Transcripts For CSPAN2 Justice Dept. Testifies On National Security Threats - Part 1 20220729

Judiciary will come to order. Without objection the chair is authorized to declare recess of the committee at any time. We welcome everyone to this mornings hearing on oversight of the department of justice and National Security division. Before we begin ith would like o remind members weve established an email address and addressing distribution list for the motions and written materials. If you would like to submit materials please send them to the email addressss previously and we will circulate the materials as quickly as we can. I will now recognize myself for an opening statement. The National Security division was established within the department of justice in 2006 with the purpose of creating an incentive for incenr intelligence National Security and counterterrorism streamlining interactions between federal prosecutors main justice and the Intelligence Community. Operating on the front lines includingin the domestic terrorism, Cyber Espionage and threats of the foreignju government. Leading the division today is assistant attorney general matthew olson. Im pleased to welcome you to the committee and to hear your perspective. Created in the yearsan after the september 11th attacks and what we used to call the United States government war on terror and the division is integral to the fight to keep the country safe from terrorist threats. We face the necessity of internal transformation because the face of terrorism has changed. The greatest threat to American Safety is no longer extremism and we can no longer dismissed dismiss thethreat that is cominr people from other cultures. None of us can afford to turn a blind eye. Its far right extremism and growing exponentially. The attorney general told our colleagues in the senate just over a year ago the greatest threat facing the United States from racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists specifically those that advocated the superiority of the white race. White supremacists militia members and the far right extremist groups responsible for 66 of the domestic terror plots in 2020 and the fatalities from terrorism in 2021 were at the hands of radicalized far right. The numbers we can but the imminence of the threat at practical terms one republican candidate and it promoted the hateful speech of the shooter in the tree of life synagogue. In the Political Movement it wouldnt be welcomed to the country they hope to build. T across the country anyone hoping to attend the turning point usa conference in tampa past the demonstration of neonazis. The weapons of war in the country this is seen a poetic messaging an 18yearold radicalized social media can walk into a shop within ar 15 that same day. Far right extremists and white supremacist terror groups present not only a significant threat to the lives of americans but also relatedly an unprecedented challenge for the National Security division. I applaud the attorney general for the creation of the doj domestic Terrorism Unit this past january which will be specifically dedicated to responding to the increasing threats posed by the domestic terrorists. But to be clear, the Department Already has the resources and structures in place to fight sedomestic terrorism. What i hope to hear from mr. Wilson today is how the department will focus the resources posed by all the actors targeting the government and the court system faces incredibly significant and sophisticated Cyber Security breach that have lingering impacts on the department and other agencies. The concentration of National Security matters in a Single Division ostensibly allows the doj and executive Branch Overall to responde more effectively to threats facing the United States, it also presents opportunities for abuse. That is why im looking forward to hearing how the division is informing the governance processes to relay the concerns about section 702 database. Im interested to hear how theyo are responding to the inspector generalsta concerns at the epicenter of programs and policy areas that both engender debate and where the federal government anis historically falling short when it comes to protecting Civil Liberties. From the warrantless surveillance of american citizens to the targeting of black and brown communities, the sweeping collection of private data and communications, the illconceiveder initiative politically motivated investigations of the press and members of congress and much more, nsc has the time spent itself on the wrong end of the battle between Civil Liberties and security. I hope the division will commit to forging a new path to strike the proper balance. Protecting those that seek totio them harm is a concern. The nuance speaks to the hearts and values and its your responsibility as the divisions leader to protect the ideals along with the people. Thank you for being here today, mr. Olson, and i look forward to your testimony. We now recognize the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, the gentleman from ohio, mr. Jordan, for his statements. Mr. Olson, welcome. In america we shouldnt need to say that parents speaking out about their childrens education or domestic terrorists or those raising concerns about the direction of the left trying to take this country are not domestic terrorists. The Biden Administration is bound to determine and demonize anyone and everyone not in lockstep with the far left agenda. Last september, the Biden White House colluded with the National School Board Association to orchestrate a letter to President Biden that portrayed concerned parents speaking out of School Board Meetings as security threats. The letter urged the president to use the patriot act to go after americas moms and dads. Bothe attorney general issued a memorandum directing the fbi and the attorneys offices, quote, a disturbing spike in harassment and intimidation and threats of violence at School Board Meetings. If you remember when we head of the attorney general in front o the committee, we asked about where did they get this, where didin they learn about this harassment, the serving spike and intimidation, where did they learn about it and his response was from the School Board Letter they helped coordinate. Mr. Olsons division, the National Security division would be involved in a departmentwide effort to target parents. Thats right. The division that is supposed to be prosecuting terrorists protecting us from terrorists, the kind that want to hijack buildings, excuse me, planes and bring down buildings decided that a priority of the division of the fbi. And we find out the situation was coordinated. The letter was a pretext for the memorandum. The letter was instigated by th. White house. Documents released by the School Board Association show that the white house knew that the letter would urge the administration to invoke the patriot act and the white house raised no objections. Inth fact, the National School Board Associationth admitted to President Biden telephoned the then an sba president to say he wass appreciative of the letter. This all came to light and American Parents became outraged the National School Board Association apologized for its actions. They wrote to its members, quote, we regret and apologize for theti letter. Thats a lot more the end the attorney general or the Biden Administration have done because as far as we know, the memorandum is still in place. The attorney generals directive to the National Security division to target moms and dads remains in place. And this was it. It was just a political stunt that would be bad enough but its actually much worse. Specifically targeting parents a designation specifically targeting moms and dads and opened two dozen investigations into parents merely because they stood up to speak on behalf ofn their children. We see countless letters to the doj to get answers but have gotten virtually nothing back in response. Im sure we will have some questions today and i hope that he is prepared to give us answersre on that the constitues deserve. We also hope he is prepared to talk about the department off justices refusal to address people trying to intimidate the Supreme Court justices at their homes and their childrens schools. And we have great concerns about the terrorist attacks targeting the prolife facilities and groupssu around the country. This year thereve been dozens of attacks on the facilities, but the Biden Administration seems preoccupied with other politically charged investigations. Wed also like to know why the doj is ignoring the facts including the business dealings and illegal activities of hunter biden. The troubling pattern has come to light recently to indicate the Justice Department seems more focused on politics than on fighting crime and dont forget to this is a division of the department of justice that we end trust with surveillance. The National Security vision is the office of intelligence and responsible for preparing and filing all obligations pursuant to fisa and appearing before Intelligence Surveillance court. Of course we all know about the visas over the past several years and how the department of justice and fbi misused to target the campaign ofof presidt trump and interested with a great deal of responsibility. Its our hope that today theyve come prepared to answer a great deal of questions the committee has about the department of justice. I will now introduce todays witness. Matthew wilson is the assistant attorneyre general for National Security and in that capacity, leads the department of justices mission to combat terrorism, espionage, cybercrime and other threats to the National Security. From 2011 to 2014, mr. Olson served as the director of the National Counterterrorism center prior to leaving and cdc as a general counsel for the nationai security agency. For 18 years, mr. Olson workedio at the department of justice and as an attorney and a number of leadership positions including associate Deputy Attorney general for National Security, special counselor to the attorney general mr. Olson began his Public Service career as a Trial Attorney and Civil Rights Division in the department of justice and later held positions in the federal prosecutor and u. S. Attorneys office in the district of columbia and special counsel to the director. We thank you for participating today andr i will begin by swearing un. We ask that you rise and raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony youre about to give us true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information and belief so help you god . I do. Let the record to show the witnesses answered in the affirmative. Thank you and please be seated. Into the entirety accordingly i ask that you summarize your testimony in five minutes. Tose help you stay within that time there is a light on the table. When the light switches from green to yellow, you have a minute to conclude your testimony. When the light turns red, that signals your five minutes of expired. Mr. Olson, you may begin. Thank you, chairman, Ranking Member jordan, members of the committee. I very much appreciate the opportunity to be here to testify about the important work of the Justice Department on National Security. As you know and have noted the division was created in 2006. The National Security efforts and the divisiondi is a wide rae of responsibilities. We prosecute terrorists and spies to protect the nation against Cyber Attacks and enforce the controls. We provide a legal and policy support to intelligence operations and oversight and review investments in u. S. Companies for National Security risks. Ence this morning i would like to focus my statement on one of the Top Priorities and that is counterterrorism. The country faces a persistent and dynamic threat on terrorism. This encompasses both foreign groups and attacks against the United States as well as domestic violent extremists who are often mobilized byby racism and antigovernment ideologies. International terrorism was a continuing and evolving threat both at home and abroad. We keep an unwavering focus on violent jihadist groups and we play an integral role in the all of government efforts to defend against these threats. At the same time, the department of justice is committed to tackling the alarming threat at home from domestic violent extremism. Domestic violent extremists are individuals in the United States who seek to commit violent criminal acts in furtherance of political goals. For example, wein have seen a growing threat from those motivated by racism. We also see an increase in threats from extremists who espouse antigovernment or antiauthority ideologies. Andd who often target those who participate in the civil life such as elected officials, Police Officers and healthcare workers. There is no doubt these threats are on the rise. The number of fbi investigations over the past two years has more than doubled of domestic violent extremists. The january 6th attack on the u. S. Capital stands apart. The departments investigation is the single largest domestic terrorism investigation in the nations history and to date it slid to the arrest of more than 860 individuals. Many have been charged with a very serious crimes that include seditious conspiracy, obstruction of congress and assault on Police Officers. Wets are committed to Holding Accountable those engaged in violence and other legal acts and bringing to justice anyone who tried to overturn the election. We are upholding our oath to defend the constitution against those who tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Our National Security mission requires that we protect these fundamental pillars of our democracy. We worked to protect not just the Democratic Institutions but also our citizens and communities froml the terrible costs inflicted by terrorism and violent extremism, the tragedies in buffalo and pittsburgh, el paso, charlottesville and elsewhere are seared in our memories. We must be clear Law Enforcement faces very stark challenges when it comes to domestic extremism. Violent extremists to radicalize quickly and military grade weapons and they target valuable vulnerable locations such as public gatherings, places of worship and Shopping Centers that are difficult to defend. The National Security division plays a Critical Role in countering these threats and we lead in support of the investigations and prosecutions working with our partners at the fbi and with u. S. Attorneys offices around the country. We recently established as you noted a dedicated domestic Terrorism Unit to oversee and coordinate the cases across the department and around the country. The unit works closely with the Civil Rights Division in the department of justice that has prosecuted some of the most heinous terrorist attacks in recent years using the federal hate crime statute. Having spent 18 years myself as a Career Department of justice attorney and prosecutor, i know that our workforce is committed to the constitution and to ensuring equal and impartial justice. We prosecute cases based on the facts and the law without regard to ideology and politics. Our National Strength comes from our founding values. These include the rule of law, freedom of speech and freedom of association. And we will uphold these values as we safeguard of the American People from threats to the safety and National Security. I appreciate the opportunity to testify and look forward to answering any questions. Thank you for your testimony. We will proceedd under the fiveminute testimony and recognize myself for five minutes. January 6th, 2021 the Administrative Office of the courts released a statement dating back to early 2020 unrelated. However there was in march of this year that the Committee First learned of the Document Management System Security failure and perhaps even more concerning is the disturbing impact the Security Breach had on pending civil and criminal litigations as well as National Securityng matters. What types of cases were investigations were impacted the most by this breach and how many of the cases and investigations were within your division . Let me begin by saying the threat we faced from cyber enabled attacks, whether that is to the government, the Public Sector including congress and the private sector is one of the most significant threats we face to the National Security. For the National Security division, we on nationstate attacks. And those can come from countries like china, russia, iran and north korea. I cant speak directly to the nature of the Ongoing Investigation of the type of threats that you mentioned regarding the effort too compromise the public judicialyp dockets, this of course is a significant concern for us given the nature of the information that is often held by the courts. Courts. In many cases within have been materially impacted because of the courts breach . I cant think of anything in particular that has been affected in the way that you describe although i would want to double check on that. We are concerned and we are working i can assure you based on my own personal experience we are working very closely with the judicial conference and the judges around the country to address this issue. Has the department ordered your own systems to ensure that you were not compromised by the same three actors that attacked the Document Management system . It isrt an ongoing effort to ensure the protections for the sameme reasons. But i would say that the challenged when it comes to the sophisticated nationstate type of activities that we see in a cyber, the challenge is significant and its difficult to ever be in the position to say that any system is 100 safe when it comes to sophisticated nationstates that seek to obtain persistent access to the systems. Systems. The departments comprehensive cyber review included the doj considers and ass we heard last week during the digital hearing unreliable data purchased three commercially available thirdparty sources can lead to incorrect identification, wrongful arrests and litigation for its authorities. Under the rule, the prosecutors have a constitutional duty to disclose potentially exculpatorr information and evidence. But when prosecutors rely on information purchased by Law Enforcement, this is often not the case. What is the departments policy on sharing exculpatory evidence with of the defendants when that information was acquired through purchases from the data brokers into the social media platforms or other thirdparty commercial sources . Mr. Chairman, as a former federal prosecutor myself, i can assure you the obligation and constitution to provide exculpatory evidence to the accused under the brady rule is one that has taken extremely seriously and applies across the board to any information that the government had in its possession regardless of the source. So, i havent looked at that policy recently, i knowth that that is a general obligation that applies across the board to the federal prosecutors. I assume you promise to keep us updated on the courts breach . Absolutely and we stand ready to come to congress to talk pabout that at any time. Thank you very much. Mr. Jordan. Ly thank you mr. Chair. Mr. Olson. The act is fair that requires those representing the foreign principals to register with doj and is the law administered by the National Security division is that fair . That is correct. I have behind me an email from 2016 in the obama Biden Administration between hunter biden and the son of a mexican billionaire and president the first lines say we are arriving late tonight on air force to to mexico city. Wean will be there attending the meeting with the president. Highlighted are the comments weve been talking about business deals andto partnershis and ive brought every Single Person youve ever asked me to bring to the white house and the Vice President s house and the inauguration. Ive delivered on everything youve asked. In this email he acknowledges attendance of the meeting between the mexican president and vice President Biden, discusses business deals and partnerships with the wealthy and politically connected mexican family, references access and provides mexican businessmen at the white house and Vice President s house hed already delivered on every single thing ever asked. Did this email or does this email raise concerns he might have acted contrary since it appears he never registered for the foreign principals . Im not familiar with the email that you are referring to but what i can tell you is it is a fundamental principle of the Justice Department consistent with my almost 20 year career thatat we follow the facts and e law in every case. So youre not familiar with this email. We are going to show you a picture of Vice President joe biden, hunter biden and one of the richest men inhi the world n 2015 while joe biden was Vice President. This picture seems to conflict with the statement that hes never met with his sons business associates. Much of the information regarding the foreign business dealings has come from the laptop abandonedth by hunter bin and labeled by the misinformation as well as 51 formerhu Intelligence Officers n a weird letter dated october 1920 that i will submit for the record. This week we learned fbi whistleblowers have come forward and reported they committed a widespread effort to downplay oe discredit information about hunter biden. Are you familiar with this reporting . No im not. Okay. As any investigation by our office influenced by the work product or actions taken by the fbi agent timothy . Im not going to comment on any investigation that may or may not be ongoing. What i can assure you as we follow the facts and evidence and apply the laws and principles of the prosecution on every caseg. Without regard to ideology. So you were unaware of any efforts in the department of justice to label the information y on hunter biden is disinformation . Im not going to comment on any potential Ongoing Investigation. According to reports Border Patrol apprehended at least 50 illegal aliens at the southwest border 2022 into the office of field operationser at least 50 aliens on a terror watch list of the ports of entry in the fiscal year. Does the cdp consult with the division when they count an illegal alien on a terror watch list . The division created to work with other agencies, whether thats agencies of intelligence communities or so the cbp gives you information when they find someone is on the terrorist watch list when they encounter them at the border do they give that information to you . I cant speak today on this particular situation or circumstance. Im not asking about circumstances. Is the process that they report to you so you have 100 known encounters of people. I assume one would think its coming to you. Im asking about the process, not a specific case. In general, congressman, the way the system works is that the fbi investigates the crime here we go. Lets get to the specific cases. Reclaiming my time. Are you familiar with the name . Im sorry. Are you familiar with the name . T no. Hes a venezuelan born on the fbi terrorist watch list who was released into thehe united stat . After crossing the border illegally according to reports the fbi recommended keeping him in custody about the headquarters intervened andun released him because of a concern that he might catch covid19 because he was overweight. Theres been i over 500,000 knon got a ways into the country illegally. As how many can you extrapolate are on the terrorist watch list . And have you done any assessmentth is according to the National Security risk the time of the gentle man is expired and stthe witness may answer the question. Im not familiar with that, no. November 2021. This is nearly tripled the number reported from 2020. Although the odni only reported 376 warrants issued for wiretaps or physical searches of individuals in 2021, it found 232,000 plus named targets of fisa section 702 warrantless searches. During your confirmation hearing, before the Senate Intelligence committee, pam restoring trust in the fisa process was a critical priority for you, and i was glad to hear that. Since you have assumed your role as assistant attorney general, what have you done to prevent warrantless improper backdoor searches of americans s data section 702. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about fisa particular section seven or two. As you noted, when i was confirmed, last year, i indicated that a priority for the department of justice and for me at the National Security division was to ensure that congress and the American People have confidence in our use of intelligence tools such as fisa. Fisa was passed first in 1978, as you know, it has proven to be to be an indispensable tool to go after spies and terrorists and hackers and it remains so. Collect information about nonu. S. Persons, nonu. S. Citizens has proven to be essential to protecting National Security the issues that you cite are ones that are of concern, the compliance of the fbi in particular with the way in which it searches through the section 702 data that is lawfully collected. The fbi, with the department of justice, has undertaken a series of threats over the years to improve compliance by systems changes and training, and i have been part of that effort in my eight months in office, we are looking forward to improving the compliance records of the department of comprehensive system of oversight that takes place when it comes to four intelligence collection. And judiciary. I may follow up we have reassurances over the year end get the performance continues to be poor. It has been poor under both democratic and republicanma administrations. We have considered imposing a warrant requirement for queries of known americans. I guess i am thinking that is probably a necessity unless we get some further, definitive control of the warrantless search of americans using 702 database is misuse. We agree, we want to catch the spies in the foreign bad actors. To use that database for warrantless searches of americans is certainly improper and yet it continues. How can we get assurances and when we get our next report from you about the controls you have discussed . As you know section 702 expires at the end of next year. We are engaged in a concerted effort to be prepared to brief congress at any time, review your staff about the controls in place. The weight section zero two works if i may, it is information collected targeting nonus citizens overseas. But the fbis been able to do a search that data to find connections. Its not a warrantless search of americans. Its a search of data that was collected targeting people outside the United States were not u. S. Citizens. If i may sir, thats contrary to the report that we got from odnr i and from the fisa court. My time has expired. We need to get to the bottom of this. Aunt mr. Chairman i yield back. Thank you. Mr. Matthews is recognized for five minutes. I yelled to my friend from florida mr. Gates picnics is hunter biden National Security threat . I is not a question that would come up before me at congressman picnics or the head of the National Security division. It seems sort of on the nose precooked is not my practice or experience to identify. Not in my purview we have heard that before. An individual. Nude certainly succeed if the adult offspring of the presently nine states of the Vice President were compromised w National Security threat. In open court. You cannotriri have anything, go Hunter Bidens laptop is . Again im not going to talk about any potential ongoing. You know where it is . You know where it is . You come here you tell she felt affects the law. You cannot follow a laptop youve had for three years precooked if all the facts and the law that we speak in open court not speaking about this but you know who is speaking about a . Whistleblowers in the fbi have gone to senator grassley and said you guys purposefully take any information thats derogatory about hunter biden and you go and rathole it so you never have to speak about in any circumstance. But the good decision or d not e only ones with that laptop. So patrick was convicted of bribing officials in africa. He gave a million bucks a hunter biden, are you familiar with that . Im not going to speak about any Ongoing Investigation requests is that an Ongoing Investigation . I am not going to speak about any potential Ongoing Investigation precooked so you see thats the countrys belief in you guys you have whistleblowers saying you are purposefully rattling this information and then you come here and say wont talk aboutg it. Inside Hunter Bidens multibillion dollar deals with the Chinese Energy company, washington post, chinese elites pay 31 million to hunter as a bidens, Peter Schweizer the new york post, Hunter Bidens Business Partner called joe biden the big by it messages to call to biden the big guy at the department of justice . What to think its importantly understand why we dont speak about cases outside the courtroom. Gno wait, no wait i arty know why. [inaudible] because its about hunter biden. You guys have no problem leaking about other stuff you have no problem going out intending parents at School Board Meetings as a National Security threat. But what all the facts and all the law regarding the corruption of hunter biden you dont speak to that at all. It is precisely why youve got folks talking to senator grassley about it. Ten days after vice President Biden takes hunter biden to china, ten days after this long toiling venture of hunter biden could not get off the ground ten days after they go, you automatically get approved. Its not going to talk about any Ongoing Investigation precooked student who else is talking . Tony toldat the world the joe biden was cut in on a ccp energy deal with orchestrator by hunter biden. You talk to tony . Again we dont talk about Ongoing Investigation settings such asn. This. About this, we are commit to a classified briefing on this matter . It would beoe happy to talk o you or any member of the committee i do not talk we do not talk outside of courtrooms Ongoing Investigations. Quickstart Ongoing Investigation of the annual fund at dinner that Hepworth Joe Biden was Vice President of the United States and hunter biden holds his funds annual dinner at the embassy of the embassy to route the red carpet a 30 minus 5a one on one with the chinese ambassador. Is it possible that might jeopardize socialist agenda. Im not going to comment or Ongoing Investigation. Here is the thing, its pretty easy hunter biden is compromise. Her watching a crime spree in progress that hunter biden is orchestrating. What are the chinese getting for the tens of millions of dollars theyre cutting the biden family and on question requisite chinese comments Party Getting as a result of contingent 10 for the big guy. I just happened to notice you guys cancel the China Initiative that President Trump put in place you focus talent on those things. Jim biden said to tony, the reason they are able to get away from this corruption this plausiblem deniability is wintr is coming, were going to bet n the majority you have to answer his questions for the majority progress i yield back requested on time has expired. You seek recognition question because of several unanimous consent request for my first unanimous consent request is Ranking Member made reference to a whistleblower memo and grossly mischaracterized. I would ask unanimous consent i would read into the record. I object. Your over five minutes per. You object reading into the record the memo . I ask unanimous consent the document thee republicans are afraid to have the read aloud be introduced into the record . Without objection progressive unanimousas consent request a document with the heading no, the federal government is not using. Madam chair, madam chair madam chair, point of order print unanimous consent is limited to describing the document. [inaudible] i have the floor. All right, hold on guys. [inaudible] the document entitled know, the federal government isnt using the patriot act to treat parent like domestic terrorists made part of the record . Arts without objection because of you knows consent request a document titled mccarthys false claims that garvin calledco parents terrorists made part of the record . Without objection regrets document title attorney general never called concerned parents domestic terrorist, made part of the record per. Without objection precooked family a fact check that reads Kevin Mccarthy keeps repeating false claim that attorney general called parents at paris for wanting to attend School Board Meetings be made part of the record question requested that objective. Are public and collects read these documents and stop making a false claim for. That. D luck with the gentleman per. Point of order imputed crack it just impugned. [inaudible] per. I demand his words be taken down. He is not allowed under the rules to impugn false statements by the side. And as far as political facts and some of those, who works like the gentle ladies words. Asked the words be taken down. No. Committee will suspend. Yes, in response to comments, the gentle lady said good luck with that. I think that impugns the republican side. I think thats actually totally inappropriate. If we are going to start letting people out of order just throw in a document, man i got about 20 sitting right here. Boi will withdraw the commen. Thank you. And i would like to recognize mr. Jackson per. Weve got to have a ruling on my request the gentleman words be taken down. Was said a false statement. Madam chair. Yes mr. Raskin. As i understand the gentlemans point he said the gentleman from rhode island had impugned his false statement. And perhaps the general from rhode island with a does not impute his false statement . I dont think he made any statements print think the it repeating a reporting to committee the headlines of five documents that said those claims are false but thats what the documents say. Not quite a change the words of the document. And night and i am not impugning them for instantly putting into the record this documents that in fact refute the claim for. The gentleman said the Ranking Member grossly mischaracterized the statements. Is not a breach of decorum it is an accurate statement. In my calculation he grossly mischaracterized as the conduct the d. O. J. Memo. Intention too. It is not impugn it anything about his intention. Youve gotten so used to making statements that are outside the rules off decorum. That you do not even recognize when you do. You cannot just constantly maligned people on the site of the aisle. Madam chair are you prepared to rule . Th madam chair . Madam chair . Can the gentleman from rhode island rephrased to make clear that the difference of opinion in respect to . Madam chair . [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] madam chair . I do not think our rules require me too accept assertions without challenging them. Thats exactly what committeein process is about. Iir am not going to limit my rit to challenge claims that are made appropriately, which i believe i did. That is outside the bounds for any member to just take over time and start impugning other people making false statements for. I dont think anybody is impugning anyone we were challenged asked the chair make a ruling. Allows request for unanimous consent it does not allow you to start mischaracterizing what you allege or mischaracterizations. I welcome that mr. Jordan. You Say Something thats just not accurate, got that letter right here. Ar [inaudible] all right. Fine are weat ready . Yes. [inaudible] hes not going to do it sir. Is not going to do it. Of the opinions of the chair of the words did not impugn the members on the other side. Madam chair,. [inaudible] motion table. Okay, we will get the question. The clerk will call the roll. Just so everyone is clear after the exchanges the vote on the motion to table. [roll call]. [roll call]. [roll call] [roll call]. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call]. [roll call] [roll call]. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call]. [roll call] a quick report for. There 18 aye and 17 no. The motion to table is agreed to. Gentle woman from is recognized for five minutes. Welcome. Let me were dealing with the clock right now, thank you. Did you restore the car . Nothank you. This may be another long hearing it. Do not know what your timeframe is. We first will indicate the city of National Security should be a bit bipartisan issue. And i knew asyo i woke up this morning that the Family Member of the president would beat centerpoint. I wonder why the insurrection in generate six is not centerpoint. But let me have my line of questioning in areas. First let me say i would be interested and i think its going be very important for us to know how many cases have been impacted by that federal courts breach. I dont post that is a question i pose that as a serious concern this committee needs to have. I would expect your preparation for us to better get that information as quickly as possible in a setting that be appropriate. This is a dangerous set of circumstances is not been publicly announced. We need to know how many and how many were dismissed. I want to get that on the record. Then, i want to make sure we pose a question w nearly 3. 4 million warrantless services were identified as an astronomical number. Are you confident of these queries were designed to retrieve evidence of crime is not foreign intelligence information . This relates to obviously our pfizer concerns, here for the patriots act, if you can giveus brief answers of a series of other questions, thank you for. If im a very prickly remark in my expense having served under number of different administrations National Security is aus bipartisa concern. On the number of queries you referenced that a significanta jump over the prior year. We look closely at that number. Of 3 million queries. More than half of that number i believe is achievable to one search but the cyber incident we are looking for potential victims of a cyber incident. Im happy to come back and give you more details on a classified setting thats a basic answer to that question. You know how concerning it as americans could be subjected to that kind of invasion pretty want to go on record for opposing it please get a briefing as quickly as possible. Let me also pursue this issue dealing with intel and the rise. The horrific rise of domestic terrorism in this country. For me it is overwhelming but it is true generate 2022 d. O. J. Announced domestic terrorism homegrown extremism. What does this new unit about strategy for White Supremacy and can we briefly talk about the threat from far right extremists to alsoem misrepresent the truth and i think that is an important point trait that draws and recruits would you comment briefly on that unit and the recruiting concept getting people to join you. The domestic Terrorism Unit we announced in january and stood up officially in may consist of a number of prosecutors as well as policy oriented attorneys to make sure we are make a consistent approach across the country when it comes to domestic extremism in cases involving domestic terrorism which run the gamut take on domestic terrorism at that regard to politics or ideology have seen a rise particular and lethal attacks by individuals motivated by racism antigovernment or Anti Authority ideology. What is unit do . Its within our broader, terrorisman section it oversees and coordinates the domestic terrorism prosecution theyre typically carried out by u. S. Rattorneys offices around the country for the goal is to make sure we are handling these cases on a consistent basis. It also is charged with ensuring we are looking at violence and acts of violence and not looking at protected speech for. Let me move quickly to intel. This is an egregious, horrific, deadly. The perpetrators of the crime and that is thehe hatred of wom, gender, misogyny, extremism, mixing with the toxicity of grace. This Threat Assessment Center released a study to call themselves antifeminist or involuntary in droop motivation for violence and the inability study highlighted the specific threats. So my question is, if you can finish the question which is your focus on that . We are focused on all manner of ideologically focused or directed violence. Certainly instances youor mentioned some of them are under investigation for it obvious that i cannot Ongoing Investigations. But the challenge generally is individuals with a mix of ideologies are easily radicalized online and have access toal significant powerful weapons for. Is generally time has expired. The gentleman from california is recognized. Thank you madam chair. Mr. Olson, and the 22 years that i have sat down there and now up here, i saw the creation of your organization. The creation of suborganizations. Like a few of us, i remember why you were formed. 911 created that mandate. Weti were concerned about domesc activities leading to attacks on the United States. Primarily foreign motivated. It does seem to me, just a commentary we are straying further and further from your mission. I do think it is important that you follow the facts and you go after terrorists. I myself had an attempt to bomb my office which was an act of domestic terrorism. Members of this body on both sides have been shot and nearly killed by people who objected to our positions. So i am not saying to get rid of them. I am concerned that what we funds, what we promote what we responsibility is to keep the homeland safe and disproportionately that is based on foreign actors linked to u. S. Actors. Too that extent i have a specific question today that is of deep concern on june 6 the venezuelan flagged a plane landed and went to sarris. Itit had five iranians and 14 venezuelan crew. They were in fact officials. Other crewmembers had ties to terrorism. The plane was owned by a designated u. S. Designated airline that had in fact been seen and proven to be fearing edweapons into sierra from iran. It was designated to be connected to has below. All of this is undeniable. The plane itself, its tail number is designated by the Uniteded States and the past. As a result, six weeks ago a federal judge in argentina referred to your organization. And to date, has not had a response. This is normally a 24 hour turnaround because in order to hold these people, in order toma have the information. In order to fight the war on terror and terrorism they need your cooperation. You familiar with this case . I am generally familiar with the case, yes congressman. Can you explain whyop both myself and a u. S. Senator do not have an answer along withh the argentinians, should have come in 24 hours . This is an ongoing matter i cannot talk about the specifics. I am happy to take this question back and with information further provide for. Myself, senator ernst and others would appreciate that. But let me just say, we find it conspicuous that iran seems not to be getting the kind of scrutiny, particularly considering the connection to hezbollah considering the threat to israel, the threat to the United States, the threat to our allies in south and Central America this should have been a high priority. And yes i would like an answer. But i would like to know, here today and the remaining time what you believe the appropriate turnaround time is for this kind of a request. Particularly with proven terrorist activities in the hands of a friendly Foreign Government . I will tell you we take very seriously the threat from iran. Wait a second if i can pause you for a moment, we took it seriously under the Trump Administration. We took it seriously but we are fighting iran. Currently there are negotiationo to essentially normalize our relations with ironic going on at the highest level of this government. The scrutiny i have now is why is it taking beyond 24 hours . Tell me it serious, tell me why its not 24 hours and what are you going to do to get back to the historic turnaround time to work with our allies when confronted with terrorists . I simply cannot speak to the particulars of that request for. I will take every other case. We going to 24 hour turnaround time and other cases . Are we going to consistently not get it when there are policy issues at the very top that would seem to have you not want to go after the irg see where they are conducting of terrorist activities and endanger us, israel and other allies. I can absolutely assure you Political Considerations do not affect a break. You can assure me but you havent done it here today. The gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Johnson of georgia is recognized. Thank you madam chair. And thank you to this witness for your appearance today. Sorer, i would like to ask you does the fbi target parents at School Board Meetings who are protesting mask mandates, Critical Race Theory, or any other subject and they do not threaten violence . Does the fbi have a system where it investigates these parents who are lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights . The answer is no. The fbi, the department of justice to investigates crimes violence and threats of violence. In fact it is prohibited from opening investigations based solely on First Amendment protected activities. So there is no targeting exercising their First Amendment that made clear by the attorney general and is consistent with my experience over 20 years of the Justice Department. The fbi has seen a rise in threats against local School Board Officials that are threatening violence . My understanding theres been a general rise in threats against individuals who serve in positions such as School Boards but also other local and state elected officials as well as Law Enforcement. This concern about the rise in threats of violence, criminal activity involving people who serve in life is a growing concern for the department of justice as it is for state and local Police Apartments and prosecutors around the country. Does the fbi and the Justice Department coordinate with local and state governments when there are not threats of violence against School Board Officials . Yes in fact that partnership between ads federal Law Enforcement and federal prosecutors but particularly on the Law Enforcement side between the federal site in the state and locals is at the heart of the effort to serve in positions of public trust at every levels are not subject to threats of violence. At the same time individuals who speak out at open hearings within a school board or citye Council Hearing those rights are protected as well. Thank you. Do you find the United States skews me, has been targeted with this information from both foreign and domestic sources and the disinformation affects parents at local School Board Meetings members of congress with respect to disinformation should there be any . Do you find disinformation has caused people to react in ways that are problematic. I cannot speak to particular instances of it disinformation or misinformation and how itar y affect individuals in particular matters paid what i can tell you is the Intelligence Community if the United States it does believe the spread of information over social media has increased the reach and the speed at that reach of violent content. Andov this increase the speed at which individuals may become radicalized to violence. That is where we are focused where individuals are moved to commit acts of violence, grammatical criminal acts we can investigate and prosecute. This information been a factor in the rise of the terrorist threat from far right nationalist domestic far right nationalist who are also racist . In my view the challenge of disinformation and misinformation is agnostic. We saw this challenge and it came to use of isis of propaganda to recruit and mobilize people and its true when it comes to domestic violent extremists as well who may be moved to become radicalized based on misinformation and disinformation they may consume over social media from other sources. Thank you. Thank you for being diligent in the protecting of the security of the American People with audio back. Thank you. Mr. Jordan of ohio was recognized for five minutes. , are you juicing the numbers . I am not sure what youre referring to her. Detecting opening sale with domestic dub domestic terrorism threats we have multiple whistleblowers come to our Office Tell Us they are being pressured to categorize cases tn cases that are not. The opening of your statement, most of your statement talk about this new office are you juicing the numbers . I amca not aware of the references youre making to the whistleblowers. What i can tell you is the community has assessed the threat we face from domestic violent extremism is elevated that is consistent but. X im sorry i dont know that name. You dont have that name . Mr. Grassley does come he cited in his letter mr. Gates brought them up in his five minutes of questing hes suppressed information is verifiable but hunter biden in 2020 do not know who this individual is questary because im sorry i dont know. Was also interesting is hes the guy the whistleblowers told us is pressuring them to recategorize the cases is domestic terrorism cases, you know anything about it . I do not pay. He that stands to reason. I find that interesting, come our parents has the department of justice investigated . The Justice Department and the fbi investigate individuals who commit acts of violence or threats are. Im talking relative to the School Board Issue how many prints have you investigated we know of 20 some over two dozen because again we have had other whistleblowers comported tells about that. Its almost like it is a well worn trail of fbi agents coming as whistleblowers to our office because some things theyre concerned about going out the Justice Department. We know of over two dozen i wonder how many more youve done since we sent that letter two months ago to the justiceou department . Sir we dont investigate on their status as a parent or not apparent we would investigate and prosecute her. You investigate based on the threat tag, how many more than the 20 some we know about already, how many more have been investigated that the threat tag associated with their name . I do not believe anyone has been investigated because they have a threat tag. Was the fbi memo, threat tag on their name and they have been investigated but again we know over two dozen now pickwick said you knob specific information about that part of the press release when he issued his memorandum on october 4, 2020 when the National Security mission was mentioned on the press release that went out that day. Heres what the press release is according to the attorney general memorandum, series of additional efforts to include the creation of task force. Has that task force been created . I believe that it has yes. You believe or it has . I believe it has who is anna . A number of components. Number are represented the Criminal Division to the Civil Division for. Components do not serve him task force, people do who are the people . Number of representatives of those components serve on the task force but. Do sermonic . I am not a member of the tas force have not been to any meetings. There are a number of representatives across the department of form that task for who from the nfd is on the task force . Rex i do not have any information who particulars on the task force by. This wasrc a big press releae it was the biggest story in the news last fall the National Security is one of the components on the task forceth youve never been to a Task Force Meeting you do not knowhe who we are task force is . Are you embarrassed about looking in the School Boards going after moms and dads at this embarrassing . National School Board Association public that they apologize their regret they did a bunch of states pulled out the organization is at the same attitude you haveat a question r frankly be good if you did we take very seriously anyone who serves in life deserves to bs safe. Anyone who serves on a schoolwo board, on a city council, any position of public trust they should not be the subject of threats of violence or violence. Thats the point of this effort. Parent should be able to feel safe they can speak their mind about their kids education. 584 specific quest of that last nine months. Of them here, have you collected any of the information we have asked for question what can you collect that information . Im aware there have been requests im not aware of this status of the response records basically giving us the finger of garlic two layers of half a paragraph on each labor i just wonder if you actually collect the information we know youre not going to give it to us to see that over the last nine months of you collected any of it . Im not sure sir what you mean collected any of the information. 584 specific requests about correspondence, emails, Key Communications that Justice Markham of the white house, the department of education. I am just asking have even started to collect it . Certainly willing to take that question back by. Think its interesting you dont know the answer. Adjustments time has expired. General and from rhode island is recognized for five minutes per. Thank you. I want to thank you assistant attorney general for being here today. One of the more dire threats pursue interNational Security is coming from within our borders. In recent years are seen rising domestic terrorism and hate crimes across the country but in effect and analysis by the center for strategicic International Studies shows domestic terrorism in 2020 was at the highest level in nearly three decades. Since 2005 right wing extremists have been involved in 2067 domestic terror plots or attacks 91 deaths according to the center for this is included countless racially motivated attacks, Mass Shootings and killings including earlier this year in buffalo, new york and el paso, texas in 2019. Too many other places to name. Showing great fear not only from foreign threats but domestic ones as well. Which brings me too my first question, attorney general garland secretary of Homeland Security at mayorkas have both testified the greatest domestic threat facing United States comes from racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist specifically those who advocate for the superiority of the white race. How is the d. O. J. Modified its intelligence and prosecution apparatus since beginning of the Biden Administration to prioritize terrorist activities by white supremacist, White Nationalist and antigovernment groups in the unitedgi states . Theyre responsible for the kind of violence i justac described. Look, we are threat driven at the National Security mission across the Justice Department to respond to the nature of theri threat we see in the mate by the fbi and the Intelligence Community characterizes a threat. Include threats from International Terrorist groups by increasing we become concerned about groups based in the unitedst states. This groups run the gamut in terms of ideology mix of ideology my question is why is the d. O. J. Struggled to investigate and prosecute these threats . I would say for our part we didas was establish a specializd unit within our counterterrorism section of this year to focus o domestic terrorist threats and domestic violent extremist make sure one, we have the right data. As a challenge to understand the nature of the threat. Make sure your prosecutors dedicated to that effort. And make sure we aree focusing n violence and not First Amendment teprotected activities because f course one of the concerns as an individual may espouse hateful rhetoric, racist rhetoric antigovernment but thats protected by the First Amendment. Our concern those views cross over into criminal acts such as acts of violence. Went to ask a question about piece of legislation the American Innovation and choice online this is Bipartisan Legislation that promotes competition, innovation Consumer Choice online. In its letter of support varies from letter support the department of justice explained the gatekeeper power of dominant platforms threatens Economic Leadership and resiliency by reining in this power, our legislation will help promote competitiveness. Some opponents of the bill falsely claimed it could harm her National Security, the legislation is not improperly vetted for National Security considerations. Isnt it true the Justice Department support of this bill reflects the entire departments views including those of National Security division and National Vision jeff any concerns about the legislation . Im certainly aware of the legislation. Also at the department have submitted in support of the bill that reflects the input of my division. I also know the bill contains a number of provisions that are designed to address the types of concerns that are raised about and areow being raised about National Security. And i look forward to working there are additional changes that need to be made to address any additional National Security concerns by. Freilich terrorism and mass shooting is increasingly prevalent in the United States, 2021 so nearly 700 Mass Shootings the most since he gun violence archive began tracking 2014. Does the d. O. J. Viewed these attacks as part of a broader domestic terrorism problem . How does the d. O. J. Incorporate the prevention of mass shooting into its National Security work if it does it all . The challenge of Mass Shootings tragic as we have seen, spans across the department of justice. It is the Criminal Division, civil rights the National Security. When we have instances of mass shooting at some motivated by political views and ideology that might be something National Security division works on. Also work in coordination with the Rights Division because it has jurisdiction over hate crime statutes but many of these cases are prosecuted through hate crimes. What i can say,di which i obvious, easy access to military grade weapons increases the likelihood that individuals who are extremist and hold extremist views and seek to carry out acts of violence are able to do so on a more significant scale for. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Johnson of louisiana is recognized for five minutes per. Thank you mr. Olson, it is ironic to my colleagues had a talk about disinformation there is a lot of it being shared on the other side of the aisle. Let me reset the table on the documented fact what exactly we know about this whole school caboard issue. As activist groups and left continue to push their agendas on america children last year, parents across the country began to speak out for the came to School Board Meetings, they express their views on Critical Race Theory and mask mandates and controversial curriculum but thats a First Amendmentn righ. It is more parent spoke at the National School Board Association the bidenen administrationd colluded specifically used term for a reason to create justification choose federal lawt enforcement tools to silence those parents were becoming a real problem for the agenda. As part of thehe collision schol Board Association sent a now famous letter to the white house to december 29, 2001, urgently Biden Administration is the heavyhanded federal Law Enforcement clean the the patriot act to target those moms and dads first protected rights for the white house not only clued with the and sba to craft the substance of that letter but following the letter President Biden called the then present to say is appreciative of their letter invited her to visit the oval office. The letter stated quote malice violence and threats againsthe School Officials could be the equivalent of a form of domestic terrorism or hate crime unquote. We did not make that up this is all documented by the end sba on may 20 of this year released a report had Commission Report because 20 of itsts organizatios its state School Board Associations pulled out and disavowed over all this nonsense. They Commission Report to examine the events. The report offered all of us and all the American People who are paying attention new evidence of exactly how the Justice Department corner of the white house to target parents. Found the First Communications between and sba on september 9. The Biden White House closely coordinated this is the end sba not republicans in congress. Contrary to attorney general garland sworn testimony to this committee whistleblower information shows a Justice Department and its components quickly operationalize october 4 directive notifying fbi personnel about a new threat tag created to apply school board investigations. We know the threat tag is edu officials. We are not making this up sir, the whistleblowers have confirmed that all. That threat tag as museums every region of the country relates all types of educational settings by do not want to misquote you but you are under oath. And i believe just a few moments ago you testified quote no one has been investigated because of the edu official threat tag, did i misquote you . No one has been investigated solely because of a threat tag. Out to people investigated because acts of violence or threats of violence. It isbe your testimony today that parents, moms and dads who went to School Boards engaged in sufficient to trigger investigations . I do have specific information. Of course you dont. You cannot tilt the number of cases why is that i do not know the number of cases. You are the director how do you not know the number of cases is this an important thing . You testified how important it is you dont know the number . If i may, the division would only handle a matter if it is a matter that falls within the times we are responsible for prosecuting. There may be cases that are handled by other divisions. How many is yours handling . On about the threat tag what was its purpose . I would suggest directing that to the fbi. That so convenient when they are here they point the finger elsewhere. Moms and dads voice their concerns at School Board Meetings are not to mystic tears prep the white house to suggest colluded witht any way that dos is absolutely outrageous. Twenty glaring examples and the reasons white millions of American People now believe the u. S. Department of justice has been a weaponize for political purposes for you and i both know the real threat to that is the rapid erosion of faith that her citizens have in our system of justice in our institutions at record lows right now. We cannot maintain ai Constitutional Republic and targeting citizens expressing their outrage over curricula is not an appropriate excuse and use of your resource for blanket on the bottom of this with the majority here in a few months. We need you back under oath because theres a lot more answers youre going to have to provide highyield debt. If i may respond. I absolutely agree. It is essential that we gain the trust of the American People may understand refile the rule of law and we investigate crimes without regard to politics and ideology. Allegations the fbi silencing parents, is reckless and false. Us out the facts show. Adjustments time has expired. Judgment from the arc is recognized for five minutes per. Thank you madam chair. Department of justice is not been weaponize whats been weaponize is a radical right wing illegitimate Supreme Court majority taking weight longheld freedoms from the American People. Weaponize. T has been attorney general garland testified the greatest domestic threat facing the United States comes from racially orn ethnically motivated violent extremists. You agree with that statement . Look, i cannot say which type of ideology because theres a mix of ideologies often form the domestic terrorism threat. You think the rise inot domestic terrorism a range of ideologies is significant. In recent years weve seen a significant uptick in violent attacks, many cases perpetrated by White Supremacists. According to a 2020 report by the center for strategic and International Studies, White Supremacists conducted 67 of terrorist plots and attacks in the United States. Tacks in the United States, is that figure consistent with what you have seen in terms of the rise of domestic terrorist attacks . I do not know that exact report, i do know that our Intelligence Community has said that the most significant number of attacks come from two sets of ideologies. Racially motivated and anti government. Those are the two that are most likely to result in lethal attacks. Has there been any understanding as to why you have seen a rise in organized and racially motivated domestic terrorist activity . I think there are studies to look at potentially many factors that give rise to this threat, i would note that it is not nail, it goes back to the but its one thats increased in recent years. But its usually resident and that iss a troubling developmen. What role does social media play is the ability to radicalize hundreds of phases if not millions of americans with respect to this violent extremism that the oca increase . Its a significant challenge. Hundreds agencies have assessed the way social media works it can accelerate from being radicalized to mobilize to suggest exposure to online content that can happen at such aio quick pace individuals are radicalized quickly in ways that are difficult to detect consuming this by themselves or in small groups. With respect to the attack am i correct that there were several organizations that played a r prominent role in the horrific events of that fateful day . Individuals that identifies themselves as members of the groups you mentioned were present and many have been charged in an indictment here in washington, d. C. Including two separate indictments that charged the crime of seditious conspiracy. Is it fair to say how the boys are increasingly targeting people within Law Enforcement personnel or in some cases people within the military or former military personnel . We certainly look whether individuals in the groups espouse those ideologies that we are looking at individuals some of them a self identified as being members of those groups but we dont look at them as groups for the debt that has individuals that conspire with others or self identify as members of those groups to see if theyve committed a criminal act. Given the rise in the violent extremism, how is the department of justice or your divisionn working with state and local Law Enforcement officials to try to prevent to the best extent possible things like massacre at modern manual church where the tree of life synagogue most recently the massacre at a supermarket incc buffalo new yo . Thats an important question because when it comes to this type of violence its certainly going to be the state and local First Responders that are going to be versed on the scene and in many cases ultimately prosecuted cases for the partnership between the fbi and state and local police and prosecutorial level is critical to addressing the challenge. They are often in the support role and in a primary role some of the cases ultimately prosecuted based on federal charges for many cases we need to make sure we are all playing at the same level. Time is expired. The gentleman from colorado is recognized for five minutes. I think the chair. Mr. Olson, i was honored to serve as prosecutor in the department of justice part of the time for 15 years. I understand what youre saying about revealing information about Ongoing Investigations and i understand what youre saying about the reminiscence and answering some of the questions that i think it would come for the americanab people and i had some questions and im going to hopefully get answers to those questions but it would come for the American People to know that you get it. I have the honor of listening over and over to constituents who are afraid that the federal government is getting into an area that it shouldnt get into. The state and local officials can handle protests, threats, acts and a fairly rare when you lookok at the School Board Meetings going on across the country. It would be comforting for all of us to hear that you understand it is not a federal issue. Flight nationalism is. I hope you it edited like nationalism. Everybody on this side of the aisleis and that side would agr. I hope there are no nazis left in the United States who would commit a violent act. If those people who behave because we dont go after them because they believe that anybody that would commit a violent act because the flights of premises delay soil White Nationalist by all means look at that on a National Level because it is a national scope. The School Board Meetings and threats against School Board Meetings concerns a lot of us greatly that there is a tag associated back and i will give you an opportunity tosc answer that and will ask a couple of other questions. I agree with everything you just said. When it comes to the threat against state and local officials and School Board Members those are matters that are going to be handled by state and locals prosecutors as they always have been and must continue to be. There is a role for the federal government with the National Cases youre talking about whether it is racially motivated, extremism. Y there may be a case at the state and local level that rises, but i do think you are right. Im the parent of three children. My son is behind me. Ive been at School Board Meetings. I understand parents have the right to be involved and disagreeing vociferously at times with the decisions being made at the local level and u absolutely we are committed. I personally am committed to protecting the rights of parents and citizens too speak out. For the state and local Law Enforcement. It comes from the American People that a leader says that and i want to make sure your son understands that he should be proud of his fathers service to the country. I want to ask though there is another area that concerns me and another area that i continue to hear concern from my constituents and that is the riots january 6th of the capital were horrific and they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Many people express concerns that there is not a parodygr between the attention that was given to those that committed crimes on january 6th and those that committed crimes through theat summer of 2020 and furthermore as a part of that analysis,es the crimes that were the summerhroughout of 2020 appeared to be coordinated. And id like to ask you very specifically can you tell this committee that george soros was not behind, his money wasnt behind directly or indirectly the activities that occurred in the summer of 2020 . Ive never seen a suggestion of that however, its not something i look at in terms of the cases that we handle in that security division. So, but i do agree with you that we need to look and we are looking evenhandedlynd across te board whether we are talking about crimes committed during the riots and destruction of the summer of 2020 and the attack on the capital on january 6th and using the tools that we have. The reality is that thousands of arrests that occurred in the summer of 2020 most of those were handled by state and locals as they should have been. In somee ways though i think it counts for the attention paid on january 6th and the significance is that most of the crimes are federal crimes because the target was the capital. So i do think that accounts for the differences in view. We need to be a political and how we handle these cases need we need to look across the board and to be driven by the nature of the threats we face. The gentle man time is expired. Thank you. My republican colleagues have said over and over that school board of violence is, quote, rare. A story on february 15th, 2022 begins with the letter came to the home of the Virginia School board member addressed to one of her Adult Children and threatened to kill them both unless she left the board. Its too badtt that your mothers an ugly communist with a hand scrawled note which the family read just after christmas. If she doesnt quit or resign before the end of the year, we will kill her, but first we will kill you. The story goes on to document over 220 examples of such a violent intimidation and id like to enter that under unanimous consent in the record. What concerns me is your being questioneded by a lot of become more comfortable with violence than voting that has associated itself morenc with chaos than communitieson but do you agree what i just described is something that Law Enforcement e should be concerned about and should investigate . Absolutely. Anyone who serves in a position as a School Board Member should be free from the fear of threats of violence were acts of violence, absolutely. A School Board Member myself, someone that signed up to serve do you agree if a parent goes peacefully very passionately describes their own beliefs about their childs curriculum that a child shouldnt be investigated . Of course its protected by the amendment. And im not surprised there are so many acts that are hardly very rare of violence because in this building, americas leaders are stoking that violence. So many now on their social media they love to hold their Assault Rifle and threaten the president to come and get it. They like to use the social media accounts and threatened to kill the speaker of the house. Theyve used the social media accounts to depict themselves in anime is killing the president of the United States, so it wouldnt surprise me thatas peoe in their community would go to a School Board Meeting and act the way that ive described. Andd people that would threaten violence im also grateful that you are not investigating peoplt who have legitimate concerns about their childrens curriculum. And also i have to debunk this nonsense. Thank you for clarifying that. That is a part of a longstanding, antisemitic trope that we see from the other side that goes after george soros and after Michael Bloomberg and any jewish individual who contributes to campaigns so they support and fund violence. And its incomparable to take the violence that occurred duringto the protests in the summer of 2020 and what happened in this capital, the largest crime ever investigated as part of the number of individuals indicted, sentenced. So, thank you for that. I want to ask you just briefly about the antitrust legislation that my colleague referenced and my concern and the concern of others and the committee is that if we were to have taken apple store for example requires them to take on apps from anywhere, a curated store and allow it to be a fleamarket anyone can come in and sell their apps on the platform, there are concerns about security, whether the chinese would flood the store with their own that could vacuum up the consumer data and send it back not only making our privacy effective, but also people in the Intelligence Community or russia using the platform to flood it with apps that could so it is informationpr whether its the elections or campaigning. Would you be willing to listen to evidence from other parts of the Intelligence Community if they have new concerns that came out after the letter that your agency sent with relation to the antitrust legislation . Yes. As the legislation moved to the process we did have the opportunity to comment on it and i do think some of the provisions that were incorporated address the concerns but of course if there are additional issues or concerns raised particularly by the Intelligence Community it would be incumbent on us and the Justice Department and elsewhere to take thoseou seriously. Thank you. And i will yield back. The gentle man from texas is recognized. Thank you, madam chair. Listen, have there been any orders or warrants obtained to assist in the investigation of what happened january 6th . I think you can appreciate im not in the position to talk about any matters that occur before the court involving the implementation. The only, way that we can hae oversight to discern whether or not we should ever allow fisa to continue is if we find out whats been going on. I was here beginning january of zero five. We talked to lots of people from the Justice Department. We were assured nothing about foreign matters were going before the court. So, imagine the shock when we saw this order from the court which basically, not basically, but it says all the records created by verizon for communication between thet unid states and abroad or in the United States including local telephone calls that all have to be turned over. And as i understand, theres still orders similar to that and once that information goes in to the database of your department, of the doj, the nsa there are thousands of people that can access that and have access to that and have done searches. So the question when you have something that we are told is wholly domestic it is an important question to know whether you are using where the f stands for foreign to go after american citizens. When i was here back in zero six and zero eight if people had known how badly that was being abused, there were people back then on both sides of the aisle who would have said wait a minute, this is just being abused so much. So that is why it is a fair question to knowai in general nt specific cases is the court, has it been used to get orders to investigate january 6th . Im not familiar with the order that you referred to a moment ago. That is what was so shocking to so many of us and look, the abuses occurred during the bush administration, the obama administration. There were some in the Trump Administration and im sure its still going on. We need to know the extent of that. Let me ask you about this case in texas a lady working for a company had been alerted about pictures and said you recognize anybody in this picture and it looks similar to her and she needed and lol that looks like me dont turn me in. A couple days later, two fbi agents show up at our place of business demanding to know where she was on january 6th. She was in texas. Then they threaten her boss that she can go to prison for covering for her. Is there any order from any court that allowsgo the doj or e nsa to monitor Text Messages of american citizens. But t search warrants under the amendment have to describe with particular the things to be searched or seized and thats not happening. Thats not been happening. So when you have no probable cause to go after someone in texas that weve heard about their software to look for specific words that will allow you to go after anybody that hasnt committed crimes, we really need to know how widespread that is. Can you give us an answer is that of being used . The way the law works is the federal judge, federal fisa court judge will only approve an order based on probable cause of an individual if they are a an agent of a we have proof that is a lie. Recognized for five minutes. Thank you, madam chair. In the church in Charleston South Carolina and the American People are obviously very upset about this explosion of nonviolence by dangerous extremists and significantly in the violent insurrection against our government on january 6th, 2021. The internal structure of the department of justice and how they worked to try to address this threat in the country i know that the apartment redefined its mission and priorities to focus on counterterrorism and this included the formation of the Antiterrorism Advisory Council and the joint Terrorism Task force. Have these existing structures created in the wake of 9 11 been adapted to address white supremacist violent radicalization in this new domestic Terror Threat or are there other structures in response to it . I think that is a really important question, and i do believe that we are adapting. The National Security division as others have pointed out, and youi noted it was formed in 206 largely to consolidate the departments National Security structures to focus on the International Threats from al qaeda in particular. We have evolved over time and have built the ability to go after Cyber Attacks and cyber directors and weve increased the ability there. Toav go after transparency. The question you raised about the domestic terrorism this year i established a domestic Terrorism Unit in the counterterrorism section to increase our focus on the types of threats we face on domestic violent extremists. I think in addition, i have performed with this attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, kristen clark, an Ongoing Partnership because so many of the attacks, whether it is buffalo or charleston or el paso are not only domestic violent extremists attacks but also hate crimes and we have learned over the year they are most effective criminal tools to go after those and in support of each other it may be wasnt an obvious 115 years ago between the National Security division in the Civil Rights Division ct tits proven to be very effee to make sure the prosecutors on both sides are bringing all the resources and expertise to bear on the growing problem that we face as you noted in your question. So i think we are evolving and working again with the fbi that has the domestic terrorism operation section to focus on this threat. But theres more we can do and we are going to be continued to be driven by the nature of the threats that we face. It is all over the country in churches and mosques in the ecsynagogues and movie theaters, walmart, Grocery Stores of the 30 domestic terrore fatalities last year they found 28 of them resulted from far right terrorist attacks. The vast majority nearly all of them. You testified that the number of investigations has nearly doubled. Has this jumped in the number of investigations led to an increase in actual indictments and prosecutions excluding for the moment the january 6 prosecutions. I dont have a specific number on that, congressman because that number does include the january 6 the cases and of course we have over 800 arrests not all of them are characterized as domestic violent extremists but many are and those are those do you t accountfor a significant portioe jump over the past two years ann the number of investigations. And are there any other proactive measures you are taking to try to address this threat . Im sorry, say again. Arear there other measures to address the threat of the far right of terrorism . Absolutely. Part of the challenge we havent historically done a good job of categorizing and capturing the numbers so the Data Collection because many of the cases are actually prosecuted at the state and local level or by u. S. Attorneys offices so we are Getting Better at trying to capture the data and that is one proactive aspect as well as training we are doing around the country. Thank you j and i will yield back. The gentle man from ohio for five minutes. Thank you madam chair. Mr. Attorney general, every riot or act of violence or threat thereof takingng place anywhere, whoever is responsible for it is unconscionable and on this side, republicans, we reject and condemn it. As elected members offo congres, we must do our part and callout acts of violence, just not those thatof fit a particular partisan narrative. We need to reject them all. The democrats have been very focused on the rhetoric that led up to the riots on january 6th. Yet for the most part, theyve been silent. When a similar language and tactics are used prior. Following the unprecedented leak of the Supreme Courts draft decision on jobs, democrats ignored the threat of violence including an assassination attempt on a supremeow court justice. Inon addition to pro abortion activists, they have targeted Supreme Court justices, fanatics with views that targeted and vandalized dozens and dozens of prolife facilities and churches to further their political cause. Arguably, the incendiary rhetoric used by some on the radical left has only encouraged that violence against those facilities and justices it is putting lives at risk. Members of Congress Must condemn, not to condone violence and for their political agendas. Look no further than senator Chuck Schumer who took to the steps of the Supreme Court in 2020 when the court was considering a louisiana prolife law and said i want to tell you you have released a whirlwind and you wont know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions. Is that the kind of rhetoric that is helpful to avert the violent extremism . I completely agree with you that this is not a partisan issue. Everyone serves in a position of public trust certainly at the very top of the members of the Supreme Court deserve to be safe, and weve taken very seriously the threat and we are prosecuting an individual with attempted assassination of Justice Cavanaugh and provided support to the Marshals Service of the Supreme Court and supported legislation to increase that support. We take that extremely seriously. Similarly, you mentioned the attacks on Pregnancy Resource Centers and prolife centers and groups. Also not a partisan issue. Violence, threats, not acceptable. The fbi opened a series of cases involving those attacks or threats against those. Some of them opened as domestic violent extremism cases. You absolutely need to do that because weve got facilities where these organizationsth are trying to hp women in need and they are being attacked and its outrageous. The radical pro abortion group, the same organization that originally posted of the addresses of the six conservative justices published the name of Justice Amy Coney barretts church and the school her children attend, the very school her children attend encouraging protesters to voice your anger, is that the kind of rhetoric that is helpful when trying to avert the extremism . We look at the acts of violence that violate the criminal law as a factor of the civic life and reprehensible language on each side. You would condemn putting up the Supreme Court justices children were to school or uachurch they attend. But you dont condone doing that sort of thing. I may find certain comments or statements reprehensible and not acceptable but in my role at the division, we look at the threats of violence and we prosecute those at the same time that we protect americans rights to enjoy their First Amendment rights. Another leftist group shuts shutdown the dc offered bountieo the dc industry workers, leaders et cetera for the sightings of conservative justices and additional money if the justices were still at the establishment 30 years after the initial report. It is offering bounties a sign of helpfulness when we try to avert the ae violent extremism . Again our goal is to investigate and prosecute crimes, threats of violencee and violence. To speak out in the First Amendment and tos do so in a way that obviously many people if not most dont agree with. That is part of what needs to be in america. I know my time is expired so i will yield back. The gentlewoman from florida is recognized for five minutes. Thank you so much and thank you attorney general for your service. We appreciate your testimony here today. Please confirm that your job is to prevent, disrupt, investigate and prosecute all forms of terrorism. Are you committed to protecting in your work the Constitutional Rights of several Civil Liberties of all americans . I am. Regardless of the color of the skin, gender, sexual tuorientation, religion . Yes. As a former Law Enforcement officer contrary to some of my colleagues who really like to pick and choose who they want to prosecute based on Political Party or if it serves their political agenda but by any means unnecessary. But i can assure you that i am committed to holding all leaders accountable and i do believe those who are most dangerous and engaged in the most hideous behavior should be held accountable first. Weve heard a lot of talk about school board as a parent who has attended School Board Meetings, parents are supposed to be involved in what is happening with their children in school, but you know, i can tell you ive never seen any parental behavior that even comes close. Even as a Law Enforcement officer to the violent, deadly behavior that we all were subjected to on january 6th. However, my colleagues seldom talk about that. Or it is an effort to explain why they should ignore subpoenas. As a matter of fact, my colleaguesn on the other side said if you did not know better, you would think that it was a normal tourist visit. It certainly was not, nor do they talk about you vivaldi or buffalo order my district bomb threats against the hbc you. You talked about the unit you formed within your department that willl investigate domestic terrorism. Could you talk a little bit more about that or the Staffing Resources and are you able to meet the goals of that you and it or what do you still need from congress to help you to fulfill that mission . I really appreciate this opportunity. We formed with the existing attorneys in the counterterrorism sections of starting small but we are going to grow it to meet the threat. But i can tell you as i said in my opening as we look at thee threat in the counterterrorism across the boardrd when i can tell you as i said in my opening, when we look at the threat across the board. Whether it comes from violence against Public Officials at the state and local level, all the way to attacks like we saw in buffalo, in particularly the january 6th attack stands apart. It represents the single largest domestic terrorism investigation in the nations history. More than 800 arrests, felonies, cleareyed and that attack posed to democracy with individuals pose in that attack, with a peaceful transform of power. That is why our organizational National Security division is joined in partnership with u. S. Attorneys office here in washington d. C. , the Criminal Division of the Justice Department to have the resources on what amounts to the wideranging investigations in history. Which really of lacks the significance and gravity of that day, the day leading up to it. You would really think the Judiciary Committee of the United States house of representatives would be really concerned about the most wideranging investigation that involved trying to not you made a statement to a question from congresswoman jackson lee about the millions of inquiries that likely resulted in a search for victims of a cyber breach was that related to the courts cyber breach . I dont think i can talk about it in this setting. I can tell you it was related to a cyber investigation cyber attack. So, that is something that in another setting absolutely happy to talk with you about and others in the committee. My time is up, but thank you again for having gods work. We appreciate you. The committee will recess until. Immediately after the last vot. The committee stands in recess