Well, thank you senator for the question Let me just say at the outset as this committee heard me say when I appeared before you on the NASA report I know I don't words Escape me to describe to you how upset I was when I learned what Our folks had failed to do back in 2015 And we've taken a number of steps You mentioned one of them the increased use of cafes as we call them child adolescent forensic interviewers But a few of the others that I would mention is that we've made All sorts of changes to strengthen our policies and procedures that add double and triple checks even To make sure that all FBI employees are handling these reports with the urgency that's required and Communicating with the right people both state and local law enforcement and within the FBI So that's one piece of it. And there's a bunch of sub parts of that training We've put in place a whole bunch of new training on mandatory training for everybody in the FBI No matter what their responsibilities are I've taken the training myself to make sure that we learn the lessons from that horrific Chapter but then we've added on top of that very tailored specific training again learning the lessons from The NASA IG report That go to the people who handle these types of cases So those are a few of the things we've done We have tried to message it over and over again I will tell you that we have adopted every single one of inspector general Horowitz's recommendations implemented them all And have gone above and beyond Thank you. 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 ice as I see it a loophole that's dangerous and Would be addressed by a bill. I've introduced called the NICs data integrity act What has the FBI done to ensure the background check system remains? Effective during this spike in sales of guns and do you need additional? Resources or authorities to make sure background checks are completed effectively and efficiently Well, thank you senator for the question It's certainly you are absolutely right that we've had a significant increase in volume Of next checks that we've I think in 2020. I think it was we had a record a Year of number And of course with some of the recent legislation that's been passed. I expect we'll have even more We have surged resources to try to keep up with the volume and the demand But we will need more Congress has already been helpful in giving us some additional resources But my expectation is that we will continue to need more resources not just personnel resources, but Systems IT resources because the the whole essence of the NIC system Is is taxing in terms of system upgrades and so forth and the interconnectivity and the accessibility for our state local partners and so forth so So we will need more resources not in a position to comment on specific Pending legislation of course, but but I am confident in telling you that we will continue to need resources for personnel And IT upgrades. I wonder Since over the 300,000 potential firearm sales were blocked in 2020. I congratulate you for this. Can you give us? some reference to the kinds of things that were blocked Well, the the transactions that are blocked are transactions where somebody who's a prohibited person is trying to Purchase a weapon obviously the biggest chunk of those are people who are convicted felons And you might be surprised, but it's it's sometimes remarkable how many convicted felons still walk into a gun store and try to buy a gun Of course, there are under section 922 a number of other prohibitors as well domestic violence mental Illness again, I'm using layman terms. The language is more specific in the statute But all the full range of prohibitors are involved in the denials that we have made Thank you. I want to just point out that Since I'm from the West Since the beginning of the pandemic the Asian American and Pacific Islander community Has seen a deeply disturbing increase in hate crime incidents Last year in my hometown of San Francisco city officials reported a 567 percent rise in hate crimes Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders San Francisco police Received reports of eight incidents of hate crimes again this with against this community in 2019 and nine reports in 2020 and 21 there were 60 so it's up we believe that this is not unique to California and I am concerned with it How is the FBI working with state and local officials to help? combat the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islander communities So we elevated Civil rights which hate crimes is the biggest chunk of our civil rights program to a national threat priority in In the last fiscal year and will be again this fiscal year I think in calendar year 21. We had the highest number of hate crime initiations that we've had in maybe five years or so We are also so there's a lot of investigative work going on in addition though. We're doing a lot of outreach to the community I think in 21 we had something like a hundred and forty different Training or liaison events with the AAPI community around the country And we've had listening sessions on the national level We're also trying to provide forensic support even in cases where there's not going to be a federal Prosecution, it doesn't mean that we have nothing to do with it We we try to help in terms of forensic support and other expertise and experience So we are we obviously are concerned about a lot of the same things that you are. Thank you for that It's much appreciated. Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Chairman Thanks, Senator Feinstein. Our friend and colleague senator Cornyn is recovering from COVID We wish him well and he's going to join us virtually now and questioning the director senator Cornyn. Are you with us? Thank you, mr. Chair. Can you hear me? All right. We can hear you. Yes, senator Good morning director Ray senator Grassley talked about the unprecedented amount of illegal drugs that are coming across the border that Contributed to the overdose deaths of 108,000 Americans last year alone I want to ask you um, you alluded to the fbi task forces that that deal with crime In communities all across the country Are criminal street gangs the primary distribution network for those illegal drugs that come across the border? That's certainly I think anecdotally, I don't know that I have the intelligence assessment in front of me But I think we would say that criminal street gangs are the the vehicle that we interact with the most as distribution mechanisms for Drugs that are coming from the cartels and transnational criminal organizations south of the border And these criminal street gangs that I think you alluded to this are Responsible for a significant portion of the violence including gun violence in Communities across our country as they battle for market share and territory, correct Absolutely, right when i'm out talking with chiefs and sheriffs, you know and talking to them just about every week I find more and more that that's what we're seeing. There's certainly our national gangs that we're concerned about but I think Americans might be surprised to hear how many Essentially neighborhood gangs to use the terminology that a lot of chiefs and sheriffs would use Are in many ways the the biggest driver of violence in in law or a lot of our communities And of course they deal in all sorts of illicit activities, but The profits from the distribution of these drugs a significant portion of how they Make money Yes, very much so okay and When you talk about the rise in violent crime being one of your Most urgent concerns. I think the the country certainly would agree with you the statistics tell the tale Of the Significant spike in crime and of course along with it the public concern for that um Would you would you attribute? Um, some of the the violence increased violence that you're seeing To these gangs to their drug business I'm trying to figure out if you will agree with me that there is a nexus between drugs gangs and guts is that Is that correct? Absolutely, uh, I mean I One of the first things i'm asking about and all these field office visits both to our own people and to our Law enforcement partners when we sit privately and have listening Sessions where i'm really asking them questions That's what you just said is something I hear about over and over and over again Well, I know there's been a lot more attention focused on the border in terms of the flow of migrants across the three million Encounters the border patrol has had But one of the tactics it looks like that the cartels are using Is to overwhelm the border patrol and other u.s law enforcement agencies so they can then move their drug The drugs across the border We know how many people were encountered roughly three million but the border patrol estimates that there could be as many as 300 000 So-called getaways. These are people who obviously weren't seeking asylum and weren't turning themselves in To engage in that process When director my orcas was asked about the border He made the frankly from my standpoint implausible statement that the border was secure from your From your vantage point in your opinion. Is the border secure? well boy, I I I guess I'm hesitant to substitute my judgment for the secretary of home and security But I will tell you that I have spent a lot of time with our field offices down that have border responsibility. I have been to Ports of entry including not that long ago with CBP officers walking me through it so I could really see firsthand what they're up against and all I can say is Boy, they got a a heck of a challenge And I admire their grit and their determination to get the job done because it's it's a daunting one Director ray, I've always thought of you as a straight shooter, but you won't answer that question Well, look, I I think The border presents significant Security issues. There's a wide array of criminal threats that we encounter down at the border We you've mentioned a little bit in some of your questions the transnational criminal organizations that use diverse And complex methods to traffic drugs that then cascades over into prison and street gangs Who distribute it? We are trying to tackle it on our end in support of our partners both dhs, but also state and local partners Not just on our side of the border through the task forces that I mentioned But also on the other side of the border we have When I think our biggest league at office is in mexico city We have transnational Anti gang task forces that we work with the our local partners in in the northern triangle But it's you know, it is a major major challenge And it is represents significant concerns for us In my most recent trip to the border senator cruz, and I took a number of our Republican conference down to the border many of whom had made that trip before but We continue to hear the same sort of message from the border patrol in terms of the nationalities of the peace people they encountered there and my recollection is in one sector the del rio sector They reported encounters From people from 150 plus countries In other words, it's not just a south of the border issue in terms of mexico central america and the like this is an international Human smuggling network. Would you agree with me? Uh, I I don't have the numbers like it sounds like you do but I certainly know that it is a a an eclectic mix of nationalities And the volume is just staggering And that's a public security threat. You agree with me? To me it represents a significant, uh, security issue and represents a wide array of criminal threats that flow out of it Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Chairman Thanks senator corning get well Senator whitehouse. Thank you chairman. Thank you, dr. Ray um, as you know, we are now entering the fourth year of a frustrating saga that again with an august 2019 letter from me and senator coons uh, regarding the cavanaugh supplemental background investigation and i'd like to try to get that matter wrapped up first Is it true that after? Cavanaugh related tips were separated from regular tip line traffic They were forwarded to white house counsel without investigation I apologize that uh in advance that it's been frustrating for you. Uh, we've tried to be clear about our process So when it comes to the question so when it comes to the tip line Uh, we wanted to make sure that the white house had all the information we have so when the hundreds of calls started coming in Uh, we gathered those up reviewed them and provided them to the white house without investigation Uh We reviewed them and then provided them to you reviewed them for purposes of separating from tip line traffic But did not further investigate the ones that related to cavanaugh, correct? Uh, correct Um, is it also true that in that supplemental bi the fbi took direction from the white house as to whom the fbi would question And even what questions the fbi could ask um So it is it is true that consistent with the long standing process that uh, that we have had going all the way back to At least the bush administration, the bomb administration, the trump administration and continue to follow Currently under the biden administration That in a limited supplemental bi Uh, we take direction from the requesting entity, which in this case was the white house Uh, as to what follow-up they want and that's the direction we followed That's the direction we've consistently followed throughout the decades. Frankly, uh, you asked specifically about who No, and what like who who we said is it true? It is true as to the who is to the who I'm not sure as I said here whether it's also true as to the what questions, but it is true as to the who we interviewed Okay, well, we'll pursue further the what questions um, here's what I would Like to do at this point Oh, uh, by the way, is it true that even today we have not been provided by the fbi. It's written tip line procedures Uh, senator, I know that we have provided a lot of information, uh, to the committee and to you Um, I would have to check on that specific item I know there is some information that you have requested That, uh, is not our call to provide that has to do with interaction communication with the white The fbi's written tip line procedures would seem to be Information that you could provide and that probably is in fact amenable to foya But again, I'm not I'm not aware of of of anything related to that But I'll happy to look into where that stands and we'll follow back up Well, here's what I'd what I'd like to do to try to bring this to conclusion First there's an april 19th letter From chair ben durbin senator coons and myself Um, have you received that letter? I believe we have yes, okay, and then there's another july 27th letter from chair durbin Uh, appropriations chairman lehi Senator coons and myself have you received that also? Yes I would ask 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 me in this hearing So that I can get them answered. Would you do that? It would be happy to respond to the letters I will say on the first of the two letters that you mentioned the april one Uh, if it's the letter that i'm recalling Uh, unlike the the most recent one that you mentioned. I think the other one Goes, uh, not just to us, but also I think to white house counsel and the attorney general Yeah, it does want to make sure that's not entirely That one's not entirely within our control But we will do everything we can to make sure that you get answers to all the questions that we can Can provide answers. Okay, that'll work. Um and Um, I also sent you a letter dated july 28th That consists of our overview Of what transpired in that supplemental background investigation Um, and what I would like to do is to Ask you to respond to these qfrs as I mentioned And take a look at that july 28th letter Um It is my intention To use that july 28th letter as the basis For a report to the chairman and to the rest of the committee on what our Oversight work has determined Okay so you now have The qfrs from the april letter The qfrs from the july 27th letter and the sort of Call it a draft for whatever or you want it the proposed Our findings to date From the july 28th letter And what I would like to do is to make sure that whatever response that the fbi wants to provide to that if you have Factual corrections you'd like to make now's your time to make them If you think that any of the information is subject to a privilege Of any kind now is your time to assert it Do you think it is reasonable to ask that that review of the july 28th letter And the answers to the qfrs from the april and july letters be provided by say a month from today That sounds reasonable to me Let me check with our people and if that's not going to be for some reason that i'm not aware of doable We'll be sure to let you know Okay, there's a point at which this simply has to come to an end This has been years and years of unanswered questions And so Please do your best But it is my intention in a reasonably short period of time after this one month period has expired 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 kafanoff supplemental bi And if we can get that sorted out between us in the next 30 days so that we can get a report that does not Have to quarrel with the fbi that would be great But at some point i've just got to proceed and it is my intention to proceed within the time frame that we have described fair enough Understood. Thank you. Thank you senator whitehouse senator lee Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Thanks for being here today director ray I want to talk for a moment about foreign intelligence surveillance act and specifically section 702 of fiza As you know director ray section 702 authorizes the collection of electronic communications Not just the metadata, but the content of the communications themselves Including communications of non u.s. Persons outside the united states But as you know this inevitably leads to the incidental collection of communications that involve Or include u.s. Persons including u.s. Citizens the The 2018 reauthorization of section 702 Required the fbi to obtain an order an order That's described in section 702 f2 um They have to go to the to the foreign intelligence surveillance court And They have to get an order authorizing them to query The database the communications the substance of communications involving u.s. Persons If the query is part of a criminal investigation Subject of certain exceptions and and not related to national security There is a statistical transparency report that's required by the usa freedom act that we passed in 2015 Your um, you you were statistical transparency report That um was issued in For the year 2021 just a few months ago Estimates that the fbi did not obtain a single Order under section 702 f2 From the foreign intelligence surveillance court in 2021 um But the fbi notwithstanding the fact they Didn't get a single one of these orders under f2. They identified at least four instances in which Uh, the electronic communications of u.s. Persons were unlawfully searched without the required order from the 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 communication Senator i'm as i sit here right now. I'm not sure that i recall exactly which of the various oversight mechanisms that we have Produced that i know that we have everything from Reviews that the justice department's national security division does uh, and i think odini and then we also have internally I stood up a An office of internal audit that did not exist before That is specifically focused on On fiza compliance in the first instance And there are some other mechanisms as well So i'm not i just as i'm sitting here right now I just don't remember but i'd be happy to have us follow back up with you about all that I appreciate that. I would I would appreciate that follow up You know When our government is able to collect as much information as it is and we do need these authorities in order to Keep ourselves apprised of communications going on outside the united states by non u.s persons About us and bad things they want to do to us, but when it comes to american citizens They have a reasonable expectation of privacy when you have that much ability to collect that much information Record that many conversations of unsuspecting law-abiding American citizens And they really do have to be procedures in place to make sure that there's probable cause and a probable cause based warrant In order to search those because that really is just a backdoor search and a potential end run around the fourth amendment Uh, so i've got other issues. I want to cover, but I just um, I would appreciate follow up from you on that And I I really do believe this helps prove if there were four First of all, I found implausible the idea that they Never needed to get a 702 f2 order Secondly, the idea that there were four and only four instances in which This provision of faiza was violated. I find that utterly implausible Another issue I wanted to discuss with you relates to What we've seen ever since the leaked draft of just solito's opinion in the dob's case We've seen a pattern in which pro-abortion activists have violently targeted over 82 churches and pregnancy centers spray painting threatening messages and breaking windows and fire bombing In in some instances This is occurring in addition to those who have been encouraging protests outside the Homes of supreme court justices and otherwise threatening the the the type of things that can lead to violence and encouraging What could become violent behavior? The pro-abortion group known as jane's revenge is taking credit for many of the attacks on Pregnancy centers and on churches across the country He's of course in danger a lot of people including volunteers and employees People who are just coming to worship Or to seek health care Of one sort or another How many domestic terrorism investigations does the fbi currently have open under the category of abortion related violent extremism? I don't have the exact number, but I can tell you that we have opened a number of domestic violent extremism investigations using our joint terrorism task forces that are specifically focused on attacks or threats against Churches pro-life organizations Pregnancy resource centers similar types of organizations including for example I know off the top of my head. We have one, you know in in senator grassley's home state of Iowa in Des Moines We have one in senator blackburns of state of of of Tennessee I think we have one in senator tillis's state in north carolina Glad to hear there are a number of them that are open I'll appreciate getting more stats from you as you know congress passed a lot Dealing with this the freedom of access to clinic entrances act codified at 18 usc 248 And it prohibits the obstruction Entry intimidation or interference with any person who's either seeking to to enter a clinic to obtain reproductive health services and and also people Seeking to exercise their right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship You have any idea how many investigations of pro-abortion activists have resulted in federal prosecutions under the freedom of access to clinic entrances act I don't have that number. Okay. I'd appreciate it if you could get that to me as well Um, look considering the large number of of churches and abortion centers that have been firebombed and otherwise attacked Uh, has a tag threat been created for investigations associated with those attacks? Uh, I am sure that we have threat tags related to this. I don't know what the threat tags are I will say this we put out When the when the opinion first leaked We put out a directive to all of our field offices to be looking actively for potential Threats of the very sort you're talking about and I want to be crystal clear on this From our perspective I don't care what side of the issue you're on. I don't care who you're upset with or what you're upset about Uh on an abortion or anything else you don't get to use violence or threats of violence to act on it And we're going to go after that conduct aggressively Uh, and I feel very strongly about that and I've communicated that very strongly To all of our field offices and our workforce Thank you Thank you senator lee senator klobuchar Thank you very much director ray. Thanks for your really good work. Um, and the work of your agents including in my state I wasn't going to start this way, but I think I should follow up a bit on what uh, senator lee was talking about Um, and uh, that is that last month senator durbin held a hearing and dr Colleen mcnicholas gave powerful testimony to the committee Um, about how her fellow doctors and clinic workers have been killed for helping women get the care they need Last year attacks targeting abortion clinic staff and patients increased 128 Over the previous year including a 600 percent increase in stocking Since actually the leak of the supreme court opinion in dobs We have seen violence violent threats as noted on both sides of the debate But a molotov cocktail was thrown through the window of a crisis pregnancy center in nashville arson at a wyoming abortion clinic Um, I know that you have condemned violence, but could you Talk a bit about what you're seeing in terms of the clinics themselves receiving threats Well, historically we have as you know senator seen attacks against Abortion clinics and uh, protests organizations over the years I think what has happened since the Since the dobs opinion leaked Is a general intensification of violence across the issue But we have seen a notable uptick In violence, which we had not seen as much of before Directed at the kinds of organizations and facilities that senator lee mentioned But there's absolutely the kind that you mentioned as well And I think this is part of a larger phenomenon that we are experiencing in this country right now, which is I understand that passions run high, especially on an issue like abortion But there are just way too many people Who seem to think that it that that justifies engaging in violence And and destruction of property and threats of violence. You mentioned molotov cocktails I feel like every day i'm getting briefed on somebody throwing a molotov cocktail at someone for some issue It's crazy Do you think that violence that shows up on social media and when I think about Some of the indications we'd seen in the shootings as well a separate issue the mass shootings Um contributes to this I certainly think that social media Has provided a bullhorn for issues and and uh animosity and anger and passion and rage That it may exist anyways, uh, and it provides for a Uh, a a level of speed and dissemination Of hate and anger that is definitely part of the issue here. Okay. I'm gonna do some quicker questions now You know our u.s. Attorney in minnesota andy luger He's announced a new strategy to address violent crime Directs federal law enforcement to prioritize these cases including carjackings trafficking of firearms Every federal prosecutor in his office is now taking on violent crime cases Can you talk about very quickly how the bureau is coordinating with our u.s. Attorneys on the violent crime issue? So as I mentioned in my opening statement violent crime I think is the the number one issue I hear about from our law enforcement partners and frankly from the u.s. Attorneys Including your your u.s. Attorney We are trying to go at it and through a whole bunch of mechanisms our task forces, which I mentioned Is the biggest vehicle. We also have Created a violent crime rapid deployment team, which we have surged to individual hot spots To to surge and bring additional sustained impact. We have local Task forces that are formed to deal specifically with carjackings, which seem to be on the rise again in a lot of cities But we're also doing some things that I think other people wouldn't necessarily think of as much You know our task forces south of the border, you know are also engaged in trying to prevent the violence from coming across Our nicks denials The rate that's already been talked about here. Those are those are preventing Guns from getting in the hands of using the laws on the books Of prohibited persons felons people who should not be under anybody's definition with their hands on it So there's a number of things like that that we're doing good You and I talked last time or it was time before about The report that the came out of the rules committee on january 6 in terms of recommendations at center blunt and portman and And peters and I did Could you talk about the actions fbi is taken to coordinate better? With the capital police with intelligence So certainly we took to heart the recommendations coming out of your committee We have tried to do a co-op that a couple different ways building in greater redundancies in the way in which we communicate the information including The instructions to make sure that information, for example, like the much discussed norfolk SIR That that gets to the right people at the right levels within the organizations This is one of the lessons in a way that we learned from 9 11 Frankly is also applicable here, which is there is This is a place where redundancy Is actually a good thing because it's belt and suspenders It's a way to make sure the information gets to somebody who will potentially action it in a responsible way Thank you The justice department sent a letter of support For the bipartisan tech competition bill that senator grassley and I introduced it's called the american innovation and choice online act Which would stop dominant digital platforms from engaging in self-preferencing that towards competition And in fact the bill came out of this committee 16 to 6 The big tech companies now bloomberg reported yesterday have now spent over 120 million dollars Against this bill. It's actually more money. That's just the ads they have identified and the reason i'm asking you this director Ray is that one of the things they're putting up on these ads is that the bill would hurt national security Which multiple national security experts have debunked including within the administration Last week the assistant attorney general of the national security division Confirmed that the justice department's letter in support of the bill reflects the national security division's input Can you confirm that the department of justice's letter of support reflects the fbi's input as well? Yes, senator Okay, very good. Thank you Last question senator peters and I just introduced a bill on the conversion Of semi-automatics into fully automatic weapons. We're seeing a spike of these Can you talk about what the fbi is seeing with respect to illegally modified weapons and the need to keep them off the streets? Oh, well, I certainly haven't seen the legislation itself But but the issue more generally, uh, certainly we are seeing and I think I mentioned just one example You know in my opening statement an alarming number of situations in which Weapons are modified to make them fully automatic And it's almost invariably happening in the hands of somebody who is a dangerous criminal to begin with and it's now just even more dangerous Okay, thank you. And mr. Chairman you held yesterday a really important hearing on Threats on election workers. I hope one of my colleagues asked about that But otherwise I'll put the question in writing. Thank you. Thank senator klobucharist senator cruise Thank you, mr. Chairman Director ray. I'm deeply concerned That the fbi and the department of justice had become Thoroughly politicized I think this is a problem that began during the obama administration. I think it metastasized with career Officials during the trump administration. And I think it continues and is even worse today under the biden administration I don't believe you personally reflect that politicization But I think you've been unwilling to root it out and unwilling to hold people accountable For the politicization. I hear regularly from fbi agents And from professionals of the department of justice who are dismayed That our law enforcement has been weaponized and politicized rather than remaining apolitical as it has been For the history of our country Yesterday it was reported that project veritas had obtained a copy of an fbi training material Which listed various symbols and themes which in the fbi's estimation Were indicative of quote militia violent extremism Now these symbols weren't things like the kuklaks clan or the nazi party which naturally would be symbols of that But instead they included rather astonishingly Patriotic symbols of our nation and our history Included on this list Is the betsy ross flag Now that's fairly remarkable that the betsy ross flag and the fbi's indication is indicative of violent of militia violent extremism because among other people who have been publicly Alongside the betsy ross flag We have president barack obama who was sworn in Directly underneath two betsy ross flags, but it's not just president obama We also have President biden who was sworn in under betsy ross flags It's not just the betsy ross flag also on this list Is the gadsden flag As a symbol of violent extremism now the state of virginia has a license plate for the gadsden flag as do many other states I think people would be astonished to find that having that license plate the fbi indicates That you're a violent extremist also included on this is the texan i was particularly struck Is the gonzales battle flag? come and take it As indicative of being a violent extremist militia. Well, I will self report right now That every day in the senate. I wear my boots That have the gonzales battle flag on the back of them director ray What are y'all doing this makes no sense Do you do you agree with this fbi guidance? that the betsy ross flag And the gadsden flag and the gonzales battle flag are signs of militia violent extremism Well senator i'm not familiar with the particular document you have behind you And i'm not in the practice of trying to comment on documents that i haven't Recognized but i will tell you that when we put out intelligence products including ones that reference Symbols which we do Across a wide variety of contexts. We usually Uh make great pains take great pains to put Caveats and warnings in the document to make clear That a symbol alone is not considered evidence of violent extremism And it's well, but director ray you don't include things like Antifa you don't include things like black lives matter instead you identify patriotic americans as suspect and I would note There's a pattern of this As you're aware the national association of school boards asked the attorney general to investigate parents As domestic terrorists under the patriot act Now it did so Because it was upset about moms and dads coming to school boards and disagreeing with the policies of those schools Five days after that letter the attorney general sent a memo to you Directing the fbi to target parents for investigation Since that time the national association of school boards has Apologized for the letter because it was so indefensible, but that hasn't stopped the fbi. In fact, you've created a specific threat tag Ed uh Directed at parents. So let me ask you how many moms and dads Who have spoken up at school boards has the fbi interviewed or investigated since the memo from the attorney general Well first off I'll say I'm not aware of any but second let me address the issue You're not aware of any like the house representatives had written you and asked you would let me if you would let me Uh, 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 investigating speech or policing speech at school board meetings Or anywhere else And we're not about to start now that threat violence threats of violence That's a different matter all together and there we will work with our state local partners as we always have So directly you asked about direct right direct ray our time is do you know how many parents you have interviewed or investigated Since that that memo I am aware that we have had a small number of assessments Which is less than an investigation and a few full investigations not hold on So how many hold on hold on let me finish I'm just I'm asking a question that time is limited. I don't know the number but did not Well, but let me finish that are not necessarily of parents We have individuals who have made threats against a variety of people Sometimes school board officials sometimes other people direct ray I will point out the house representatives has sent you oversight letters Detailing dozens of investigations under a threat tag directed at parents parents moms and dads Who g-men have come in because they spoke out against mass mandates or vaccine mandates or critical race theory And suddenly the g-men show up and this was after The attorney general claimed it wasn't happening and so The pattern sadly we've seen you say you don't know how many there are the follow-up will be I'll send you a letter and you'll send back a letter that says I refuse to answer it. Let me give one another example recently there was the case against Individuals charged with kidnapping and murdering governor Gretchen Whitmer in michigan That case ended up an absolute debacle where the four people who went to trial Two of them were acquitted to receive missed trials None of them were convicted on even a single charge and the basis of the defense was entrapment that the fbi That paid enforcements for the fbi had Suggested and had incited the conduct. Let me ask you How many fbi agents? were disciplined or reprimanded after That disastrous case And the misconduct that led to every defendant being acquitted or having a missed trial on every charge Senator I can't comment on a personal matter. I can tell you that that case as I understand it is now pending a Retrial as I understand it. Well, the special agent in charge of that case has now been sent To dc to the washington dc office and now leads the investigation regarding january 6. Is that correct? That doesn't sound right to me. That does not sound right. The the name of the individual is steven Deantuno. He was he was run out of the fbi. Detroit field office And by the way, I will point out that the lead investigator special agent track Are you aware that he was apparently fired? Or allegedly beating his wife after coming home from a swingers party And he'd made multiple derogatory political posts about president trump showing political bias. Are you aware of that? I am aware of I think the incident you're describing An action that was taken about it to clarify on the first part of your question Mr. Dantuno was the special agent in charge of the office The Detroit field office is now the assistant director in charge of the washington field office I thought you were asking about the agent who was responsible for the so the guy in charge got promoted And is now in charge of the january 6 investigation The guy in charge of the whole Detroit field office is now in charge of the whole washington field office. That is astonishing Senator coons Thank you chairman Durbin director rey Welcome. Thank you. I want to start by thanking you and the 38 000 men and women of the fbi for their service and devotion to our country the constitution the rule of law Um, I want to thank you for the fbi's efforts that have made a concrete difference in my hometown and my state in recent weeks In just the last few months actually the fbi's worked with law enforcement and prosecutors in Delaware To secure convictions in murder for hire stalking kidnapping firearms and child pornography cases I've paid close attention in my 22 years in elected office at the county level and here in the senate On a state federal and local partnerships and law enforcement And the fbi is making a difference in reducing violent crime in wilmington and in delaware President biden in a state of the union six months ago Said clearly we shouldn't have to choose between safety and equal justice We should come together to protect our communities restore trust And that the answer is not to defund the police but to fund the police with resources and training Needed to properly protect our communities The american rescue plan made 350 billion dollars available for state cities counties to hire more police and invest Improven strategies like community violence interruption and just Recently the safer america plan was announced by the administration Which would invest 13 billion in hiring and training 100 000 additional police officers for accountable Community policing and it would make significant investments in community violence prevention We've seen the value of this in wilmington recently as there's been a sharp decline in gun homicides and overall shootings And law enforcement leaders in my community have attributed those declines to a multifaceted approach that brings together a focus on gun crime enforcement investments in violence interruption programs and community policing Could you briefly speak director to the value of an approach that combines investment in law enforcement and community programs and violence interruption efforts So I think the the point that you're getting at is spot on because one of the things that We find in dealing with any threat, but especially something like the violent crime threat Is that we can't investigate our way out of it all by itself? That is an incredibly important in many ways that's job one But we have to find a way to prevent it from happening in the first place and so community outreach Is an important secondary component to that to do everything from Get people who see something to say something and communicate with law enforcement To develop sources in that regard but also to educate In particular juveniles Uh about What they may face If they you know pursue a path of violence We are when I talk to chiefs and sheriffs around the country And certainly to our agents the phenomenon of juveniles engaging in violence is i'm hearing about everywhere And the laws as they currently stand are of limited effectiveness frankly against juvenile violence But those juveniles then go on To graduate to more and more serious violence And so if we can figure out a way to try to start addressing the problem When they are juveniles as well that I think that's got to be an important piece No substitute I should say for aggressive strong law enforcement, but as an additional component To the overall strategy. Well, thank you one of the laws. I'd like to now talk about is How you're proceeding with implementing Of the next denial notification act you referenced earlier it's striking How many felons walk into gun stores and try to buy guns even though they know they're a person Prohibited something like 10 to 20 percent According to an atf study of individuals Who tried to buy a gun and were denied by a background check went on to commit a subsequent firearm crime In the following few years Senator cornyn and I led the passage of the next denial notification act Which says that local law enforcement needs to be alerted when someone who's a person prohibited lies and tries I'd be interested in what the fbi is doing to enact this legislation And the provision in the bipartisan safer communities act that requires enhanced background checks For people under 21 to buy long guns So on the on the next denial Notification legislation, uh, and I'm obviously aware that this is an issue that you've Led for a long time We are in the process there. We're going to need significant system upgrades to fully implement that So we're in the midst of that right now because that significantly expands The interconnectivity that we'll need to have So that there's a heavy it systems upgrade dimension to fully implementing that On the more recent legislation that you mentioned There will be a number of new fronts where I anticipate us Interacting both with state and local Colleagues on On the juvenile issue in particular with with ffls over the stolen gun potential offer for resale issue and then also on The option for ffls to use the system for employees that they're onboarding So they're going to be I think significant Demands on both our personnel and in particular on as well on our systems as we go forward under both both pieces of legislation Thank you director. I have one more question for you But I do want to say senator whitehouse asked a whole series of questions I've joined him in a series of letters This is simply trying to get to the bottom of the representations 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 with clarity What happened in terms of the tip line and its management and I think we should get answers to our questions and we should resolve this issue So I look forward to working with you and hearing from you in the month They had to finally bring this to a close. I thank you senator and I we will work with you on that I do want to be clear. I think I've managed to get this across the senator white house in the colloquy, but I have been assured back then And repeatedly ever since that the process that we followed the practice that we followed for the limited supplemental background investigation In this instance was consistent with the same process that we followed going back To earlier in the trump administration the obama administration the bush administration and that we continue To follow now under the biden administration My last question to you is one of the key failures of the nasa investigation Was the improper way fbi agents? Interviewed and interacted with victims of child sex abuse This is something i've long worked on both in my county elected role and here Using forensic interviewers and other trained medical personnel Is critical to protecting victims and ensuring the integrity of investigations A tremendous resource is children's advocacy centers That provide exactly this sort of coordination I'm working with senators klobuchar and cornyn on a bipartisan bill that would require the fbi to bring together multidisciplinary teams of trained professionals in child abuse investigations Could you just briefly speak to the value of partnering with the existing child advocacy centers? And whether or not you would support legislation that would codify this requirement So that this implementation of an oig recommendation Would extend permanently Well as the legislation i would have to review it i'm not in a position to comment on specific legislative ideas But i will say that i share your view that This is a very specific skill set and requires a very specific Touch and sensitivity That's why the child adolescent forensic interviewers that we have Are so important and in such an important mechanism consistent with the recommendations we got from the inspector general And so i think the point you're getting at is very consistent with that. Thank you director. Thank you, mr Thank you senator coons and for the record i'm going to ask consent To enter into the record a copy of the page that was part of the exhibit by the junior senator from texas Related to symbols of militia violent extremism published by the fbi And note that in bold print it reads the use of sharing of these symbols alone should not independently be considered evidence of militia violent extremism presence Our affiliation or serve as an indicator of illegal activity As many individuals use these symbols for their original historic meaning or other non violent purposes And without objection i'll enter that into the record and i'll now recognize the senator from missouri senator holey Thank you, mr. Chairman. Uh director ray I sent you a letter last week about the fbi's decision to try to obtain sensitive personal information Related to concealed carry permits in the state of missouri. I've got the letter right here Have you read this? I have had a chance to glance to glance at it. Yes. Good. So let's talk a little bit about it Why is the fbi attempting to audit concealed carry permit records in the state of missouri? So i guess the first thing i would say is we will get you a longer more Detailed and specific response to your letter. Um I am generally familiar with the kind of audits that we're talking about us I can give you a little information now, but we will follow up with you in writing To give you a more fulsome answer to your letter The the kinds of audits that we're talking about are routine audits that are conducted By our sieges division which also encompasses nicks among other things These are audits that we do not with agents There are no agents out talking to people They're routine audits of the system to make sure the system is being used properly and they do that at the direction of an advisory policy board that is Manned with not just fbi agents frankly not just federal law enforcement, but state local law enforcement from all over the country And so these audits go on They look at small samples in order to make sure the system is being used properly. They're not focused on individuals or their Second amendment rights or anything like that.  I think it's the cycle We had one in in your home state in 2018 for example And I think it was very uneventful and I would expect this one to be as well You're correct that there was one in 2018 and what the sheriffs of Missouri say in 2018 is that the fbi did not request Concealed carry records You are requesting it this year in the state of Missouri Only the sheriffs have these concealed carry records because Missouri law explicitly forbids Concealed carry permit information to be turned over to state officials or to federal officials For reasons that you can surely understand And we've seen recently what's happened in california for instance when gononers are exposed their personal information put out Into the public record So I just want to understand why it is the fbi is now seeking from our sheriffs And we're talking about multiple sheriffs who have comment who have who have contacted me Who have contacted other state officials who have spoken to the press Saying that the fbi is now asking for the names of concealed carry permit holders in the state of Missouri Why is that if you've not done it before I don't understand Well, again, I'm going to have to look deeper into to give you a more fulsome answer to your question My understanding my limited understanding As we sit here right now Not having a chance to drill into it more deeply But is that the uh that under Missouri state law checks for concealed carry permits are run Using one of those systems that sieges administers So in order to be able to determine that the system is being used properly consistent with the audit Consistent with the direction of the advisory policy board. I think that may explain the answer But again, let me let me follow up with you in more detail in writing Okay, so you can confirm though It sounds like you're saying that indeed the fbi is asking for for records because you just said that would be the reason for requesting this information I don't know that for a fact, but that's what I've heard that may be part of may explain the disconnect But I'm not well heard from home You say you've heard heard from your agents or heard from from people within the our organization Yes, so trying to as I'm trying to in the middle of everything else trying to unpack What exactly is going on with the the dust up over this particular audit? Well, you say in the middle of everything else you can understand I hope why this would be of significance to the people of Missouri Absolutely, and that's why I've committed to that. We will make sure we get you a detailed response in writing What what what could you possibly be doing? I mean with the personal information of these individuals? Let me ask it this way. Are you doing this in other states as well? Are you going to other states and asking for concealed records concealed to carry permit records in other states too? Or is it just Missouri? I know we are doing audits These routine audits in some other states, but I don't know I think it's a function of different state laws as to what exactly is within scope in terms of the use of the system Why are you asking for it now from the state of Missouri from our sheriffs when you didn't ask for it in the past? Again, I'm going to have to get more information to be able to provide you a written response to your letter What what steps would the FBI take to make sure the information remains private if you're able to obtain it From these sheriffs all across Missouri again, I'm the same answer. I really want to be careful not to Speak when I don't have all the facts. Okay, so you're not going to answer my questions. Well, No, I am going to answer your question. We're just you're not answering the matter here because I don't have the answer Well, because you're under oath and because you're not prepared to answer them. I'm disappointed frankly I sent you this letter days ago. This has been on your radar screen the attorney general of our state Since you a letter before that You've known about this. This is of significant concern. It directly affects Missouri state law You can understand the position you've praised your local law enforcement partners earlier today director You're putting them in a terrible position in the state of Missouri state law says they cannot turn over These personal records the sheriffs cannot you are asking them to Apparently in an unprecedented fashion. They've not been asked this before I want to know what in the world You're doing with this and frankly I don't like the fact that the fbi is snooping around the concealed carry permit records of Missourians, I don't like it at all. I don't know what you want to do with it I don't know what you're going to do with the information, but I don't like that you're putting our sheriffs in this position And i'm disappointed that you're not ready to answer my questions. Let me ask you about something else afghan refugees The fbi is involved you have said in the past your agency has said in the past and In helping to vet refugees who were brought here After the botched evacuation by this administration out of afghanistan I'm sure you're aware that the dod Inspector general has said that earlier this year that they're at least 50 50 Afghan personnel who were brought to the united states who in fact had derogatory information could be wrote could be a terrorist Could be involved in in act terrorist activities 50 of them who have been brought here Released into the united states can't now be found that information was turned over to you I understand dod gave you that information asked you to help track down these 50 individuals Here's my question A whistleblower has now come forward to senator johnson and myself And alleged that the situation is actually far greater than that According to this whistleblower's allegations. There are 324 individuals who were evacuated from afghanistan and allowed to enter the united states Despite appearing on dod's biometrically enabled watch list This this is a watch list that identifies folks whose biometrics have been collected and determined to be threats Or potential threats to national security including known suspected terrorists So this whistleblower says it's a lot more than 50. It's 324 Are you aware of this as dod or dhs communicated this to the fbi? Uh, I don't know that I have the exact number I know that there are a number of individuals through our joint terrorism task force is that we are actively trying to investigate as a result of Um, of the how many again? I don't know if I can get you the number But I will see what we can get you as a follow-up of any of this of this Nearly 400 individuals now Who apparently have been brought to this country despite having some connection to terrorism? Have you have you interviewed any of them? Have you have you apprehended any of them? I know there have been a number of of interviews of individuals Who came lots of interviews frankly of individuals who came as part of the evacuation Um, I think there have been a number of disruptions whether how many of those have been arrests under what charges and so forth That I'd have to get back to you on Last thing Mr. Chairman the whistleblower has also alleged that political appointees of the national security council And at dod instructed agency personnel to cut corners when they were processing afghan evacuees And rather than administer fingerprint Fingerprint tests on all 10 fingers for instance to abbreviate those tests in order to promote rushed evacuation They also alleged that personnel at dhs who worked on vetting afghan refugees have been authorized to delete Old biometric data whenever they personally want to obviously these are very troubling allegations Are you aware of this behavior at dhs and dod? I'm not familiar with the report that you're referring to. I will say that This was a massive number of people to be vetting in an extraordinarily short period of time and that That In my view Inevitably raises concerns. Oh, I think you're absolutely right about that Inevitably raises concerns. I think is the is the nicest thing that could be said about it In fact, thank you, sir. We know that the the basic procedures were not followed We know that the screening process was not followed and now we know that potentially hundreds of people connected to terrorism Are loosed in this country as a result. Thank you, mr. Chairman Senator blumenthal is going to be recognized next and then we're going to have two more rounds of our two more individuals questioning the director will take a five minute break at that point Uh, and I just want to say for the record you made it clear and we're going to honor the fact that you have a hard stop Coming up soon. So we're going to try to keep everyone within the time that uh, they're supposed to take senator blumenthal Thanks, mr. Chairman Director ray, thank you for being here today and thanks for your Now five years of dedicated service to our country and thanks to all of those 38,000 do I have that number right? Uh men and women with whom you work Who have also dedicated their lives to making our country safer? Uh, and I want to preface by saying I believe that the fbi is A law enforcement organization of pre-eminent skill dedication to preserving our rights and liberties And I welcome your condemnation of the bungling. I think was the word that you used of the nasser Investigation I was deeply disappointed and 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 but also then Missed truths untruth lies to the oig investigation The declination of prosecution was Infuriating to many of the survivors and victims understandably and to me Were you consulted in that decision? Well, uh senator As you may appreciate in your role as a former u.s. Attorney course Prosecutive decisions are made by prosecutors over the department They would consult with the investigative agency But in this case the investigative agency was the office of inspector general not not the fbi my views on the conduct In particular of the couple of people in the indianapolis field office Their failures have been Stated very publicly and frankly Emotionally by me And as you know we on our end fired The one individual who was still at the fbi So that's that's really kind of all I can say on that I guess So do I take it you were not consulted on the decision not to prosecute which as you say may be understandable because you were not The investigative body in particular for the potential Lying to the fbi and prosecution Well, certainly my views about the agent's conduct and my views on what happened or more importantly what did not happen in the nasser case Were communicated In a variety of ways including by me to the department, but as to the prosecution decision or the declination decision I don't I'm not aware of us having any role in that Did you agree with it? I'm gonna respectfully decline to answer that question My views on the agent's conduct are best reflected through my public comments and the action we took at the fbi Thank you You have been very forthright and aggressive in Condemning the incitements of violence and I think you agreed with me when we last talked about it that You agreed that The most persistent and lethal threat to the homeland And i'm quoting from the department of homeland security is domestic terrorism violent extremism white supremacy in this country From within is that still your view? Well, I Close I would put it slightly differently, but but somewhat similar Which is that the greatest threat we face here in the homeland Is what from what are largely lone actors? already here Largely radicalized online who use Easily obtainable weapons to attack soft targets and a big chunk of those are domestic violent extremists Another big chunk of those are homegrown violent extremists inspired by ices and jihad But there are people who are already here and they have a lot in common Of the domestic violent extremists racially motivated violent extremism Is a is responsible for the The most lethal Attacks that we've seen in the country over the last several years And of the racially motivated violent extremism the biggest bucket is those who advocate for the superiority of the white race I will say that over the last couple of years Another group within the domestic violent extremism bucket Has really surged and that really started in 2020 I would say Through the summer and then continuing on to the president And that's what we put into the category of anti-government anti-authority violent extremism Sometimes there's overlap, but it's different And so that includes everything from militia violent extremism all the way to anarchist violent extremism what they all have in common is a Is a Focus on institutions of government and law enforcement as they're Likely targeted what they want to do is tear down the government Correct support insurrections like we saw on january 6th and They are fostered by a lot of online Communication using social media Correct correct and what can be done to In effect counter the use of social media to incite that violence And is social media big tech doing enough now Well What can be done I would say a couple things one is we are trying to encourage more people Just as they do in the physical world We want them in the virtual world if they see something say something if they see somebody expressing threats of violence Criminal activity on the internet we want people to to reach out to law enforcement and let them know so we can prevent An attack So we need more and more of that You mentioned the social media companies We do try to work with the social media companies and there are things that they can and some of them do Using their terms of service Violations of their terms of service to take accounts down and things like that A phenomenon that we all have to recognize which is that the social media industry You know enjoys the ability to Amplify and connect people and there's good things that come with that and there are bad things that come with that And I think we would all be in a better place The more of those companies can take more responsibility for misuse Misuse abuse of their platforms. I have one more quick question for you Two of my colleagues senators rubio and menendez have written Have have taken action to try to gain back gain expedition of Fugitives that are presently in cuba. I don't know whether you're aware of their Initiative but in the course of report today in the Hartford current I became aware that There are at least 70 fugitives from american justice in cuba But that a full list has not been made available by the fbi for Perhaps decades Is there a reason that That list hasn't been made available and would you commit to making it? Available both as to cuba and as to other countries where there are fugitives from american justice I'm not familiar with the specific list or issue that you're raising. So let me drill into that and circle back to you I'm certainly aware of In one particular case an extremely prominent Most wanted terrorist who killed law enforcement In new jersey It's really a something that strikes at the heart of all of us in law enforcement who is believed to still be in cuba So, uh, certainly it's an issue that we feel strongly about would you commit to as you put a circle back with me and Provide that list. I see no reason why that list would probably include victor verena Who was responsible for the Most significant arm robbery and Connecticut over the years and perhaps in the nation up to that time And and provide uh, confirm and provide That list. Let me let me follow up and find out what information we can provide I'm not like I said, I'm not familiar with the specific list or the issues that are implicated But certainly I want to be as responsive and transparent and helpful as we can be thank you senator blumathall senator sas Thank you chairman. Welcome director Director ray. Who is the most significant geopolitical foe the united states faces in the next decade? That would be the people's republic of china and specifically the chinese communist party Thank you, sir You've been uh, we get you more often in the intel committee or you and your team in the intel committee than we do here in Judiciary and you've been very clear about that Is it your view that the united states government has made massive improvement in thwarting? economic espionage economic espionage from the ccp in the last year or two Well, I think we've as a country we've made significant strides In terms of the recognition of the problem. I find that when I deal with Business leaders for example And even to some extent Of university presidents or chancellors the level of concern that they express the level of Awareness That they reflect about the threat Is moving in the right direction in my view? But this is a problem of massive massive scale And to some extent as a country we're playing catch-up on the threat And so part of what I've got all our people doing is is out there beating the bushes Interacting with the business community the academic community I interact with our foreign partners trying to kind of raise awareness Of the threat it's it's hard to think in some ways that something that significant Could fly that much under the radar for that many people But I'm I am hell bent on making sure that it doesn't stay that way So one of the ways that I think about the problem is the numerator is how much public awareness We're raising and how much better we're getting at hardening the targets that are targeted by the CCP to steal the economic assets of American innovation and taxpayers and firms The numerator is the awareness, but the denominator is the ccp's efforts and the denominator continues to explode And I've supported your work and complimented you and the work you've done to bring more of the bureau's resources and mindshare To bear on this you know that we have a complimentary effort that has come from chairman warner chiefly But before him chairman burr Vice chairman rubio myself a few of us on the intel committee that have tried to work on the same issue set with you So i'm perplexed because i've applauded your work there. You've been really clear about that work in the intel committee I'm perplexed by your written testimony today because you name I think five priorities and You could make the ccp a subset of Cyber attacks you can make ccp a subset of a few other places But the priority set here Feels different than a lot of the priority set conversations we've had with you in private Can you explain to us the history of main justice's view on the china initiative? well, I guess I on the china initiative I would I would largely defer to the department on its description of of Its change to the initiative the original initiative was a justice department initiative the changes to it were justice department construct I will tell you That I have been consistent Both under the initiative and sense with our workforce In my assessment of the threat and that we at the fbi are not taking our foot off the gas Now we have we're gonna do it right We're gonna follow the facts with proper predication We are not going to be basing investigations on race ethnicity or national origin and we haven't and if you go back and look At my statements publicly whenever i'm giving speeches on this topic I've been taking great pains for years To make the point that this is not about the chinese people. It's not about chinese americans It's about the people's republic of china and specifically the ccp You know, I want you to continue by just want to Footstop this because chairman warner and I and many others say the exact same thing There are 1.4 billion people in china created in god's image and they're not our opponents They're only 90 million members seven percent of the country that are members of the chinese communist party And dictator tyrant xi who's running You know concentration camps in our time with forced organ harvesting systemic rape of Uyghur women There is genocide happening in our time and that's because of a few really bad actors Our opponents are not the chinese people But chairman xi and his thugs are our opponents and we should be clear about it And the distinction you've drawn the distinction mark warner draws the distinction i draws Isn't that hard to explain and yet it feels like main justice has said they're killing the china initiative Because of some worries about some rhetorical challenges where you've said many times that china and the ccp are a long term geopolitical threat So please continue but but i agree with the point you're making but nobody has been arguing the counterpoint. Yeah, I think uh, I mean, I think The way i understand the initiative and again I would really refer you to the department to better describe the initiative but or the changes to the initiative But the way i understand it it was an attempt to broaden the focus to make sure that we are also focusing on Transnational oppression and things like that from other nation states and not just on china Which of course we have been doing but it makes that clear but there's a second There's only one nation that could defeat the us Again i i I have said i've probably spoken more on this one topic Than maybe any other topic since i've been fbi director. Um, and i think i've been um Maybe almost painfully consistent all the way through it One point that goes straight to the heart of what you're driving at that That we're seeing a big push on right now that that goes along with the economic espionage piece and the cyber piece Is the same kind of transit the same kind of repression that you're describing in china Is an export the people's republic of china is uh engaging and including right here in the united states Um, and so we have tried to with the department's support I should say To be more aggressive in calling out that conduct too and to show how that conduct designed to stalk harass Surveil or worse dissidents pro democracy voices people like that here right here in the united states Uh is designed to help facilitate in many ways the economic espionage because the more they silence people The easier it is to engage in this campaign of intellectual property theft We had a case not that long ago And i i'm sometimes baffled that it hasn't gotten more attention in new york Where uh actors affiliated with the ministry of state security Uh sought to derail a congressional candidate First by trying to see if they could dig up dirt on the candidate Then to see if they could make up dirt on the candidate and then to see if possibly they could figure out a way to have the candidate Befallen accident You know some form of essentially physical violence all because this candidate had been a chinamen square protester and pro democracy voice Now it's one candidate But this is happening here in the united states. It's not happening Back there. They're doing it here And so we're trying to call that out they get executives fired In the nba and they get call center workers for marriott and oma hanabrasca fired for saying stand with hong kong So i complement and support your work and encourage you and the important Patriotic americans at the bureau to keep focusing on that issue set. I know we're at time. So thank you director Thanks senator sass now i'm going to recognize senator harono and after her questioning There'll be a five minute break and we'll return from that recess to complete our questioning senator harono Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Welcome. Director ray When we talk about your concern about domestic terrorism, which you had indicated in prior testimony was a top concern that racially and ethnically motivated violent extremism was a At the highest threat level So you noted that here's some of the indicators that you would look at in terms of who commits domestic terrorism lone actor So for that you suggest that the community if they see something you have to say something Not the easiest thing and then the second factor largely radicalized online and also very difficult to get at Because we have first amendment issues and other issues and then the third factor you noted was easy access to weapons I'm looking at the third factor And what would you suggest that we should be looking to to limit the easy access to guns briefly well Certainly Guns are one of the weapons that domestic violent extremists Use and have easy access to Obviously, we want to make sure we're focusing under the laws that we have on the individuals who pursue them We also are seeing violent extremists use Crude IEDs that they can make fairly easily off the internet. Well, let's focus on let's focus on guns Should people be able to have easy access to ar-15s? and you noted that you've seen an increase in and Modifying guns so that they become automatic. So are those areas that we can We should address to Limit the mass shootings that we see practically every single day in our country Well, I as you can appreciate senator I'm not going to comment on specific legislative ideas. Uh, that's not not my place or my role I will say that there are individuals Who represent a danger who are hell bent on committing violence? And those are people we want to prevent In whatever way we lawfully and appropriately can from getting access to weapons and and hurting innocent americans It would be great frankly if we had law enforcement officials who actually came forward and we're not As reticent as all that because our nation is awash in guns You also noted that there's been an increase in violence after the dobs decision Now historically we've seen the violence directed against the murder of abortion doctors the firebombing of abortion clinics And I note that today you said that you don't care where their Orientation is that anybody who threatens or engages this kind of violence Should be prosecuted. So do you keep track of the the rise and violence after the dobs decision? Because I think that kind of information will be very useful Uh We have various ways of keeping track. I keep you know how it's broken down that I can't sit here and tell you right now I know that we keep track of what we call abortion Related violent extremism Which is designed to capture the full spectrum of people who commit violence On either side of that issue And I believe we have seen uh, you know an uptick in that category I think that would be really important for us to have Because frankly, I mean that there's been a tremendous increase in Threats against members of the house and the senate And I actually have been the recipient of such a threat and the 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 who can go after People who provide abortions in that state and who assist These are not even law enforcement people. Do you have some concerns about what might happen if you have all of these people? literally, you know able to go after people For $10,000 in bounty Well, I have concerns about anybody who is going to violate federal criminal law and engage in violence Whether it's motivated by bond extremism related to abortion or anything else I would say that if a state creates the kind of environment we've been non law enforcement people can Be induced by $10,000. I think that that that is an issue an area of concern I hope that the fbi will be paying Special attention to states that provide that kind of environment Let me turn to sexual child sexual exploitation among native hawaiians um This kind of exploitation impacts native hawaiian children in the state of hawai disproportionately and according to the office of hawaiian affairs Native hawaii women and girls represent 67 to 77 percent of sex trafficking victims identified in recent studies Native hawaii's also represent 37 percent of reported child sex trafficking cases and all the federal government Ours the same trust responsibility to native hawaiians as it does to american indians and asca natives Bills like the violence against women act where native hawaii non-profit organizations and tribal non-profit organizations are both eligible For the same grant programs But the the vawa bill fails to allow native hawaiian women and children to qualify For any type of support or innovation. So here's my question um I hope that that that the bureau will begin to include native hawaiians in your work To address the missing and murdered indigenous people Crisis and violence against indigenous people because even if vawa doesn't specifically allow for protection of Hawaiian women and children. There is nothing that stops the fbi from including native hawaii Women and children as part of your charge Can you begin to talk about it include them and your Programmatic efforts I I will say that I think you put your finger on an important issue and that our honolulu office Has been working very hard to target and aggressively pursue federal charges On known and repeat human trafficking offenders and what they're seeing what they tell me Is that That you're seeing guns. I mean gangs and drug trafficking organizations exploit vulnerable victims And in particular the the lion's share as you say with the statistics that you were citing the lion's share of that Uh is on displaced or marginalized sectors, especially, uh native hawaiians. And in fact, uh, I think it was just this past week Our honolulu office recovered. I think three Uh Minor females who were missing and at risk on the big island and I know they're very aggressively working that issue That's good to know and mr. Chairman just one more thing. He was Director, you were asked a number of questions about the china initiative And I I will say that when you have an environment where you you talk about the the A pandemic is the chinese virus and the kung fu you create an environment where you see a rise in hate crimes against asians And basically, you know what as though people can recognize that that we Uh, I don't happen to be chinese, but there are a lot of people who think I am So the china initiative led to some abuses by the fbi and who they were going to target including some Researchers and others who the fbi Admit it having basically railroad is so I hope that the fbi has some guard rails And how they're going to pursue investigations that do not that that do not target Based on race and ethnicity and you can sit there and tell me that you do have that but You know, it's it's a concern Thank you, mr. Chairman Thank you, senator hirono. We're now going to take a five minute recess and I ask members. Please return promptly Hello, you guys hear me Well, that was uh Pretty I don't know kind of boring. I mean it was the usual lies from From the democrats right from the offset. I don't know if I can kick it back here. Maybe Um Yeah, I'll just let it go Ted Cruz pointed out that you know, the guy that was the fbi agent that was in charge of the Uh, Whitmer kidnapping case which turned out to be totally bonk. It was a fbi are the ones who funded Planned it and incited it. I mean there would not have been a plot without the fbi. So you know, that went nowhere and that agent who concocted all of that is now in charge of the january 6th investigation And uh, I think it was Ted Cruz who pointed that out and you know got the director rey to admit it Said yeah, yeah, he's like that's very odd. Like how why would you take a guy? Who botched this entire case because he essentially he planned and concocted the entire uh, Whitmer kidnapping case. It was an fbi operation And yet that guy gets put on the january 6th investigation. I mean that doesn't raise red flags I mean that should tell you something. I mean people who are dedicated to Creating false flags that make the political opposition to the democrats look like, you know, terrorists extremist terrorists And which goes right along with like the media narrative Uh, it's it's nefarious. I mean it seems like it's all being done towards an end and that end seems pretty obvious.  That's that's the The role that they play in the media, you know, you got like this lady who's on the view now And that's what she's known for she got on there by being you know, she gets in assaults conservatives. You got Um, all kinds of them. Kathleen parker A journalist who uh, want to pull it sir and she admitted that she only got this pull it surprise because she was a conservative Who went after other conservatives? So, you know, you don't see that archetype in the media You don't see like anti liberal liberal or anti leftist or you know what?  I thought that was really interesting. Uh, right in the at the beginning of this Uh, and I'll see if I can actually find it here, but they were lying right off the bat They the little intro, uh, I don't want to I'm not going to do that because I'm gonna have to search for but in the little intro I think it was dick durbin You know, he's like, oh five people died as a result of the Insurrection, which is just a lie.  There was one person Ashley Babbitt who was shot and killed. She was unarmed surrounded by police Crawling through a window supposedly although that's even in question now I mean, there was no reason to shoot this person They could have There was police all around her or the guy who shot her could have just reached out grabbed her Through her to the ground handcuffed her the police could have rushed in right behind They were all geared up on the stairs there like there was no reason to shoot her Anyway, not not getting into a whole thing about that, but um Let me see. I'm gonna make sure am I am I talking guys? Can you do a video on the PAC Act? Uh, I'm already working on it Uh, I got that in the works right now. Uh, I was gonna It's I actually have a Here's my text file up So you can see I'm actually working on it. I'm not lying. It's right here I'm working on it. Uh, just not quite ready yet There's a lot of I was trying to get specific information about john stewart that I've had trouble finding And just a couple things I've been trying to find like hard In the bill where it's like it's a slush fund, right? Like this is the telltale signs I've been looking for that. I haven't quite found it yet. So by the time I get this video out It's like it's gonna have it's gonna have already passed really, but I'm gonna do it. Uh Uh, I don't know how to say your name, buddy Matwani Suniel Matwani It's coming I would have been working on it right now, but I'm doing this live stream So it might be tomorrow. Can you guys can't hear me? Yes. Okay Um, but what yeah, like I was saying at the very beginning Of this uh hearing He said the five people were shot and you know, that's not or he said five people died as a result of the insurrection Uh, and he also implied the police were killed there another lie that they've been telling from the beginning from the very beginning They've been lying about that No officers were killed there One died of natural causes the corner said there was no evidence of like trauma to his body Okay, so there was no he what they said he was like beat with a fire extinguisher. That's what the media was saying Never happened. There's another myth Uh created by the media Uh, so and they said it was natural causes Something whatever happened to him. I think that's odd personally.  You know, I don't want to get too conspiratorial here But it's also strange to me that like several two other maybe three other police officers Committed suicide, which I've always thought is odd. It's like Why did they commit suicide because of This riot? That's what we're supposed to believe. Oh, they were so traumatized by a handful I think it was really like 800 people. I think out of the 20 000 that were marching there that actually went into the Capital, uh, and it was even smaller number that actually fought with riot police if you look It's not that many people actually fighting with riot police And there's videos where the people were all peaceful and the police start firing Tear gas into the crowd and that's what starts getting people whipped up So, you know, which is funny because that's an accusation that we always hear From democrats and the left and the media is that the police intentionally whip up these protests to make them violent Anywho They're also thrown around the term I think it was Durban thrown around the term Assault weapon and assault rifle. He kept saying referring to assault rifles and He called the ar-15 and assault rifle, which is just factually not true and Ray went right along with it, which you know, it's like You should know the difference, but it just goes to show how they do try to Muddy the waters by confusing those two Labels and really assault rifle is the only one that is actually a real To me like an actual, uh, uh Label for a gun That's not the right word for it But it that actually means that it's the gun has like a select fire either single shot or Three round bursts or fully automatic. So that's a military stop when they say military style weapon like What does that even mean? It's a it's just like a assault weapon It's this Nebulous gaseous term that they purposely use Because they're they think they're being sneaky, but they're just trying to literally ban all guns when they did that They just pass this assault weapons ban that can literally apply to just about any gun outside of like a bolt action Or like because like there's shotguns that are semi-auto a lot of shotguns are semi-auto most Most handguns are semi-auto like it's like every gun They and again, that's another area and I know you guys all know this That's another area where they try to confuse people obviously I'm only saying this that there just happens to be people in our audience who don't know these things Oh, look, I got another super chat. Thanks rw What line do you think the left has to cross before people will actually stop the train keep up the good work? I don't know. I mean I just feel like I it seems like you know, I I used to listen to gun back years ago like forever go back around 9-11 I think that's I worked on a golf course at the time And then I went to the Air Force And I was listening to them back in that time And he used to talk about the bubble moment where the government would concoct some sort of like false flag Or something or they would purposely go in and get like Bubba's like, you know southern, you know militia types You know route up to commit some sort of act that they can then act on Uh and you know do some sort of sweeping patriot act style things against democrats political opponents And he stopped talking about that at least I don't really listen to Glenn Beck anymore I don't at all Very rarely if I'm in the car and I forget my phone and I turn on am radio or something But I haven't heard him talk about that anymore and it just kind of seems like that's what's going on And you see like these this national front group that seems so fake Uh and nobody supports it like do you know anybody? I don't know anybody's I follow these right wing groups and You know nobody I know supports that You got these false flags like the what they did in virginia with the fake white nationalists and all that stuff so What line Do they actually have to pass though? I don't know like probably gun confiscations would probably be Spark something uh The uh like abolishment of the electoral college would probably do it Because if you think about that that would definitely put all the power in the hands of a few on the coast Um And half the country would have no voice anymore really and you think that they would use that power to give us more Of a voice or help us hell no hell no they're going to do what they're doing now only way ramped up so that um Abolishment of the supreme court which they talk about or stacking it Uh these kind you know, I don't know if that's specifically but that would definitely inch us up I think uh the reason that gun confiscation or something like that would be the real Would be a real chance for that to spark is just because A lot of people would not want to give up their guns and you would almost surely have like shootouts and You know government troops in the form of you know officers or Federal agents or whatever getting into shootouts killing americans. I think that would probably start something But we're in a situation in this country where the right and the republicans We're we're so or any really any because I I'm not a huge fan of the republicans or anything There's nobody not a lot of people over there that really inspired me. I do like people like holly And even ben sass to some extent but we are really like kind of Trending water and paint it into a corner and just that just seems to get smaller and smaller I I don't have any headphones so I can't have my mic going while the audio and that's going It's getting ready to start so i'm going to switch over to that but um, I will continue to uh Talk and stuff after this. I don't know how much longer it's going to go, but uh, we'll go ahead and continue with this and I'll be back afterwards On my side So I'm going to try to ask everyone stick to your seven minutes We've had some violations of that and if we can stick with it. I'd appreciate it and that spirit I recognize the senator. I know go out of his way to stick to a seven and senator tell us Uh, thank you chair durbin and director right. Thank you for being here I uh, I particularly appreciate it some of 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've seen that with uh Some of your testimony related to the to the loss of life Um, I am going to stick to my time Maybe even yield back a little bit more because my colleagues, uh senator lee cited some concerns I have about past investigations and senator cruz I think pointed out some important Issues that we can deal with and and I can submit questions for the record. I had a I put a copy of this On your desk just so you could see it Because I didn't have time to have it blown up, but I talked about this at a committee hearing um A week or so ago A lot of your testimony talked about what a dangerous job it is for fbi local law enforcement state law enforcement And uh last week I just happened to do a quick google Uh, I did act blue which is the primary fundraising engine for uh democrats. We have an equivalent I don't begrudge them for having that they raised 513 million dollars between april 1st and june 30th this year but The result of my query also came back to a sub page on act blue which is sponsored by black lives matter And it's called the three the 13.12 13 mile run for justice And So far they've raised about 1.1 million dollars And their cause is in the web.  Do you think most of them are white supremacists? Absolutely not. Um, do you think that this is Unhelpful to addressing the issue that you raised in your opening testimony about the safety and security of law enforcement in this nation? I have a lot of things I would say about this piece of paper and the message in it Many of them are not probably appropriate for public hearings. It's definitely a piece. Um, I um, you know, I was thinking about Uh senator cruz's comment I could actually see based on this appeal And it's still on the website. I'm checking it every day to see how much more money they're raising. They're trying to raise 1.1312 million dollars. They're at 1.1 million so far It would almost seem to me That people that would actually say this and say that you should run around police stations to do the 13 Miles and that you should make noise and make yourself known It almost seems to me that they're rising at least to an extremist organization and unlike Black lives matter sanctioned by act blue I don't think all of the people in black lives matter are bad people I don't even think most of them are but I think some of them are and I think that these kind of statements Published on the internet to raise money to make police officers less less safe Maybe warrant an opportunity to have a black lives matter flag On a website somewhere in the fbi and say not all of them are bad just like you said people that Observe some of the symbols of our nation are not all bad But it could be an indicator Why wouldn't it be logical to say that people that would say this sort of stuff could actually have a number of them Maybe even a small number who are taking an extremist position that are making law enforcement less safe and potentially Instigating attacks against law enforcement officers. Why shouldn't that be something the fbi should study and and and make known That this is something that the community should be looking at Well, I think we I think number one I want to be careful that here as and everywhere else I'm not commenting on first amendment expression But when it comes to violent extremism of any stripe It doesn't matter to me or to us at the fbi whether you're upset With the result of the election or upset with the results of our criminal justice system, you don't get to Use violence to express that sentiment. Uh, and I think we have Put out intelligence products related to what We call racially motivated by extremism some of which is uh is actually not Advocating the superiority of the white race, but there's has been believe it or not violent extremism Racially motivated by extremism the other way too In some instances and so we have investigated in those instances brought charges in those and there may be some intelligence products as well I hope you will I I'm going to continue to monitor this and monitor their fundraising progress This is not the last time that this committee is going to see it the next time it'll be blown up But as long as they're doing this sort of stuff I think we have to call them out for it in the same way That I would call out anyone at the other end of the spectrum for inciting violence against anyone It's wrong and it's making our community less safe Um Last question be quick so I can yield back a little bit of my time Can you give me an idea of anyone who's been held accountable? Uh, who was involved in crossfire hurricane investigation. What specific actions have any have been taken? Well, we've taken a whole slew of actions in response to the crossfire hurricane report I think over 40 plus corrective measures and is anybody in the bureau there are a number of Disciplined there are a number of people who are currently in Are what we call an officer professional responsibility, which is our disciplinary arm You may wonder why has that not yielded its results yet? And that's because we are working closely with cooperating closely with and assisting the Durham investigation And so that whole process which is not unusual Has been sort of slowed down to make sure that it doesn't interfere with the Durham investigation I'll submit other questions for the record. I for one want to thank the Every employee in the fbi for the hard work they do and their courage, and I thank you. Thank you, mr. Chair Thank you, senator tillis senator booker um director ray, I um know all my colleagues on both sides of the I'll listen to your opening comments very carefully I hope that they actually go wider to the american public as a whole because I don't think Americans really understand The extraordinary work that the fbi does and I want to thank you and I know what it means Every day to know your officers are putting their lives on the line To protect other americans. I know this Intimately from my work as mayor of the city in newark one of the first meetings I took in 2006 when I took over the city was with the new jersey office of the fbi And learned a lot about what they were doing for counter-terrorism and dealing with the number one issue Of my city my pollster. I'd never seen anything like it If I remember correctly it was like 90 percent of newark residents were most concerned about their physical safety in their communities As rising gang violence was happening And so here was the fbi working hand in hand with local police officers state troopers and others To protect my community because you and I both know The number one victims of gun violence in the united states are black and brown people And so when folks say black lives matter When folks Say they're concerned about violence that we see in inner city communities Um, I want you to understand and I know you do That there was a deep appreciation of law enforcement That there is a desire for more law enforcement It's one of the reasons why I have a bipartisan bill to help get resources to clear murders Because the clearance rates in too many of our cities is just too low So I recognize the work you do I celebrate and thank you for the work you and your agents do And I also recognize how dangerous it is for our officers at a time that these weapons are proliferating Not one of the shootings. I can only find one actually that was done in my city Hundreds and hundreds of shootings that was done with someone who acquired a gun legally So we're not talking about people's Second amendment rights We're talking about the ease with which illegal guns flow into our communities And your folks are working on that but that puts officers staying lives in danger But I I do want to talk about the guy who walks through neighborhoods to come to work here in washington dc I see black lives matter Opposers or folks that I know are not african-american that people who put up that are not subscribing to some kind of violence Or whatever that internet meme is all about most people who say that they simply say we have a disproportionate number of african-americans That are dying And that we want we should do something about it as a society you understand that correct? Yes Okay, so one of the ways that I have found running a police department when I was a mayor of the city of newark is collecting data law enforcement data It helps you understand Law enforcement use is just a force and I want to drill into that because you have a lot of authority in that area The fbi under james comey and holder They talked about how critical collecting data was in march of 2022 You said that the participation by state and local law enforcement agencies has finally reached in reporting use of force 60 percent threshold mandated by the omb To release that data And that the fbi plan to begin releasing certain aspects of that data I'm not sure why it's taken so long to get to 60 percent participation But this data is so important for us to understand use of force you agree with that correct? Yes, and in fact, I've I've tried to Message the importance of submitting Data the use of force data with state and local Counterparts all over the country all the time and the point that I try to make to them is that look Discussions on this issue use of force are going to happen No matter what and we're all better off if those discussions are based on the cold hard Accurate data, and so it's in everybody's interest in particular Law enforcement to get all the data submitted so that we can have an accurate picture right and and if you can't measure it you can't manage it and You know there's an estimated and it's estimated because we don't have the data That over a thousand people are shot and killed by the police Every single year now i'm making no judgment on those justified or not, but you and I have both seen the videos That that that of unarmed people being shot and killed we should understand that this Is not a number even police officers want to see they want to see this number as low as possible Newark, new jersey just came from a year of not having one officer fire their weapon. It was a very good year But i'm curious about something since the fei database only collects data on incidents that result in death or serious bodily injury Is that type of of reporting burdensome on local agencies to report in your opinion? Well, I think it probably depends on the particular department I mean as you know from your your past life the the kinds of departments Nationwide range wildly in terms of their it systems their head count I mean i talked to chiefs who have you know 10 people in their department sometimes so 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 right technical assistance No cost type assistance, right? It's just it's just a critical tool the better data We get at the federal level the better lawmakers here can make decisions um, you know, I was interested at the data that was released that In 2021 the number one reason that a person was subject to the use of force by a police officer Was because quote they failed to comply with verbal commands Or other types of passive resistance This is a more common than a person displaying a threatening weapon against a police officer more common than attempting to flee It was failing to comply with verbal commands that resulted in a use of force Can you help me understand what kind of passive resistance can result in a person being shot by a police officer? I don't I'd have to give that a little more thought to be able to give you a good answer to that one Okay. Yeah, I I really would like to understand that because I I talked to my police officers and they tell me that Training is often the issue that they don't have to use force if they were better trained They may be justified in it But we could be doing a lot more to lower the usage of force you'd agree with that in general The importance of that is a general matter. Yes. Yeah, okay Last year nearly 40 percent of state and local agencies did not successfully report crime data Including the new york city police department and the majority of the agencies in five of the six most populous states This low participation rate Complicates our ability to effectively respond to the public safety trends and challenges. That's just a yes or no question You'd agree with that, right? Yes, I mean we need as complete data as possible It's in everybody's interest to be able to give the most comprehensive and accurate picture So, you know last month I sent a letter to you and I'm hoping you will respond Just asking questions about the fbi's plans to increase that participation in reporting and communicating the importance of it I I really hope that you can engage because again as a manager I cannot I cannot manage something if we can't measure it. I'm really hoping that's something you'll prioritize and I'm going to say in conclusion You have been phenomenal in in responding to me and engaging with me on staff diversity Especially getting women and minorities moving up the ranks In the fbi. I've really been grateful that the attention you've given to this and the engagement with my office I just would just ask that you'll continue to do that because I think you and I both would agree when it comes to gender Religion and race diversity. We're still not where we want to be And we know from policing how powerful it is in building trust And achieving our goal of public safety is improved when women and minorities and religious diversity is seen you would agree I I agree. I think we're making great strides, but we still have a long way to go. Thank you, sir. Thank senator booker senator blackburn Thank you, mr. Chairman and thank you for being with us. We appreciate that I think that you've heard a pretty common theme today from Several that have questioned you there appears to be there is the perception That that that we have two tiers of justice and one for people that are favored and one For ordinary americans, and I think that has come through in many of the questions that you've heard from us I want to ask you just a few things so that we can get it on The record that I think would help restore some faith In the bureau in the work they're 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 collusion Investigation so do you agree that the allegation Of secret collusion between president trump and russia was a hoax. Yes or no I I don't think that's the terminology I would use but I think there's been a lot written on this subject and Both in the special counsel's report the inspector general's report. So that's not a term I would use Okay, do you agree that the hunter biden laptop was not? russia disinformation Now you're asking about an ongoing investigation That I expect our folks to pursue aggressively and I just I can't comment on that. Okay, and you possess the laptop, right? Again, I can't discuss that in going going investigation And when do we expect to hear from general durham with his report? That's really a question for for special counsel durham We are actively assisting him in that investigation And do you agree that an open border is a national security threat? Uh, I as I think I said in response to my senator cornan. Uh, I think there is a our serious Security issues represented at the border a wide array of criminal threats that we are deeply concerned about at the fbi And that transcends everything from gangs violence Yes, the sheriffs in tennessee counties continued to tell me in last friday I was with seven different counties And the number one issue for them is that open border 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 their community. You mentioned 300 task forces that you have Um, do you have one that is specific to this because I was surprised yesterday with Um, mr. Polet who was before us from the criminal division They didn't seem to have one that was focused specifically on these cartels We uh, well we at the fbi of um a number of things that are focused on that And we have what we call our talk program, which is our transnational organized criminal program and our talk west program Is focused on The western hemisphere the cartels in particular, uh, and it's a quite a number of task forces there okay, I I think one of the things that has Concerned me is looking at the number of terrorists that are coming across that border So far in fiscal year 22. We've had 56 There were 15 non citizen terrorists that crossed in 21 three in 20 and zero in 19 What are you all doing to help? apprehend these individuals senator holly talked with you about the afghan refugees People remember what happened on 9 11. They remember what happened with the boston bombing and To see this number of terrorists That are coming across that border and into the country. So how are you tracking? monitoring apprehending and Investigating these individuals So there I guess there are two things I would say one is we're constantly sharing watch listing information with dhs and with our partners To improve the border security in that regard and then second through our joint terrorism task forces all over the country We are investigating Any number of individuals who are here in the united states Attempting to put together a case once a local sheriff reports To an fbi field office that they Have someone they think is a bad actor Then how long does it take you all to do that? You've used the term audit assessment and investigation How long does it take you to respond to that and get going on these?  I want to get to the issue on china with with you Because we continue to be very concerned and I appreciate your attention to china But we are continuing to see Beijing the chinese communist party not the people But the chinese communist party tried to spy on the u.s. Government disrupt our military operations Are you all working with the department of defense to identify and address the threat of huawei equipment that is coming in And then 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 very closely with a number of department defense agencies And there's actually quite a lot happening in this space and if if if you were amenable one of the things I would suggest is offer to have my folks come up and give you a Classified briefing on some that would be helpful. I would appreciate that as you're aware We had a situation last year with the university of tennessee professor Who came through the thousand talents program to ut that goes to trial the ccp uses that Familiar line they've started to do to say well, you know This is an issue of race We're continuing and that's what they use to defend this individual So we're concerned about that and how all of that links to the confucius institutes A lot of universities have shut those down. They're now 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 to steal our intellectual property And then their establishment of these soft propaganda programs So we are working we are trying to work very closely with universities on this subject You know instances like the one that you cited Where the case went south You know get a lot of media attention, but there's an awful lot happening all the time with universities all over the country That's on a very positive way. Let me ask you are you tracking their monetary donations from China from that are all ccp linked That are going into universities well So you you talked about two different things in the academic setting, right? Well, there's both the research theft piece and then there's the confucius institute or their success right Put the the second one to the side for a minute on the first The whole way in which the talent plans are abused involves funding of researchers from the chinese government to essentially Steal us taxpayer funded research here. And so our investigations inevitably get into that It's inert wine. Thank you, mr. Chairman Thank you senator blackburn senator padilla Thank you, mr. Chair director ray Want to ask questions that are a continuation frankly of conversations. We've had earlier this week in rules committee Broadly related to attempts to reform the Electoral Account Act judiciary committee just yesterday on the rise of threats To elections officials election administrators And the stems from a briefing held earlier this week by assistant attorney general pleat Took place on monday when he indicated that the department of justice elections threats task force has reviewed over a thousand Contacts reported as hostile or harassing by the election community of these thousand contacts About 11 percent were found to warrant a federal criminal investigation And about four cases have been charged so far So from a thousand to 11 percent of those Do the math no four cases have been charged But first question is besides the thousand contacts that the task force has reportedly reviewed Are there additional contacts that are waiting to be reviewed? How familiar are you this with this activity? Uh, I'm not sure I'm intimately familiar with the flow of the numbers I know that we are there's been a significant significant over the last year last 12 months uptake and engagement with state and local election officials Uh, I think it's been tabletop exercises lots of outreach both attorney general the deputy attorney general and I have done Calls with you know a thousand plus election workers and officials Um And so I I'm not sure I think it probably will get lost in the numbers a little bit. That's fine. I guess The more important question is is a matter of policy. So forget the numbers for a second To your knowledge does the task force review every contact that's been reported as hostile? Uh, to my knowledge, but I we I'd have to circle back to you in case there's some clarifications required The clarification on the policy of what to further investigate post report versus what not And in the same spirit safety of elections administrators, obviously we're we're living in an era where elections workers Whether it's uh at the state level the local level or even volunteers Feel that they're under increased threat From election deniers and others who may wish them harm I believe it's critical that the federal government Demonstrate that it stands ready to respond to the election community's concerns And doing that requires an adequate allocation of resources to the problem So the first followed question To what I asked Assistant attorney general police yesterday is in each of the fbi field offices Is there a special agent assigned specifically? To the task of responding to concerns raised about election threats coordinating a response or is it Yet an additional responsibility on top of other work Well, uh, let me answer your question in this way We have at the fbi in every field office somebody who's specifically designated as an election crimes coordinator Um, and that is their responsibility. And that's a program that we've had in place for a while I will say that with the uptick and the trend that you're talking about The the burden or the the workload of those people has has significantly grown, right? I think Before those those coordinators Would see a huge uptick in in work Around the time of an election, right? But now with election related violence or political violence becoming an almost 365 days a year phenomenon Those folks are I think even more taxed And of course as I mentioned earlier in response to your other question With the significant uptick and engagement between the fbi All the field offices and their state and local election counterparts The job has has grown significantly Yeah, and let me just emphasize the point that that you just made because I think it bears highlighting It's no longer just around election time when this starts up when I when I served as california secretary of state We start making rounds at fusion centers getting everybody sort of focused on this post the 2016 election, right because the world changed in that cycle Um It wasn't just election day. It's the lead up to election day. What is that registration deadlines to vote by mail deadlines, etc but To underscore how year-round this is now I mean, it's been almost two years since the 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 but Activity including threatening activity that stems from that. Yes or no Well, certainly, uh, all of the various election related threats that we contend with Have become more of a ubiquitous All-year long phenomenon not just the ones that you mentioned but also You know, we haven't talked about the maligned foreign influence piece the foreign governments in their efforts You know, a lot of people don't realize this because they tend to you know Focus just on the on the election time But those efforts the maligned foreign influence piece cyber targeting and other efforts. Those are happening Same way pretty much all year long. All right. So what one more statement and one final question to statement is this Because they appreciate how quickly the fbi other departments and agencies have had to come up to speed on This information in the space this information in the space the dangers physical and otherwise that it creates undermining confidence in our democracy the electoral process specifically in the general policy of the fbi and others not Taking public actions or making statements close to an election whereas it pertains to candidates for office when you now have more and more Of election deniers and conspiracy theorists running for office and specifically For offices related to election administration at the state and local level I truly hope that we are thinking ahead on that and strategizing how to maintain the policies of neutrality not being political But at the same time doing what's necessary to defend our democracy Final question What else do you need from congress or this committee specifically but congress more broadly In order to receive adequate resourcing and attention to these issues Well, we our budget request I think calls for Significant upgrades to our it systems. We talked earlier in response to one of the earlier questions about the importance of ai and things like that We've also asked for on the cyber side because that's kind of cutting across everything some significant increases there And so those are some of the things I would call out There's a number of them in the the budget request But that are particularly important as we try to get ahead Of the threats, you know, I think that's one of the things that we all need to be getting better at Is trying to focus on where's the threat going to be a year and a half from now Two years from now five years from now and not just tomorrow Thank you very much senator padilla senator kennedy What is this shit? Thank you, mr. Chairman Um, mr. Director who is uh Timothy tebow, uh, mr. Tebow was uh For some period of time until relatively recently, uh, what's called an asaq in our washington field office he was the Assistant special agent in charge That's what asaq stands for there's a whole number of them in the washington field office The structure is there's at the head of the office and then there's sac's and then the next level down There's the level that he was at and uh he Has or had been with the fbi about 25 years. Is that right? Well now you're now you're testing my my knowledge a little bit okay He was a powerful guy. Is that correct? I'm sorry. He was a powerful guy. Is that correct? Well, I don't know that I would I don't know that I would use that description. Okay He had no power I think every law enforcement agent in the fbi with the responsibilities there in trust with has significant power Did did he work on the? president trump russian collusion investigation Uh, I'm not sure. I know the answer to that not that i'm aware of but I don't Um, I don't I can't say that with certainty Uh, did he or does he work? On the fbi investigation of mr. Hunter biden So The investigation uh That you're referring to and I have to be a little bit careful because we're talking about an ongoing investigation Is being run out of our baltimore? field office working with our Working with the delaware u.s. Attorney who's a holdover from the prior administration So i'm i'm confused chris with your answer. Did he work? Or does he work on the hunter biden investigation? As I said the hunter biden investigation is being run out of the baltimore field office um, isn't isn't it true that uh In september of 2020 A special agent tebow Went on social media and liked A washington post article entitled quote william bar has gone rogue I have seen, uh Descriptions to that effect, um I have to be a little bit careful about how far we can go in this conversation Because of specific ongoing personnel matters Isn't it true that also in september of 2020? special agent tebow Went on social media and posted a washington post article entitled quote Why the michael flin case still matters? A similar answer to the one i gave before Isn't it true that in november of 2020? special agent tebow assistant special agent in charge of the dc office Who allegedly worked on the? Trump russia collusion investigation and the hunter biden investigation retweeted a lincoln project tweet that said quote donald trump is a psychological I'm sorry a psychologically Broken embittered and deeply unhappy man Again, you know i've seen descriptions, uh of posts And i got really trying to be very careful Not to get in the way of any ongoing personnel matters Isn't it also true that in january of 2001? In response to senator alabama senator tommy tubberville's election To the united states senate From alabama of course um Special agent Tebow went on social media and posted Quote thank god for mississippi the state motto of alabama You know i i'm not can't sit here and quote chapter and verse on on an individual's social media posts Isn't it also true that in june of 2020? special agent in charge Tebow a 25-year veteran of the agency Tweeted to congresswoman list chainy quote your dad was a disgrace Again, i've seen descriptions, uh to that effect But i'm gonna have to be very careful not to interfere with any kind of ongoing person And last month didn't didn't agent tebow go on on media and tweet Quote can we give kentucky to the russian federation? Again same same answer that i've given before all right Isn't it true that uh Mr. Tebow Agent tebow excuse me And fbi supervisory intelligence analyst brian otan Covered up derogatory information about mr. Hunter biden while working for the fbi Well again, i want to be very careful not to interfere with ongoing personnel matters. Uh, I should say That when i read The letter that describes the kinds of things that you're talking about Um, I found it deeply troubling. Uh, and it is trouble And it is totally it's not about their political beliefs, right, right. It's not about their political beliefs It's about that this is a senior Uh employee at the fbi with years of experience Going on social media and tweeting this kind of stuff So I have since I started in which gives the people the impression that there is bias whether there is or there isn't I feel very strongly and I have communicated consistently since I started as director That our folks need to make sure that they're not just doing the right thing that they're doing it in the right way And that they avoid avoid Even the appearance of bias or lack of objectivity and in fact 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 took I started at the top which in my experience In somebody in law enforcement, it never works that way I started at the top and I brought the 250 or so very top people in the fbi from one corner of the globe to the other For a full day stand down to quantico where the whole focus of the message and we heard from the inspector general We heard from a judge we heard from the that people who enforce the hatch act the whole focus Was on I know you did the importance of the appearance, but you wouldn't do something like this This man had been with the fbi for 25 years. He's now on leave He did this kind of stuff as recently as last month Do you know how this looks to the american people? I will tell you that what you're describing is not representative of the fbi that I see up close Every day in this country where I see patriots Work in their tails off And I agree with tremendous integrity and objectivity said that to you repeatedly But you're killing yourselves with this stuff And this investigation needs to be completed on this this gentleman And the results need to be reported to the american people Thank you, mr. Chairman Thanks, senator kennedy senator ossoff. Thank you, mr. Chairman director ray. Nice to see you again Always a pleasure to see a fellow georgian in your position I want to thank and commend your staff to land a field office for their professionalism ongoing work I know you have a new SAC there. I wish her the best in in her new role as well senator grassley and I recently introduced legislation to strengthen federal protections of children subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation online And in fact the atlanta field office recently issued a warning to georgia parents and children about an increase in sex distortion cases where adult predators pose online manipulate minors into posting explicit photos Then extort those children or their families for money So I want to ask you first of all, will you commit to continue to prioritize the protection of children from online abuse At the fbi and tell us a bit about what you're doing to that end So I think you're absolutely right. It's an important priority and it has only increased in importance sex distortion in particular We've been mounting a very aggressive public awareness campaign About what we're seeing there. In fact, I not that long ago filmed a public service Advertisement with the head of nick mick the national center for missing exploited children Trying to reach out to parents all over the country one of the things that we're seeing that's particularly troubling Is an uptake on sex distortion cases? Not just against little girls, which has been happening for a long time But against little boys as well and we are seeing a certain number of these kids male or female You know turn to suicide Because they feel like there's no way out and so it's incredible that we As a society figure out a way to make sure that those kids know that there is An answer that that there are people that they can turn to And then we will do everything we can to protect them and you'll commit to continuing those efforts. Yes, I appreciate that director rey and On a related note that warning that the Atlanta field office circulated about sex distortion threats to children online Appeared in English, but not in other languages I want to engage with you about the work that the fbi can do to improv