because we are talking about an Ongoing Investigation, is being run on of our baltimore field office, working with the delaware u. S. Attorney who is a holdover from the prior administration. Sen. Kennedy so, im confused with your answer. Did he work or does he work on the hunter biden investigation . Dir. Wray as i said, the hunter biden investigation is being run out of the baltimore field office. Sen. Kennedy isnt it true that in september 2020 special agent tebow went on social media and light it will liked a Washington Post article entitled william barr has gone rogue. Dir. Wray i have seen descriptions to that effect. I have to be a little bit careful about how far we can go in this conversation, because of specific, ongoing personal matters. Sen. Kennedy isnt it true that in september 2020 special agent tebow went on social media and posted a Washington Post article titled why the Michael Flynn case Still Matters . Dir. Wray that is a similar answer to the one i gay gave before. Sen. Kennedy isnt it true that in november 2020 special agent tebow, assistant special agent in charge of the d. C. Office, who allegedly on the trump Russia Collusion Investigation and hunter biden investigation retweeted a Lincoln Project with that said, donald trump is a psychological im sorry a psychologically embittered and deeply unhappy man . Dir. Wray again, i have seen descriptions of posts, and im really trying to be careful not to get in the way of any ongoing personnel matters. Sen. Kennedy isnt it also true that in january 2001 in response to alabama senator Tommy Tubervilles election to the United States senate from alabama, of course, special agent tebow went on social media and posted thank god for mississippi, the state motto of alabama . Dir. Wray i cannot quote chapter and verse on ace on an individuals social media posts. Sen. Kennedy isnt it also true that in june 2020 special agent in charge tebow, a 25year veteran of the agency tweeted to congresswoman liz cheney, your dad was a disgrace. Dir. Wray i have seen descriptions to that effect, but im going to be careful not to interfere with any ongoing person. Sen. Kennedy last month didnt agent tebow go on media and tweet, can we give kentucky to the Russian Federation . Dir. Wray again, same answer i have given before. Sen. Kennedy all right. Isnt it true that mr. Tebow agent tebow, excuse me and fbi supervisory Intelligence Analyst brian oakton covered up rogatory information about mr. Hunter biden while working for the fbi . Dir. Wray well, again, i want to be very careful not to interfere with ongoing personnel matters. I should say that when i read the letter that describes the kinds of things you are talking about, i found it deeply troubling. Sen. Kennedy it is troubling. And it is not about their political beliefs. It is not about their political beliefs. It is about that this is a senior employee at the fbi with years of experience. Going on social media and tweeting this kind of stuff. Dir. Wray so, i have since i have started sen. Kennedy which gives people the russian the impression there is bias, whether there is or isnt. Dir. Wray i feel very strongly, and i have communicated consistently since i started as director that our folks need to make sure they are not just doing the right thing, that they are doing it in the right way and that they avoid even the appearance of bias or lack of objectivity. In fact, one of the things i did , which to my knowledge had never been done before at the fbi, was in 2018 i pulled together and i started at the top, which in my experience as somebody in Law Enforcement, it never works that way. I started at the top and brought the 250 top people from the guy from one corner of the globe to the other for a fullday standdown in quantico, where the focus of the message heard from the general inspector, a judge the whole focus was on the importance of the appearance sen. Kennedy but you would not do Something Like this. This man had been with the fbi for 25 years. He is now on leave. He did this kind of stuff as recently as last month. Do you know how this looks to the American People . Dir. Wray i will tell you that what you are describing is not representative of the fbi that i see up close everyday day in this country. Where i see patriots working their tails off sen. Kennedy and i agree with that and have said that to you repeatedly. But you are killing yourselves with this stuff. In this investigation needs to be completed on this gentleman, and the results need to be reported to the American People. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Sen. Durbin thank you, senator kennedy. Senator also . Sen. Ossoff director wray, nice to see you again. I want to commend your staff for their professionalism and ongoing work. I know you have a new sac there. We wish her the best in her new role. Senator grassley and i recently introduced legislation to strengthen federal protections of children subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation online. In fact, the Atlanta Field Office recently issued a warning to georgia parents and children about an increase in sextortion cases, where adults manipulate minors into engaging in Sexual Activity or ask licit photos, and then extort those children or their families for money. Will you commit to continue to prioritize the protection of children from online abuse at the fbi and tell us about what you were doing to that end . Dir. Wray i think you are right. It is an important priority and has only increased in importance. Sextortion, in particular, we have been mounting a Public Awareness campaign about what we are seeing. Not that long ago i filmed a Public Service advertisement with the head of the National Center for missing and exploited children, trying to reach out to parents all over the country. None of the things we are seeing that is particularly troubling is an uptick on sextortion cases not just against little girls, which has been happening for a long time, but against little boys as well. The are seeing a number of these kids, male or female, turn to suicide because they feel like there is no way out. So it is incredibly important that we as a society figure out a way to make sure those kids know there is an answer that there are people that they can turn to and that we will do everything we can to protect them. Sen. Ossoff and he will commit to continuing those efforts . Dir. Wray yes. Sen. Ossoff on a related note, that morning that the Atlanta Field Office circulated about sextortion threats appeared in english but not other languages. I want to engage with you about the work the fbi can do to increase Language Access to the information you distribute so that communities in georgia and across the country with limited English Proficiency or for whom english is not a first language can have access to the same information to protect themselves, their families, and businesses from threats to their safety. When the fbi issues warnings like that or other forms of information or guidance, do you tend to offer that and language other than english, and what steps can you take perhaps working with my office to make sure you have the resources you need to carry it out, to improve the multilingual average and communication the fbi does . Dir. Wray here is a very interesting and important point. We have over the last couple of years started intensifying the outreach we do, doing it with additional languages. Because we have realized there are victim communities for different offenses, different threats, but sometimes are not getting the message unless we do that. For example, i know our new york office has been particularly proactive in that regard, both with the Jewish Community in new york, but also the Aapi Community in terms of advertisements and leaflets that are translated into different languages. I think we are going to need to do more and more of that, and we would be happy to followup with you. Sen. Ossoff that would be great. Even the growing diversity in georgia i would love to see the Georgia Field Office emerge as the leader, taking sure to convey information in spanish and korean and other languages widely spoken in the state. Speaking of community safety, you and i have had several discussions like this one on Violent Crime across the country. Georgia communities from columbus to savannah and albany continue to struggle with high rates of gun violence, dang activity, other threats to Public Safety. I dont know when you have plans to come to georgia. I hope you will return home sometime soon. Your extensive experience in the state. When you do come, sit down with me and state and local Law Enforcement, faith leaders, other community leaders, talk about how we can Work Together to reduce Community Violence and Violent Crime in georgia. Will he make that commitment . Dir. Wray i look forward to meeting with you. One of the many times i am home. Im always looking for additional reasons. The d. C. And be back in georgia. Sen. Ossoff that is a widelyshared sentiment. Dir. Wray we would be happy to followup with you on that request. Sen. Ossoff want to talk to you a bit about how we can strengthen our protection of veterans. Georgia, home to nearly 700,000 veterans, any of whom rely on the v. A. In recent years many veterans have been targeted as part of a pensionpoaching scheme, or unethical advisors profit by assisting a veteran or purporting to assist a veteran in qualifying for v. A. Benefits. These scams can tie up the veteranss savings in investments that earn lucrative fees. What is the fbi doing to protect veterans in georgia and across the country from those who seek to financially exploit them . And can you reassure the committee and people georgia and the American People that protecting veterans from exportation is a high priority for the bureau . Dir. Wray i can certainly get you more detailed information as a followup, but i will tell you we are pursuing a number of types of schemes and scams that target different kinds of populations that for one reason or another are attacked of two scammers. When it comes to veterans, it is appalling that there are people that would prey upon the people who have served our country so nobly and selflessly. In fact, i think that hits particularly close to home for us at the fbi. Have a very large percentage of veterans in our current workforce and always have. And so, no, as they say, thems fighting words. Sen. Ossoff appreciate that, director wray. Finally, just want to touch on a couple of matters related to civil rights. Mr. Chairman, with your indulgence, i wrote a letter requesting the fbi investigate ongoing Gang Activity at polasky state prison. It is our second largest prison for women. I realize you cannot comment on ongoing and best occasions, but i want to make sure you are aware of that correspondence and it has received the attention it deserves because of the extent of criminal activity within that state prison. Or broadly, where does the investigation and enforcement of civil Rights Violations fall among the f the fbis priorities, and i was that communicated to your field offices . Can you assure the people of georgia and the American People that investigating civil Rights Violations remains atop her already . Dir. Wray as to your letter, i have read it, and read it with interest. I can tell you that. As to the civil rights enforcement, we, as i think i mentioned earlier, we elevated that to a National Threat priority. The significance of that is that it communicates to all of the field offices in the Headquarters Division that this is one of the things that has to be one of our top parities. As a result, both resources and intelligence collection emphasis flow from that dream it was last year and it will be again this fiscal year. Sen. Ossoff in closing, would you say to those who will listen to all of this, here are words on radio across georgia who want to hear that reassurance from the person that you are out there investigating civil Rights Violations . Dir. Wray we view our Civil Rights Program as at the heart of our mission to protect the American People and uphold the constitution. The fbi has done some great work in that program over the years and it is something we are proud of and stay committed to. Sen. Ossoff thank you, directory and thank you, mr. Chairman. Sen. Durbin senator graham is next. You have a National Security mission to protect the American People against radical elements abroad and at home, is that correct . Dir. Wray yes, senator. Sen. Graham so thank you to you and yours out in the fight every day. To understand what kind of threats we are facing, it comes to china, how many cases a week will you open up against chinese agents trying to engage in illegal espionage activity in the United States . Dir. Wray frankly, i wish i could measure it by week. We are opening a new chinarelated counterintelligence investigation about every 12 hours. Sen. Graham stop. Thank you. To the American People, every 12 hours the fbi is investigating some nefarious activity driven by the Chinese Communist party against american interests. Is that a fair statement . Dir. Wray yes, it is. Sen. Graham when you talk to the ambassador of china as a member of the house or senate and ask them this question and they say they are not engaged in such activity, that would you consider that a misleading statement . Dir. Wray well, senator, i would find it inconsistent with our experience. As you have heard from this hearing, there is no shortage of things for fbi agents to be working on. I can tell you and i would tell him the reason we aren. Graham t could do to our country, some of these cases are pretty severe in nature . Dir. Wray absolutely. It represents the potential of who is going to dominate the most significant Industry Sectors for decades. Sen. Graham so, number one, america is virtually under attack by chinese espionage activity, and our economic sector, every 12 hours. So that is where we are at. Do you need more resources than you have today to combat this . Dir. Wray absolutely. Sen. Graham just write it down, and i dare somebody to say no. Dir. Wray the point i would add to that, senator, because you are hitting an important topic here. In addition to the every 12 hours on the counterintelligence side, the Chinese Government has a bigger Hacking Program on the cyber side that we are up against than that of every other major nation combined. Sen. Graham ok. Dir. Wray and have stolen more of americans personal and corporate data then every nation combined. So, we will absolutely need more resources to be able to keep pace with Something Like that. Sen. Graham so, write it down. If you dont write it down you have nobody to blame but yourself. If you write it down and we say no, and you can blame us. Right, lets move to another topic. International terrorism. Are you worried about an attack on the homeland emanating from places like afghanistan . Dir. Wray so, we are. As somebody in the fbi building on 9 11, a little over 20 years ago, and have met with the families in the years afterwards, i think about that day everyday. Especially now that we are out. Im worried about the potential loss of sources and collection over there. So, we are going to have growing intelligence gaps. And im worried about the possibility we will see al qaeda reconstitute, isis taking advantage of the deteriorating security environment, and terrorists being inspired by what they see over there. Sen. Graham you have a lot to worry about. I appreciate you doing the best you can with the resources you have. We know where we are at and bennett we know we were where we are at with china. They are up to no good everyday. We recently killed the leader of al qaeda in kabul. That is a good thing. Were you surprised that he was in kabul, staying at the house cachet guesthouse owned by the number two guy of the taliban . Dir. Wray not surprised, but disappointed. Sen. Graham ok. Lets play fbi agent. [laughter] what does it tell us about the relationship between al qaeda and the taliban if the leader of al qaeda is staying in a house owned by the number two guy of the taliban . Would you say it is close and friendly . Dir. Wray nothing good. Sen. Graham nothing good. Are there Training Camps in afghanistan being operated by al qaeda types . Dir. Wray well, that, i think i might need to have a followup with you. Sen. Graham fair enough. Do the al qaeda and isis elements in afghanistan, throughout the world, do they wish to hit us again if they could hear at home . Dir. Wray oh, yeah. Sen. Graham oh, yeah. Ok. Now, this other border. Have you been there lately . Dir. Wray yes. Sen. Graham array. Secretary marcus says the southern border is secure. From a counterterrorism point of view, do we have operational control of the southern border regarding counterterrorism threats that would lead you to conclude the border is secure . Dir. Wray well, let me answer that this way. While on the one hand we do not have i do not want to mislead people any imminent, credible threat from a Foreign Terrorist Organization on the border at the moment. Any port of entry, any potential vulnerability is something we know Foreign Terrorist Organizations and others will seek to exploit. You can only look at the case we charged recently involving an individual trying to smuggle nationals into the u. S. To coformer president bush to be reminded of something we need to take deathly seriously. Sen. Graham lets look at the stage of the board. We are estimating of the one million gota ways by the end of the year. Are you familiar with that . Dir. Wray i have heard reports to that effect. Sen. Graham that we are on track to have the most illegal entries this year by a factor of a lot. Are you familiar with that . Dir. Wray i have heard, again, reports to that effect. Sen. Graham how easy would it be for a group of terrorists to intermingle themselves in this wave of Illegal Immigrants and be able to sneak into our country to kill a bunch of us . Dir. Wray well, i want to give them a roadmap, but it is certainly something we are concerned about. Sen. Graham i think you already know, so here is what im going to suggest. I am out of time. I want you to tell me the likelihood of the southern border being exploited by terrorist organizations throughout the world to commit a terrorist attack on the United States if we dont change our policies. Thank you. Sen. Durbin thank you, senator graham. Is it a crime under section 1507 to picket outside of a federal judges home to influence his or her decisions . Dir. Wray i dont have the statute in front of me, but that sounds like a fair description. Bugs on numerous occasions in recent months there have been large scale protests outside the homes of Supreme Court justices in the washington, d. C. , area washington, d. C. Area. Yesterday the Justice Department confirmed the biden Justice Department has brought has not brought a case against an individual protesting outside of those justices homes. Are you aware of the fbi making any arrests for violations of section 1507 . Dir. Wray im aware we have a number of investigations related to threats of violence against justices and against judicial buildings, including the Supreme Court, and we assisted in the recent charges of the individual who had a plot to kill or intent to kill justice kavanaugh. What statutes are involved i dont know, that i dont think any of them used 1507. Sen. Cotton why were there no arrests for an obvious violation that played out on National Television . Did someone in the department of justice direct you not to let fbi agent enforce that law . Dir. Wray no, i dont think we have gotten any directive to that effect. I think part of what you are driving at, respectively respectfully, goes against the interpretation of an applicability of the statute, and while i absolutely understand your interest in question, i think this is one of those times where i would point to the depart and as the lawyers who sen. Cotton i have it in front of me. Whoever with the intent of influencing any judge in the discharge of his duty tickets or parades in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year. It happened on National Television news. Were there no selfstarting fbi agent in the area thought, theyre going to create they are committing a crime, im going to arrest them . Dir. Wray we work with marshals, with Supreme Court police, with Supreme Court arsenals. They have the principal responsibility for crowd control and protecting the justices. We have a number of investigations underway as we speak, then questions as to the enforcement of that particular statute, constitutionally, are betterdirected to the department. Sen. Cotton i dont think there is much question about the constitutionality. In 1965 the Supreme Court upheld a similar statute. Justice John Paul Stevens said it would be prohibited to protest outside elected officials homes because there is no right to speech in the home of an unwilling listener. So why did no fbi agent in the National Capital region, seeing a crime committed repeatedly on National Television, not go enforce the law . Do you expect your agents to enforce the law . If they are aware of a bank robbery or kidnapping do they need direction from on high to make an arrest . Dir. Wray her agents are, as we have discussed at some length throughout this hearing, are up to the next enforcing all sorts of laws. And i wish we were in a situation where every federal violation that occurred in this country was something the guy could have the resources to investigate. We have prioritized focusing on violence and threats of violence , and we are aggressively investigating in that space across the spectrum, including violence and threats of violence against members of the judicial branch. Sen. Cotton i mean, these protests wind up with a hit man trying to assassinate justice breast justice Brett Kavanaugh. Dir. Wray he has been arrested and charged federally. Sen. Cotton in addition to that hitmans crimes, again, it was happening on National Television. It seems like a layup to show up and arrest them. What if those protesters were protesting outside of a district judge home or members of ms 13, and that george was presiding over the murder and racketeering trial of an ms 13 gang lord . Would you expect your agents to show up and arrest those protesters . Dir. Wray i would think we would want to be investigating ms 13 members, and we are. Sen. Cotton that did not answer my question. Would you expect your agents to stop ms 13 from protesting outside of a federal judges home as that judge presided over an ms 13 murder trial . Dir. Wray knowing what we know about ms 13 and there almost their almost epic commitment to violence, an ms 13 member engaged in activity outside of a judge presiding over an ms 13 trial would be something that i think would lead to us trying to look at every tool we have to be able to protect that judge. Sen. Cotton so that is ok to protest if you disagree with their potential rulings . Dir. Wray i didnt say that, i dont believe that. Sen. Cotton what is the difference between the two . Dir. Wray one, we have to make sure we are prioritizing and enforcing those violations of federal criminal law that represent the greatest threat to the public. And so, that in particular focuses on violence and threats of violence. Second, as to this particular statute, russians about when it applies constitutionally are, respect, letterdirected to the department. If i was sitting here as the assistant attorney general or attorney general i might have a different sponsor, it is fbi director on the interpretation of the statute, constitutionally i would defer to the department on that. Sen. Cotton im very disappointment the fbi did not take these protests seriously. They lead to a democratic hitman trying to assassinate a sitting Supreme Court justice. We know a federal judge who lost her son and almost her husband because someone showed up at their home as well. These are grave threats. It is an obvious violation of the criminal law, and i hope if it happens again the fbi will take it more seriously and start arresting them and charging them with violations of this obvious crime. Sen. Durbin at this point we everyone has had a chance for a first round, and with the exception of senator tillis and senator cotton, who have gone over the allotted seven minutes, i know you have to leave. I have additional questions, but i will not be asking them. I will recognize senator grassley, who has asked for an opportunity to close this with questions. Any other senator who has a question, i will give them one minute each. Before senator grassley goes unwanted to raise one point, which is when i spoke before the break i made a reference to a shooting i think it was in response to your questions about the shooting of a couple of our agents, where they thankfully survived. I missed my staff informed me i misspoke in a couple of respects. One is that it was last week and not this week second, it was that the weapon in question was a weapon that was converted into fully automatic. I think i characterized it differently. I wanted to make sure that was clear on the record. Sen. Durbin thank you for the clarification. Senator grassley . Sen. Grassley did the fbi take any steps to uncover any bias from tebow, including postings that reflected a partisan disposition that would disqualify him from involvement in sensitive criminal investigations . Dir. Wray well, senator, i want to be careful not to comment on ongoing personnel matters. Certainly we want to take advantage of all the tools in our disposal to make sure that people are following the rules. Sen. Grassley can you just say this do you generally take any of that into consideration with any of your people that are in sensitive positions . Dir. Wray you mean in selecting them for the position . Sen. Grassley whether they have any political bias or not. Dir. Wray we expect our people to comply with a number of rules, including the hatch act. So we have a number of rules and policies that govern not just sen. Grassley let me go onto to my next question. What field offices are responsible for monitoring and investigating those afghan evacuees that pose a National Security concern. That is a followup to senator hawleys question, but he did not ask that specific question. Dir. Wray so, senator, i will answer that one way, and i might need to followup with you in writing. The way i would answer it is, all of our joint Terrorism Task forces, all 200 of them, are engaged in the effort to investigate potential terrorist activity and any number of them would potentially involve people who came from afghanistan. So, i think i am a little confused as to the reference to specific field offices, but let me see if there is more information we can get for you as a followup. I might be missing an important nuance. Sen. Grassley does the fbi know where all of these evacuees are located . Dir. Wray we have a lot of information about where people are located. I cannot sit here right now and tell you we know where all are located at any given time. That is probably true. Sen. Grassley thank you. Sen. Durbin director wray, thank you for coming. There have been several questions, at least one question as to whether or not the fbi was vigilant in protecting the Supreme Court justice who was being harassed in some form. I would just say that for the record last december we passed a judicial security bill, send it to the United States senate to provide security for the men and women and their families who serve us in the judicial branch. Unfortunately that will has been held up by the junior senator from kentucky ever since. We have been unable to bring it out to the floor, make it the law of the land, and protect even more judges across this country. I hope he will consider changing his position. Thank you for being with us today. Thank you. How are you . Do you need help carrying things