The committee will reconvene. When we recessed we were in the questioning period with the director of the fbi and the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from georgia for five minutes. Thank you so much for being here. It is wonderful to seal. I would like to say that given your distinguished and exemplary record of service, i am frankly on the extraordinarily up the mystic side that under your leadership we will see a heightened degree of integrity Going Forward in the agency. I look forward to that. I wanted to ask a couple of questions around terrorism and isis. You mentioned in your opening the agency had some 1000 active terrorist investigations. To is that volume continuing strain the agency in terms of your resources . Dir. Wray it is a good question. Thousandsn to those of isis related investigations, we have a similar number two we would classify as homegrown violent extremists. And we would call those isis inspired. Lone wolfs who see loan wolves. We have a fair number of al qaeda related investigations and a number of other terrorist groups. Not even talking about the domestic terrorism investigations. Our counterterrorism investigations and our joint Terrorism Task forces are extremely busy. I think we have matured to a point where we are not having to divert agencies from the agents from the more traditional caseam, unless there was a of an attack. There is no question that we are spread then and we are doing the best that we cant. I said to someone recently, everywhere i turn in the country i find people who want the fbi to do more of something and i have yet to find the person who has identified something they want the fbi to do less of, but i would love to some day. You brought up homegrown terrorists and isis inspire it terrorists and isis inspired terrorists. What ability does the fbi have to show actually investigate publicly available information thats posted online specifically on various social media sites and facebook, et cetera, about individuals who would be terrorist the best sympathizers . We do not as a matter of course just sit and sort of monitor social media. We do, however, in the context of specific properly predicated investigations look at all available sources, including publicly available information which could include the kinds of information that youre describing. So its definitely true that social media becomes a major part of a lot of our terrorism investigations, but we dont really have the means or really the authority to just kind of sit and troll social looking for problems. But if you have a case that youre working, do you have the authority to further those investigations . Dir. Wray yes. Good. All right. You mentioned also earlier in one of your responses about many terrorist investigations are linked also to immigration violations. I wanted to talk about the diversity visa. As you know, its been reported that the suspect in the new york city attack on halloween entered the u. S. On a diversity visa. In the course of the investigation, can you just talk a little bit more about the abuse of the immigration system in particular visa Security Issues that are being exploited by subjects who are individuals who are the subjects of investigations and are there changes to that process, that vetting, that you could recommend to us . Dir. Wray well, i think most changes to the immigration or visa program are really better directed to the Homeland Security department and the department of state which have responsibility for that enforcement. I think i can say this because its public records in the charging charging documents. In the new york attack, although he did come in the diversity visa program, he radicalized, at least according to him, radicalized a little bit after he got here. In other words, he wasnt already radicalized when he came in it would appear. Some of the visa concerns that we have Going Forward are as the caliphate collapses and as fighters from overseas fan out to other countries, they could well end up in countries, for example, visa waiver countries and then end up in the u. S. So a lot of people worry are they going to when the caliphate falls all come to the u. S. Another scenario thats a little more worrisome and maybe a little more likely is that they flee syria or iraq and go to some other country, some third country and are there for a while and then come into the u. S. Maybe a year from now, 18 months from now, two years from now. Thats something that concerns us. Okay. Great. Thank you. My time is up. Thank you. I yield back. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas for five minutes. Thank you very much. Director, thank you for being here. I know that has been touched on a couple of times. I just want to reiterate something i hear regularly from my constituents in south texas and thats a concern we have a special counsel investigating the Trump Administration but it seems like no one is addressing the clinton administration. I know the chairman touched on this as did some of the other questions. I really dont have a question here other than to reiterate that it is a pretty strong concern of a lot of folks that i represent and i know you all dont comment on whether or not there is an Ongoing Investigation or is not, but as we start seeing the results of the special counsels investigations coming to fruition with publicly announced indictments and the like, if there are investigations going on with the fbi, and i hope they are, the time is getting right to see some results for that. I think the other piece of that is a lot of my constituents say its not fair we have a special counsel investigating one side and not the other. So i just put that out there. Now that im finished on my soap box, i do want to talk a little bit about section 702. During our doj oversight hearing with the attorney general, he indicated the doj finds it problematic to require a warrant from the court before accessing or disseminating contents of communications that arent related to foreign intelligence. I have a great deal of respect for attorney general sessions. But i have to say i wasnt totally satisfied with the answer to this question so i want ask you again is it fair to say that requiring a court order of content in limited circumstances after a 702 database was queried specifically to return evidence of a crime dismantles the 702 program, a National Security stool designed to protect us from terrorists, not common criminals . Dir. Wray congressman, the dismantles language i think comes from the office of the director of National Intelligence response to the bill. And that is the intelligence communitys view about the bill in its totality. All of the different changes, not just the querying part of it that you referred to but some others. We do believe very strongly we are using the tool lawfully and appropriately and that has been found by the courts that have looked at the issue and by all the different oversight mechanisms that have existed. We do believe that starting to, when there is no constitutional requirement to do so, and that is in my mind quite clear, that adding additional burdens and hoops for agents to jump through at that really early stage, that is when 702 is so important is at the very early stage. When tips are coming in, we are getting flooded with leads and trying to evaluate is this a lead. It may come in and turnout to be foreign intelligence information. It may turnout to be some other kind of crime. At that point we dont know and all we want to be able to is query which is running a database check of information already in our session. I know the need to protect us from crime, but the Fourth Amendment is in the constitution for a reason and i have a great deal of respect for that. On a similar note, ive introduced legislation criminalizing improper unmasking. Its actually called the wrongful unmasking prevention act which establishes a penalty of ten Years Imprisonment for anyone who knowingly make an unmasking request for any reason other than to understand foreign intelligence information to assess the importance of foreign intelligence information or to determine whether classified information is evidence of a crime which has been, is being or is about to be committed. The idea behind this is you dont want folks unmasking stuff for political purposes or to checkup on their girlfriend or their neighbor or for some other improper reason. Obviously this is just a bill. But from an agency perspective, does the fbi now investigate unmasking claims that might be improper . There are situations where the request could lead to an investigation. Merely somebody making a request, an unmasking request and having it denied, for example, is not would not be enough. But if we have evidence that somebody obtained, which would in that case, for example, be classified information for an improper purpose, you know, that is something that we would investigate. A lot of times the unmasking concerns are linked to and less about the unmasking itself and more about a, it in my mind, a very serious issue, leaks of the information whether its through unmasking or something else. Thats something that were trying to be very aggressive on. My i think the department, the intelligence community, the fbi are open to working with you and the committee on the unmasking issue. I think ideally it would be separated from 702 which we think is an incredibly important twill. I see my time has expired. Thank you, mr. Chairman. The chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia mr. Collins for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thanks for being here. Thanks for staying. Sometimes we get here a little bit later and we go earlier as many have left, but sometimes you get to stay to the end. Theres something you had said earlier, the chairman brought it up and the one from northeast georgia, its good to be back. You traveled to gainesville in judge kellys court and everybody else for a while. I think the interesting thing here is something that was said earlier especially when asking about stuff and it was the determination im not going to share that here. What is your belief, personal belief and how much you have to cooperate with this committee . My own view is that we should be trying to do everything to cooperate with this committee that we legally and appropriately can. My own view is that we should be trying to do and , youre under oath, youre still under oath. Something we take very seriously. But ive also been here five years. Some of the questions today and im going to put it in perspective, because theres some things i want to put for the record. We have a Good Relationship starting forward because i think you bring a hopefully, to this agency. My dad was a state trooper. I come from a Law Enforcement background. Weve got to have this trust. But just as a few years ago, july 6th, 2011, in a draft letter circulated within department of justice, a department official, wrote, i would stay away from the representation that will fully cooperate in the future. This is dealing with fast and furious. So youve got to understand, the members up here are doing our constitutional job, are sometimes skeptical of what has been said here. And ive had an interesting back and forth with the former attorney general, with your former the former fbi director. So i just have a few questions, if we could. One, is it possibly recently, theres been some problems. And i want to hear from you. Of unprecedented leak of information about fisa. We got into fisa a while ago. Have a few questions, if we specifically, a leak of fisa wiretap of paul manafort. It is a felony, is it not . Sorryray i am specifically, a leak of fisa warrants is a felony, is it not . Dir. Wray yes, i would think it would be. What is the fbi currently doing to identify the leakers of that information . Dir. Wray well, im not going to comment on or confirm or deny the existence of any specific investigation. I will say that when we have at the moment quite a number of active investigations into unauthorized disclosures of classified information. Is it something you would say you would put a high priority on . Finding out who leaks and holding them accountable . I believe that finding out i will say that i believe that finding out who has leaked classified information is something thats extremely important. I will say also, having been somebody who has had responsibility for a lot of leak investigations, not just now, but when i was the assistant attorney general, and had both Criminal Division and whats now the National Security division, leak investigations are breathtakingly difficult to pursue. And so that doesnt mean we does not mean we shouldnt pursue them. In fact, im a big believer of the idea we should, even if we may be pessimistic about our ability, ultimately, to be able to find somebody to charge. Because the mere fact of bringing of of conducting those investigations sends a strong signal that we will not tolerate people leaking classified information. And i agree with that. And i think thats that needs to happen. Its got to start with you, and if it doesnt start with you and frankly, there has not been that leadership in the department for a while. Lets go back to fisa. Earlier on, there was a discussion that came across were not going to provide that or provide that in that setting or we didnt have a right to that. So i have a few questions. What information or documents related to fisa do you think the fbi can withhold from the committee. Withhold fisa warrants . I think theres a couple different stages of cooperation here, right . So one is the question of what we can provide in an open setting. And n one is let me help you out. Because i want to get down because your time is valuable. Well just assume its in the proper setting, proper format. What i your time is valuable. Well just assume its in the proper setting, proper format. What i was concerned about is the way it was said earlier. So if properly asked for, a fisa warrant, is there any reason why you would with hold that information, legally, that you can. Dir. Wray there are situations where information related to a fisa application involves sensitive sources and methods that in my experience are not shared with committees of congress. Okay. Information that has formed the basis for a fisa warrant or legal memorandum regarding fbis well, the fbis legal interpretation of fisa, unless its asking for Attorney Client privilege information, i would think would be something we could discuss with the committee. Again, thats the concern i have. In looking at this, as the chairman said earlier, the jurisdiction of this committee on both sides. This has become one of the biggest issues we have here. And i have been here on different committees asking different agencies under Republican Administration now and a Democratic Administration is theres a belief that you can withhold from this oversight. And especially on fisa as the primary. So i will clear up the uncertainty. You might have the committee the committee has the authority to demand any docket or piece of information related to the fisa program. And there are many things we would like to see and be part of and you have indicated your willingness to do that. We need to continue that openness. Otherwise youre going to continue to have the discussions and innuendo and everything else. Because at the end of the day, this is a problem. But my last question has one concern. You made a mention earlier, and i thought it sort of interesting. You want mr. Strut was not demoted. Im not sure, frankly, and this is just a looking at this. How do you take the number two counter intelligent person who is on one of the highestprofile and special investigative committees thats been in a longtime in this town, and take him and put him in a random slot of Human Resources, not offensive to Human Resources. Theyve got a big job. But i dont think there was a pressing need for your numbertwo person here in counter intelligence, who was on the highest profile investigation going on this hill to all of a sudden say, you know, theres a big need in Human Resources. Lets move him over here. I have a bigger concern that if its some of the issues that have fallen out, why would you put him in Human Resources where he would have an oversight or even teaching responsibilities of what other agents would be a part of . I think you need to be careful, maybe just from an example part, of how we say that that wasnt a demotion or a transfer or something that did not have proper at least on the appearance of what happened in this case. And with that, mr. Chairman, i yield back. The chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Moreno, for five minutes. Thank you, chairman. Director, good to see you again. Always a pleasure. Ive got to tell you a little something. When i go to high school i wanted to be an fbi agent. So i got a job many, many years ago as a clerk at the department of justice. I was there for a short period of time thank you, chairman. Director, until we found out that i was color blind, and would not make a very good agent if i couldnt tell the color of a car or the color of clothing. So i came back home and worked in a factory for a while. When i was a District Attorney and u. S. Attorney, i was threatened a couple of times. And the fbi and the u. S. Marshals were right there to watch my back. More important, they were there to watch my family during these threats. And i will never forget that, and i greatly appreciate it. And i have the utmost faith in you and the bureau. We are part of the same honorable profession. You, jim comey and i worked very well together. We had a lot of good work done. And that, and i greatly appreciate it. And i have the utmost faith the agents and the staff of the middle district of pennsylvania, that would be harrisburg, scranton and williamsport, they made me look good. And i appreciate that. I know how proffers work. Ive used them many times. I know how immunity works. I know what a 302 report is, and how that works. Im not lets put it this way. Rarely, in my humble opinion, should we be using special or independent counsel. We know there is a strict criteria for that. If there is a conflict. The reason is because i trust the 99. 9 of our agents, the scientists and staff a bit more than i trust congress. And i know you will follow the fbi and doj procedures, regardless of what happened in the past. If you ever need anything from me, dont hesitate to call upon me. Thank you very much for your service, and i yield back. Thank you, congressman marino, i really enjoyed our time working in the department together. And i know youre committed to supporting Law Enforcement and its very much appreciated. The chair thanks the gentlemen. And recognize the gentle woman from alabama, miss roby, for five minutes. I thought i heard the chairman say since i was last i could go as long as i wanted to. But i wont. I will stick to the fiveminute rule. Thank you for your time spent with us today and i appreciate you staying through the last series. Have you read the usa liberty act, which was our bill to renew section 702 of the fisa amendments acts, which this Committee Approved 278, last month . I have i wouldnt say i reviewed it word for word, but i have read through it. Okay. And will you commit to working with this committee to reauthorize section 782 in a way that protects americans civil liberties, as well as our National Security . Im absolutely committed. In fact, eager to work with the committee to try to make sure that we get 702 reauthorized in a way thats not only constitutional, but that also protects our National Security. Obviously, as youve gathered from some of my responses, i have very clear and very specific views about what that is. And i have tried very hard in order to be responsive to this committee to really get into the weeds with the agents about how we actually use 702. Ive actually sat at terminals with both kinds of agents, National Security agents and criminal agents in this role as director, rolling up my sleeves, looking at the screen, watching what happens when they tap the keyboard. So i feel like i have a pretty good handle on it. And i just implore the congress to be really careful here, and i just worry that were heading down a road that we will all regret. And i just hope lives arent put at risk as a result. Well, i mean, i agree with you, as well. But i just want to make sure that we can continue to work together. And ive heard you say that, so thank you. Thank you. As you well know, we have an epidemic of Human Trafficking in this country, including the trafficking of children. And the internet plays a huge role in that. Section 230 of the Communications Decency act shields some websites from legal liability regarding content posted by their users. I have serious concerns about this. Under existing law, do you believe that legal action can be taken against websites that enable thats a key word enable this horrible behavior . Dir. Wray well, as i mentioned in some of the earlier questions in different contexts, i now consider myself a reformed lawyer, former lawyer, almost. So i am i would have to look closely at the law to study the law in this area. I will say that there are situations where we have been able to bring cases against what i would call third parties for aiding and abetting some of the issues that were talking about here. Payment processors, things like that. So maybe theres a scenario where that kind of approach would work. Certainly, i am deeply concerned, as i know you are, about Human Trafficking, especially with respect to kids. But not only kids. And as i mentioned in my opening, thats something that we are very aggressively pursuing. So i would be happy to look at and then have somebody sit down with you. I mean, we would welcome any of your thoughts or your recommendations on improving our laws. Of course, we have several bills in front of the senate and the house today, where we are, again, trying to balance making sure that those that are enabling this type of horrific behavior are held liable. But at the same time, protecting innovation in the in the on the internet. And the use of the internet. And so but i think at the end of the day, what we all can agree on is that weve got to come up with a solution that works so that we can protect these precious young people and adults from being subjected to this type of abuse. So real quickly, given the decision by General Services administration to scrap plans for the new fbi headquarters, i would be interested in your thoughts as to where we go from here. While the Obama Administration requested 1. 4 billion for the construction, congress appropriated 523 million, leaving an 882 million funding gap. So the total cost of the proposed headquarters was a hefty 2. 5 billion. And i understand that the existing building is in a state of disrepair. However, i would be interested in your ideas about how to reduce costs. Well, we are actively when i say went back to the drawing board, were considering all options. We are working very hard with gsa, and i think theres a report due to another committee in late january about some of our progress. Were looking not just at different building permutations, but also funding permutations, which i think could be a change in the way we go about getting to a good answer to look at how we might pay for it first, and then see what flows from that as opposed to the other way around. I will tell you that as somebody who has now spent four months back in the building, i remember the last time i was in the building in 2005, the place seemed like it was not in good shape then, and i can assure you, its not gotten better in the years that have passed. So we do need to find a solution. I think the men and women of the fbi deserve a building thats in better shape than this one is. But im not ruling out any particular approach to that. But i do want to make sure we get an upgrade. If the gentle woman would yield, i completely agree with the director on that. We have some excellent real estate in virginia that would serve this purpose exceedingly well, just across the river. My time has expired. But i just want to take the opportunity to tell you and your family thank you for your service to our country. But also all of the men and women who serve at the fbi. We really appreciate all the hard work that is done. So thank you for being here. Dir. Wray thank you, and on behalf of the men and women of the bureau and their families, we appreciate it. Thank you, miss roby. Director wray, thank you very much. I do have one additional question. Have you personally seen any of the struck texts that we have been talking about here at length today . Dir. Wray yes. Can you characterize for us your impression of whether those do indeed constitute the kind of political going beyond just expressing opinion, but political activism that does not befit an fbi agent . Dir. Wray mr. Chairman, i really would prefer not to do that at this point. There is because of the investigation thats ongoing and its also because of whatever might come out of that. I dont think it would be responsible for me to be offering an opinion at this stage. I respect that. Let me just close by saying that i very much appreciate your testimony here today, not just that youre here for five hours, but that you have answered questions with a great deal of candor when you can. And deal of candor when you can. And i respect the fact that you cant answer all of our questions, particularly in a public setting, regarding some Ongoing Investigations. However, i think that members of the committee have made it very questions, particularly in a clear that there are deep concerns about what has been happening at the fbi. Not under your watch. But now under your responsibility to repair that reputation of what i think truly think is the worlds finest Law Enforcement organization. And thats going to take your testifying before committees and responding to various inquiries. But its also going to take more than that. Its going to take some action. There are going to need to be some personnel changes. We have had a number of names in highranking positions at the bureau mentioned in passing here, without getting into tremendous details. Again, the inspector generals investigation and the investigation being conducted by this committee will probably reveal more that needs to be done there. I also think that a renewed effort to be fully responsive and timely responsive to the inquiries of this committee and other committees, but particularly this committee, which has oversight responsibility, and in lieu of a Second Special counsel is conducting an investigation that if there were special counsel, we would not feel the need to engage in that. We need to have the information that were requesting, and we need it promptly. And we have no intention of interfering with the investigation being conducted by the inspector general. In fact, we think his investigation is very important and very helpful, and we have been working with him in that regard. So those sorts of actions, and probably some changes in protocol regarding how agents conduct themselves and how they view some of the actions that have been revealed in the media and during the hearing today do not reflect well on the department and create in the minds of Many Americans a misimpression of how the overwhelming majority of fbi line agents and others conduct themselves. But because these people are in positions of great responsibility at the highest levels of the agency, i think that those who stay need to get some new protocols on how to represent the agency. Some need to go, and all of this needs to be made available to the appropriate committees that are investigating. I thank you very much, sir. If there is anything you would like to add, we would welcome it. With that, the hearing is concluded. And oh, one more thing. We will be submitting additional questions in writing, based upon some of the questions that members submitted, and some issues that have come up that we think may be more suited to submitting questions in writing. We hope you will answer those promptly, as well. Again, i thank you for your participation. Without objection, all members will have five legislative days to submit additional written questions for the witness or additional materials for the record. And this hearing is adjourned. [ banging gavel ] cspans washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Friday morning, politico budget reporter, sarah will join us to negotiationsng ahead of the deadline and possible shutdown. Be sure to watch washington journal friday morning. Join the discussion. Appeals ist of considering the legality of the third version of the travel ban that places restrictions on nationals from several countries including libya, north korea, and yemen. We will have live coverage of the International RefugeeAssistance Project versus donald trump. 9 00 a. M. On cspan two. And a Unity Commission has been reviewing the president ial nominating process. The commission will make recommendations for the 2020 president ial nominating process. Coverage beginning at 10 00 eastern here on cspan. A tweet from the minute gap thisthe minneapolis came after recent allegations of sexual misconduct. We will bring you senator frankens remarks nt