Transcripts For CSPAN Justice Dept. Testifies On National Security Threats - Part 1 20220731

Matthew olson, assistant attorney general for the National Security division of the Justice Department said its investigation of the january 6 attack on the u. S. Capitol is the single largest domestic terrorism investigation in the nations history. During his testimony before the house Judiciary Committee, he also talked about potential domestic extremist threats. This hearing is just under three and a half hours. The House Committee and are judiciary will come to order, without objection the chair is authorized to declare resources of the committee at any time. We welcome everyone to this mornings hearing and oversight of the department of justice and National Security division. Before we begin with i would like to remind members that we have established an email address and distribution list dedicated to circulating exhibits, motions, and other written materials that they want as part of the hearing today. If you would like to submit materials please send them to the email address that has been previously distributed to the offices, and we. I will now recognize myself for an Opening Statement. National security division, or an s day was established was in the department of justice in 2006 with the aim to create counterterrorism and streamline interactions between federal prosecutors, main justice, and the Intelligence Community. The decision operates on the front lines of meteorologist facing our country, including a rise in domestic terrorism, cyber espionage, and threats from foreign governments. Leading the division todays assistant attorney general matthew olson, we are pleased to welcome you to the committee, mr. Olson, and to hear your perspective on the difficult tasks ahead of you. We were created in the years after the september 11th attacks. It has its roots in wet we used to call the war on terror. The decision is integral to the fight against to keep our country safe. Today the nsd faces the on comparable necessity of internal transformation. The face of terrorism has changed, the greatest threat to American Safety is no longer extremism. We can no longer dismiss the threat is coming from other people, other cultures. The threat today is from within. It is right at home in our communities and on our social media feed. Well even see it from time to time on our cable news networks. It has taken root in the rhetoric of certain political leaders, none of us can return to turn a blind eye to the growing danger. The new face of domestic terrorism is farright extremism, which is growing exponentially in the United States. The attorney general garland told our colleagues in the senate just over a year ago that the greatest threat, the greatest domestic threat facing the United States was from racially motivated violent extremists, quote, specifically those who advocate for the superiority of the white race. White supremacists, extremist militia members, and other violent farright extremist groups were responsible for 66 of all domestic terror plot in 2020, and 30 fatalities from terrorism in 2021. 28 were at the hands of radicalized trackers. If the numbers do not convince you we can put the imminence of the threat in practical terms. One republican candidate for senate has aligned his campaign with the website that promoted the hateful actions of the shooter at the tree of life synagogue. They said that jews are not welcome in the connecticut movement and will not be welcome in a christian matchless country they hope to build. Across the country anyone hoping to attend a turning point usa it had to march past a well organized group of neonazis who had a preferred candidate for office. With the easy availability of weapons of war in this country, distance from xenophobic messaging to hateful tots, and from hateful thoughts into terrorist actions has never been shorter. An 18 year old radicalized over social media can walk into a pawn shop and leave with an ar15 that same day. Farright extremists and White Supremacists terror groups present not only a significant threat to the lives of americans, but also relatedly an unprecedented challenge to the National Security division. I applaud the attorney general for the creation of the dojs domestic Terrorism Unit this past january, which would be specifically dedicated to responding to the increasing threats posed by domestic terrorists. To be clear, the Department Already has resources and structures in place to fight domestic chairism, when i hope to hear from mr. Olsen today is how the department will focus these resources where they are needed most. The growing threat of violent White Nationalism and farright extremism. In addition to advancing the fight against domestic terrorism, there are also many other important challenges facing National Security division, as it works to keep us safe. For example, i am interested in hearing how the division is navigating threats posed by hostile actors targeting our system of government. Is this committee recently learned, the federal court system faced an incredibly significant and sophisticated Cyber Security breach, one which has since had lingering impact on the department and other agencies. While the concentration of National Security matters within a Single Division ostensibly allows the doj and executive Branch Overall to respond more effectively to threats facing the United States, they are also presented with opportunities for abuse. That is why i am looking forward to hearing how the division is reforming the governments pfizer processes, to allay our longstanding concerns about the querying of the section 702 database to acquire american information. Im also interested in hearing how the honesty is responding to inspector generals concerns about the divisions plants with the woods procedure, which requires agents to document support for all factual assertions contained in applications. And its the is at the epicenter of programs and policy areas in both where the federal gunner when it comes to protecting Civil Liberties ranging from the warrantless rounds of american citizens to the unfair targeting of black and brown communities, the sweeping collection of private data and communications, the illconceived china initiative, politically motivated investigations of and much more, nsd has found itself on the wrong end of the battle between Civil Liberties and security. I hope that the division will commit to forging a new path and strikes of proper balance. Protecting our citizens from those seeking to do them harm its also a difficult task requiring those at the helm to balance security with liberty. This nuance speaks to the heart of the values that are essential to this nation, and its your responsibility as the divisions leader to protect the ideals along with the people. Thank you for being here today, mr. Olson. I look forward to your testimony. I now recognize the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, the gentleman from ohio, mr. Jordan, for his Opening Statement. Thank you. In america, we shouldnt need to say that parents speaking out against their childrens education arent domestic terrorists, or that those raising concern about the radical direction the left is trying to take this country are not domestic terrorists, or that Trump Supporters arent domestic terrorists, but apparently, we do. Because the Biden Administration is bound and determined to demonize everyone and anyone not in lockstep with their farleft agenda. Last september, the Biden White House colluded, colluded with the National School Boards Association to orchestrate a letter to President Biden that portrayed concerned parents speaking out at School Board Meetings a security threat. Flutter urges the president to use the patriot act to go after americas moms and dads. Just five days later, the attorney general issued a memorandum directing the fbi and u. S. Attorneys offices to address a, quote, disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence at School Board Meetings. If you remember, when we have the attorney general in front of this committee, we ask him about where did they get this where did they learn about this disturbing spike in intimidation . Where did they learn about . And his response was from the School Board Letter that they helped coordinate and put together to send to the white house. The press release that accompanied that memorandum said that mr. Olsons division, the National Security division, would be involved in a Department Wide effort to target parents. Thats right. The division that is supposed to be prosecuting terrorists, protecting us from terrorists, the kind of the kind that want to hijack planes and bring down the lisa side of that a priority of this division of the fbis parents at School Board Meetings. Yes what . We find out that this whole situation was coordinated. Thats right, like i said earlier, the letter was a pretext for the memorandum. The letter was instigated by the white house. Documents released by the National School Boards Association showed that the white house knew that the letter would urge the administration to invoke the patriot act and the white house raised no objection. In fact, the National School Boards Association admitted that President Biden telephoned the then nsba president to say that he was appreciative of the letter. When this all came to light, and americas parents rightly became outrage, the National School Board Association apologized for its actions. The nsba wrote to its members, quote, we regret and apologize for the letter. Thats a lot more than the attorney general of the Biden Administration did. As far as we know, the memorandum is still in place. Thats, right as far as we, know the attorney generals directive to the National Security division two targets moms and dads, it remains in place. If this was it, if it was just a political stunt, that would be bad enough. But its actually much worse. Because of whistleblowers who came forward, we know that the fbi created a threat tag specifically targeting parents, a designated we know that the fbi opened over two dozen investigations into parents merely because they stood up to speak on behalf of their children. We say in count letters to the doj, trying to get answers, but have gotten virtually nothing back in response. Im sure we will have some pointed questions for mr. Olson today, and i hope that he is prepared to give us answers on our the answers our constituents deserve. We also hope hes prepared to talk about the department of justice is refusal to address people trying to intimidate Supreme Court justices at their homes and their childrens schools, and we have great concerns about the terrorist attacks targeting prolife facilities in groups around the countrys. This year, there have been dozens of attacks on these facilities, but the Biden Administration seems preoccupied with other politicallycharged investigations. We would also like to know why the doj is ignoring all the facts coming to light regarding the business dealings and illegal activities of hunter biden. In fact, a troubling pattern has come to light recently that indicates the biden Justice Department seems more focused on politics than it is on fighting crime. Dont forget, this is the division of the department of justice that we interest with immense surveillance powers. The chairman mentioned, within the National Security division, is the office of intelligence, which is responsible for preparing and filing all applications pursuant to fisa, as well as appearing before surveillance court. We all know about the fisa abuses over the past several years, and how the department of justice and the fbi misused finds it to target the campaign of president trump. Mr. Olson has been intrusted with a great deal of responsibility, its our hope that today, hes come prepared to answer a great deal of questions this committee has about the department of justice. Thank, you mister chairman, a yield back. Thank, you mr. Jordan. Without objection, are there i will now introduce todays witness. Matthew olsen is the assistant attorney general for the National Security in that capacity, he leads and department of justices mission to combat terrorism, espionage, cybercrime, and other threats to the National Security. [inaudible] mr. Olsen served as the director of the National Counterterrorism center. Prior to leading and ctc, he was the National Council for the National Security agency. For 18 years, mr. Olsen work at the department of justice as a career attorney, and a number of leadership positions, including as an associate Deputy Attorney general of special counselor to the attorney general. In 2006, he helped establish the National Security division and served as the first career Deputy Assistant attorney general for National Security. Mr. Olsen began his Public Service career as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the department of justice. He later held positions as a federal prosecutor in the u. S. Attorneys office for the District Of Columbia and special counsel to the director of the fbi, supporting the post 9 11 transformation of the fbi. Previously, mr. Olsen clerked for judge Norma Holloway johnson in the u. S. District court for the District Of Columbia. He graduate from Harvard Law School in the university of virginia. We welcome our distinguished witness, we thank you for participating today. I will begin by swearing you in. I asked that you raise and raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony you are about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and believe, so help you god . I do. Let the record show that the witness has answered in the affirmative. Thank you, and you may please be seated. Please note that your written statement will be entered into the record in its entirety, accordingly i ask that you summarize your testimony in five minutes. To help you stay within that time, there is a timing light on your table. When the light switches from green to yellow, you have a minute to conclude your testimony. When the light turns red, it signals your five minutes have expired. Mr. Olsen, you may begin. Thank you, chairman nadler, Ranking Member jordan, members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to testify about the important work of the Justice Department on National Security. As you know, as you noted, chairman, congress created the National Security division in 2006. The goal was to unify and prioritize the dojs National Security efforts. The National Security division has a wide range of responsibilities, you touched on them. We prosecute terrorists and spies, we protect the nation against cyberattacks, we provide legal and policy support to intelligence operations and oversight. And we review Foreign Investments in u. S. Companies for National Security risks. This morning i would like to focus that my Opening Statement on one of our top priorities, that is counterterrorism. The country faces a persistent and dynamic threat from terrorism. This threatening compresses multi foreign terrorist groups that seeks to carry out attacks against the United States, as well as domestic violent extremists, they are often mobilized to violence by racism and Anti Government ideologies. International terrorism poses a continuing and evolving threat to the u. S. , both at home and abroad. We keep a unwavering focus on violent jihadist groups, and we play an interval role in the all government effort to defend against these threats. At the same time, the department of justice is committed to tackling the alarming threat at home from domestic violent extremism. Domestic violent extremists are individuals in the United States who seek to commit violent, criminal acts in furtherance of domestic, social, or political goals. For example, we have seen a growing threat from those who are motivated by racism, we have also seen an increase of threats from extremists to espouse Anti Government or Anti Authority ideologies, and who often target those who participate in civil life. Such as elected officials, police officers, and health care workers. There is no doubt that these threats are on the rise. The number of fbi investigations over the past two years has more than doubled from domestic violent extremists, january 6th attack on the u. S. Capital stands apart. The departments investigation is the single largest domestic terrorism is investigation in the history. To date that has led to the arrest of more than 860 individuals. Many of these defendants have been charged with very serious crimes including seditious conspiracy, obstruction of congress, assault on police officers. We are committed to Holding Accountable those who engaged in violence and other illegal acts, and to bring to justice anyone who unlawfully try to overturn the election. We are upholding our oath to defend the constitution against those who tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Our National Security initiative requires that we protect these fundamental pillars of our democracy. We work not just to protect our Democratic Institutions but also our citizens and communities from the terrible costs inflicted by terrorism and violent extremism. Tragedies in buffalo, pittsburgh, el paso, charlatan, and out but elsewhere are seared honorees. We must be clear that Law Enforcement faces very start islanders when it comes to domestic extremism. Violent extremists are too often able to radicalized online quickly, easily acquire military grade weapons, and target vulnerable locations such as public gatherings. Places of worship, and shopping centers. These are places that are very difficult to defend. The National Security division plays a Critical Role in countering these threats. We lead and support terrorism investigations and prostitution working with the fbi and the u. S. Attorney call Office Around the country. We recently established a dedicated, domestic Terrorism Unit. The goal is to oversee and coordinate these cases across the department and around the country. Our domestic Terrorism Unit works very closely with the Civil Rights Division, which has prosecuted some of the hate most heinous attacks in the recent years using the federal hate crime statutes. Having spent 18 years myself as a Career Department of justice attorney and prosecutor, i know that our workforce is committed to the constitution, and to ensuring equal and impartial justice. We prosecute cases based on the facts and the law. Without regard to ideology and politics. Our National Strength comes from our founding values, these include the rule of law, free speech, and freedom of association. We will uphold these values as we safeguard the American People from threats to our safety and our National Security. I very much appreciate the opportunity to testify today and i look forward to answering the committees questions. Thank you for your testimony, we will now proceed under the five minute rule with questions, and i will recognize myself for five minutes. On january 6th 2021 the Administrative Office of the courts released a Public Statement about a Cyber Security breach dating back to early 2020. Unrelated to however, it was only in march of this year that the Committee First learned the scope of the courts document managing the System Security failure. Perhaps even more concerning is the disturbing impact the Security Breach had on pending civil and criminal location, as well as the ongoing National Security matters. Understanding that this is an unclassified setting, what types of cases or investigations will the u. S. Attorneys office that were impacted the most with these breach. How many of those cases investigations are within your division . Chairman, let me begin by saying that the threat we face from cyber enabled attacks, whether that is to the government, public secretary in congress, and to the private sector, its one of the most significant threats we face as a country to our National Security. For the National Security division we are based on nationstate attacks. Thats can come from countries like china, russia, iran, and north korea. While i cannot speak directly to the nature of the Ongoing Investigation of the types of threats that you have mentioned regarding the effort to compromise public traditional documents, this is, of course a significant concern for us given the nature of the information that is often held by the courts. If any cases or investigations within the nsc materially impacted were no longer dismiss because of the courts rich . I cannot think of anything in particular that has been affected in the way that you described, although i would want to double check on that. We are very concerned, we are working, i can assure you based on my own personal experience that we are working very closely with the judicial conference and judges around the country to address this issue. As a department ordered your own systems to ensure you are not compromised by the same three hostile foreign actors who adopt the Document Management system. It is ongoing effort to protect our systems for the same reason but i would say that the challenge when it comes to the sophisticated nationstate type of activity that we see in cyber, the challenge is significant and it is difficult to ever be in a position to say any system is one hunted percent safe when it comes to sophisticated nation states that seek to obtain persistent access to the systems. The departments 2022 conference cyber review included that doj needs to, quote, consider carefully whats at it collects with the lawfulness of resources in the rest of the data itself. Close quote. As you heard last week during our digital hearing, unreliable and unverified data often purchase through available thirdparty sources can lead to incorrect identification, rifle arrest and constant litigation. Under the brady role prosecutors have a constitutional obligation to expose evidence. But, when prosecutors rely on information produced by Law Enforcement this is not the case. What is the department apology on sharing exculpatory evidence with defendants when that information was acquired through purchases from data brokers, apps, social media platforms, or other thirdparty commercial sources . Mister chairman, as a former federal prosecutor myself i can assure you that the constitution providing exculpatory evidence to the accused under the brady role is one that is taken extremely seriously, applies across the board to any information that the government has in its possession, regardless of the source. I have not looked at that policy recently, i know that that is general obligation apply across the court to federal prosecutors. [inaudible] i assume your promise to keep us updated on the courts bridge. Absolutely, absolutely waste and ready to come to congress to talk about that at any time. Thank you very much, mr. Jordan . Mr. Biggs . Thank, you mr. Chairman, mr. Olson, the foreign agents registration act requires those to be a minister with your office and the National Security division. Is that fair . That is correct, i have behind me and email from 2016 from the obama Biden Administration between hunter biden and the son of a mexican billionaire and grandson of the forprofit mexican president. The other line say we arriving late night on air force two to mexico city to attend a meeting with the president , and with dad. Highlighted is the comments we have been talking about business deals and partnerships for seven years, i have brought every Single Person you have ever asked me to bring to the white house, the Vice President s house, and the inauguration. I have delivered on every single thing you have ever asked. In this email hunter biden acknowledges his attendance at a meeting between mexican president and then vice President Biden. Masking, family references mexican businessmen at the white house and the Vice President south he states, i delivered on every single thing you ever. As this email, or does this email might have asked the contrary to represent foreign principles . Im not familiar with the email that you are referring to but i can tell you that it is a fundamental principle of the Justice Department and consistent with my almost 20 year career that we follow the facts of the law in every case but you are not familiar with this. With this email here. We will show you next a picture of vice President Biden and hunter one of the richest man in the world, in 2015. While joe biden was Vice President , this picture seems to conflict with President Biden stating that he has never met with his sons business associates. Much of the information regarding Hunter Bidens foreign busses dealings has come from the as well as my 51 former intelligence officers. In this letter, dated october 2020, which i will submit for the record. This week we learned fbi whistleblowers have come forward and reported the fbi committed a widespread effort within the fbi to downplay or discredit negative information about hunter biden. Are you familiar with that reporting . No, im not. So has an investigation of hunter biden by your office been influenced by the work, product, or actions timothy bull . I will not comment on any investigation that may or may not be ongoing. But i assure you is that we follow the facts and evidence and we apply the law and i every case without regard for ideology you are unaware of the reporting, so you are unaware of any label derogatory information under biden as this information. I will not comment on any potential Ongoing Investigation. Okay. According to reports, Border Patrol has apprehended at least 50 illegal aliens at the southwest border in the fiscal year 2022. The office of Field Operations has encountered at least 50 aliens on a terror watch lit at ports mentor in the fiscal year. Does when they encounter an illegal alien who is on a terrorist watchlist . The National Security division was actually created to work with other agencies, whether thats agencies does including agencies and the this is not hard. Does the cbp give you information when they find someone on the terrorist watchlist at the border. Do they give that information to you . I cant speak as i sit here to any particular situation or circumstance, but what i can tell you im not asking you about the circumstances. Is the process they report to you, so you have 100 known encounters with people a terrorist watch lists. I assume one would think, its coming to you, im asking about the process, not a specific case. In general, congressman, the way the system works is that the fbi investigates the crimes that we prosecute. Lets get to this specific the information goes lets get to the specific case then. Are you familiar with the name nissan bazzy . Im sorry . Are you familiar with the name nissan bazzy . No. Hes on the terror watchlist. He was released into the United States after crossing the border illegally. According to reports, the fbi recommended keeping him in custody, but ice headquarters intervene and released him because of a concern he might catch covid19 because he was overweight. So far theres been more than hundred thousand known how many can you extrapolate are on the terrorist watchlist . And have you done any assessment the witness may answer the question. Im not familiar with that, now. Miss lofgren . Thank, you mr. Chairman i would like to explore section 702 with you, as im sure you are aware, in his november 2020 recertification found that the fbi employees had improperly surged american females that were collected without a warrant and were unrelated to foreign intelligence information, and the d. O. D. Annual statistical transparency report released in april of 2022 founded the fbi searched its 702 surrounds repository, quote, using the identifiers of americans like their names, phone numbers, and addresses. Nearly 3. 4 million times between december 2020 and november 2021. This is nearly tripled the number reported from 2020. Although the odni only reported 376 warrants issued for wiretaps or physical searches of individuals in 2021, it found 232,000 plus named targets of fisa section 702 warrantless searches. During your confirmation hearing, before the Senate Intelligence committee, pam restoring trust in the fisa process was a critical priority for you, and i was glad to hear that. Since you have assumed your role as assistant attorney general, what have you done to prevent warrantless improper backdoor searches of americans s data section 702. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about fisa particular section seven or two. As you noted, when i was confirmed, last year, i indicated that a priority for the department of justice and for me at the National Security division was to ensure that congress and the American People have confidence in our use of intelligence tools such as fisa. Fisa was passed first in 1978, as you know, it has proven to be to be an indispensable tool to go after spies and terrorists and hackers and it remains so. Collect information about nonu. S. Persons, nonu. S. Citizens has proven to be essential to protecting National Security the issues that you cite are ones that are of concern, the compliance of the fbi in particular with the way in which it searches through the section 702 data that is lawfully collected. The fbi, with the department of justice, has undertaken a series of threats over the years to improve compliance by systems changes and training, and i have been part of that effort in my eight months in office, we are looking forward to improving the compliance records of the department of justice. It is part of the broader comprehensive system of oversight that takes place when it comes to foreign intelligence collection, and that includes congress, the executive, branch and the judiciary if i may just follow, of we have had reassurances over the years and yet the performance continues to be poor, and its been poor under both democratic and republican administration. So we have considered imposing a warrant requirement for queries of known americans, and i guess im thinking that probably a necessity unless we can get some further definitive control of the warrantless search of americans using the 702 we agree, we want to catch the spies and the foreign bad actors, but to use that database for warrantless searches of americans is simply improper, and yet it continues, how can we get assurances, and when will we get our next report from you, about the controls that youve discussed . As you know, section seven into expires at the end of next year. We are engaged in a concerted effort to be prepared to brief congress at any time, review, your staff, about the controls that are in place. The way that section 17 into works, if i may, it is information collected targeting nonu. S. Persons overseas. It is lawfully collected, with the fbi enabled to search that data to find connections. So its not a warrantless search of americans. It is a search of data that was collected targeting people who are outside the United States who are not u. S. Citizens. If i may, sir, that is contrary to the report that we got from odni, and from the fisa board. So i think my time is expired, but we need to get to the bottom of this, and mister chairman [inaudible] thank you. Mr. Massie is recognized for five minutes. I yield to my friend from florida, mr. Matt gaetz. Its hunter biden a National Security threat . Thats not a question here the had a National Security division, it seems sort of on the nose. Its not in my practice or experience to identify not in my purview. Weve heard that. Any individual american citizens as a National Security threat. He was certainly could say that if the adult offspring of the president of United States or the Vice President were compromised, that would be a National Security threat, right . We speak through our filings in court. And we speak through our actions in open court. Speak to this, wheres the laptop, do you know where Hunter Bidens laptop is . Again, im not going to talk about any potential do you know where it is . Do you know where it is . Im not going to talk about any ongoing you come here to tell us you follow the facts and the law but you cant follow a laptop that you guys have had for three years. We follow the facts on the law, and we speak in open court about yeah but you arent speaking about this, but you know who is . The whistleblowers from the fbi, have gone to senator grassley and said that you guys purposefully take any information that is derogatory about hunter biden and you go and rattle it so you dont have to speak about it in any circumstance. But the good news is, you are not the only ones with that laptop. So patrick was convicted of bribing government officials and africa, and he gave a to hunter biden. Are you familiar with that . Im not going to speak about any Ongoing Investigation. Is that an Ongoing Investigation . Im not going to the bribe . Dont you see that that degrades the countrys belief in you guys, when you have whistleblowers saying that you are purposefully rattling disinformation and you come here and you say you wont talk about it. Inside Hunter Bidens multi Million Dollar deals with a Chinese Energy company, washington post, matt busier, chinese elite, paid 31 million to hunter and the bidens. Peter schweitzer, new york post, Hunter Bidens Business Partner called joe biden the big guy in panic messages. Do you guys call joe biden the big guy at the doj . Its important understand why we dont speak about cases outside of the courtroom. By the way, i know i may answer the question . Its about hunter biden. You guys have no problem leaking about other stuff. But youve got no problem going out and tagging parents at School Board Meetings as a National Security threat, but when all of the facts, and all of the law before you regarding the corruption of hunter biden, you dont want to speak to that at all, and its precisely why youve got folks that are talking to senator grassley about. It boeheim harvest, so ten days after by takes hunter biden to china, ten days after, this long toiling venture of hunter biden, he cant get off the drone, ten days after they go, he automatically gets approved. So for have you guys looked into that . And im going to talk about any Ongoing Investigation. You know who else is talking . Tony bubble in ski, who told the world that joe biden was cut in on a ccp energy deal that was orchestrated by hunter biden. Have you guys talked to him . Again, we dont talk about Ongoing Investigations in settings such as this. So joe biden how about this, will you commit to a classified briefing on these matters . Certainly i would be happy to talk to you or any member of the committee about matters of National Security. Is this a matter of National Security . We dont talk outside of courtrooms about Ongoing Investigations. Is there an Ongoing Investigation of the annual fund dinner that happened where joe biden was Vice President of the United States and hunter biden pulled his funds at the Chinese Embassy. But in order to do that, in order to get the Chinese Embassy to roll out the red car, but he had to go to the embassy 30 minutes before and have a oneonone meeting with the chinese ambassador. Do you think its possible that that meeting might have jeopardize National Security . Im not going to comment about any potential or Ongoing Investigation. Heres the thing. Its pretty easy to see that hunter biden is compromised. I think every american knows thats a threat to National Security. I think we are watching a crime spree in progress that hunter biden is orchestrating, and one has to wonder, what are the chinese getting for the tens of millions of dollars that they are cutting the biden family in on . What is a Chinese Communist Party Getting as a result of cutting in 10 for the big guy . I just happened to notice that you guys canceled the china initiative, that president put in place, where he focused count on those things. Jim biden said to tony bob alinsky that the reason they were able to get away with this corruption is plausible deniability, and that is precisely the plausible deniability that you are animating endings that defied today, and you know, one winter is coming, we are going to be the majority, and then you will have to answer these questions for the country. I yield back. The gentlemans time is expired. I have several unanimous consent requests. My first unanimous consent requests is the Ranking Member made reference to a department of justice whistleblower memo and grossly mischaracterized its content, so may i read the memo into the record . I object. I object. Thatll be over five minutes. You reject a reading to the record that was not if you do it on time. Then i ask unanimous consent that the document that republicans were afraid to have be read aloud be introduced into the record. Without objection. I have unanimous consent requests that i a politifact, with the heading, no, the federal government isnt using the patriot act to treat be introduced into the record. Madam chair, point of order, unanimous contents is limited to describing the document which i am doing right now. I have the. Floor hold, on. Guys i am asking that the document titled entitled no, the federals government isnt using the like domestic terrorists, be a part of the record. With that objection. I have unanimous consent requests that entitled mccarthys false claims at garland called parents terrorists be made part of the record. So ordered, without objection. A document titled attorney general never called concerned parents domestic terrorists be made part of the record. Without objection. And finally, a fact check that kevin that reads Kevin Mccarthy keeps repeatings full time that attorney general called parents terrace for wanting to attend School Board Meetings be made part of the record. Without objection. I requested my stop making a false claim. Wed like with that. General order just impugn our tag early i would demand that his words be taken down, he is not allowed under the rules to impugn false statements by this side. And as far as politifact and some of those, they couldnt find the truth with both hands. Thats a separate allegation. I would like the gentleladys voice to the gentlelady from texas no, your words to be taken down the committee will suspend. The committee will suspend. Im sorry, were they intending to read it . [inaudible] in response to David Cicilline i think that imputes the republican side. I think that is actually totally inappropriate, and if we are going to start letting people out of order just throw in a document. Ive got about 20 sitting right here. I will withdraw the comment. Thank you. And now we would like to recognize miss jackson. Weve got to have a ruling on my request that the gentlemans words be taken down. Where he said we made false statements madam chair . Yes, mr. Raskin . As i understand, in the gentlemans point, he said that the gentleman from rhode island had impugned his false statements and perhaps the gentleman from brown would say he doesnt impugn his false statements. I dont think mr. Gilmore made any statements. I think the report where we are repeating reported to this committee the headlines of five documents that said those claims are false. Those are what the documents say. Im not going to change the words of the documents. And im not impugning them, and simply putting into the record those documents that in fact refused to claim. The gentleman said that the Ranking Member grossly mischaracterized the statements and thats not the breach of decorum, thats a statement. In my opinion, he grossly mischaracterized the contents of the doj memo. Thats absolutely appropriate. Impugns intention. No it does not it doesnt impede anybodys intention. Youve gotten so used to making statements that are outside the rules of decorum that you dont even recognize when you do. You cant just constantly malign people on this side of the aisle. Madam chair, are you prepared to rule . Madam chair . Madam chair . [inaudible] and the gentleman from rhode island rephrase to make clear that this is a difference of opinion with respect to madam chair . I certainly accept that they they were responding to [inaudible] madam chair . But i dont think that our rules require me to accept assertions without challenging them. Thats exactly what Committee Process is about. And im not going to limit my right to challenge claims that are made appropriately, which i believe they did. That is outside the bounds for any member to just take overtime and start impugning other people making i dont think there was anybody impugning anyone. It was a unanimous consent requests it does not allow you to start mischaracterizing what you allege are mischaracterizations. Yes, mr. Jordan. That lets just get to the facts. The facts are the white house coordinated with the School Board Associations theres a request if you said that something is just an anchor, look at the letter right here mr. Jordan i want to impugn all right fine. Are we ready . Yes. Thats fine. [inaudible] hes not going to do, it serves. [inaudible] in the opinion of the chair the words do not impugn the members on the other side. Madam chair motion to table. Motion tabled. Automatic roll call. All right. We will get the clerk. The clerk will call the roll. The clerk will call the roll. Mr. Nadler . Just so everyone is clear, after the exchanges, this is a vote on the motion to table. Ms. Lofgren. Miss jacksonlee votes. I mr. Cohen . Mr. Johnson of johnson . Johnson votes aye mr. Deutch . Ms. Bass . Mr. Jeffries was i . Mr. Cicilline votes aye mr. Lieu both i, mister raskin votes i. Ms. Demings votes i. Mr. Curry about i. Ms. Scanlon boats i. Ms. Garcia . Mr. Neguse . Ms. Mcbath . Mr. Stanton . Aye. Mr. Stanton votes i. Ms. Dean . Ms. Escobar . Ms. Escobar . How did the chairman voice . Aye. I aye . Ms. Boats aye. Mr. Jones . Ms. Ross . Ross votes aye. Ms. Ross votes aye. Ms. Bush mr. Gohmert or snow. Mr. Issa votes no. Mr. Buck byrd snow. Mr. Gaetz votes no. Mr. Johnson of louisiana about snow. Mr. Biggs . Mr. Biggs votes no. Mr. Mcclintock. Mr. Mcclintock votes no. Mr. Steube . No. Mr. Steube votes no. Mr. Tiffany . Tiffany, no. Mr. Tiffany votes no. Mr. Massie . No. Mr. Massie votes no. Mr. Roy . No. Mr. Roy boats . No mr. Bishop. Mr. Bishop votes no. Miss fish back . No. No. Mr. Fitzgerald . No. Mr. Fitzgerald votes. No mister pence . Mister pence votes no. Mr. Owens . Ms. , ms. ,. . Lieu boats aye. Mr. Shabbat, you are not recorded. No. Mr. Shabbat votes no. America . Mr. , dont you are not recorded. Aye. Mr. Deutch votes aye. Mr. Apple is not recorded. Madam chair, im a recorded . Mr. Johnson, you are recorded as aye. Thank you. The clerk will report. Manager there 18 ayes and 17 noes. The motion to table is agreed to. The gentlewoman from texas is recognized for five minutes. Welcome, let me we are dealing with the clock right now, thank you. Which way is it going . Hello . Did you restore the clock . Yes. Thank you. This may be another long hearing, i do not know where your timeframe is but let me first of all indicate that this idea of National Security should be a bipartisan issue, and i knew as i woke up this morning that the Family Member of a president would be a center point. I wonder why the insurrection and january 6th is not a center point. Let me have my line of questioning in specific areas. First, i want to say that i will be interested, i think it is going to be very important to know how many cases have been impacted by the federal court breach. I do not polarization, i pose it is a serious concern that this committee needs to. I would expect your preparation and for us to be able to get that information as quickly as possible in a setting that will be appropriate. This is a dangerous set of circumstances that has now been publicly announced, we need to know how many and how many were dismissed. I wanted to get that on the record. Then i wanted to make sure that we posed the question nearly 3. 4 million searches for american identifier is a astronomical number, are you confident that none of these queries were, as judge boss bergh described, designed to retrieve evidence of crime that was not intelligence information. This obviously relates the pfizer concerns, i was here for the patriot act that its can reform, if you can give brief answers because i have a series of other questions, thank you. Sure, if i may briefly remarked that in my experience having served under a number of other administrations, National Security is a bipartisan concern. On the number of queries that you referenced, that was a significant jump over the prior year. We have looked closely at that number, 3 million queries, more than half of that number is attributable to one search involving a cyber incident, we were looking for potential victims of a cyber incident. I am happy to come back and give you more details on that in a classified setting but that is the question. You know how concerning it is that americans will be subjected to that kind of evasion, i want to go into the record that we would post that and get a briefing as quickly as possible. Let me also pursue this issue dealing with incel and the horrific rise of domestic terrorism in this country. For me it is overwhelming, but it is true. In january 2022 doj announced the creation of a domestic Terrorism Unit to fight homegrown extremism. Quickly, what does this new unit demonstrate about dojs strategy for countering white supremacy, can you briefly talk about the threat from the farright extremists who also misrepresent the truth. That is an important point, it draws him recruits, would you comment briefly on that unit and that recruiting concept of the untruth and getting people to join . The domestic Terrorism Unit that we announced in january and sort of officially and may consist of a number of prosecutors as well as policy oriented attorney to make sure we are taking a significant approach across the country when it comes to domestic, violent extremism and cases involving domestic terrorism. Which runs the gambit, we follow the evidence of the law and we will take on the issue of domestic terrorism without regard to politics or ideology. We have seen a rise in particularly lethal attacks by individuals motivated by racism, as well as individuals motivated by Anti Government or Anti Authority ideology. What does nina do . The unit is within our broader counterterrorism section, it oversees and coordinates the domestic terrorism. It was carried out by u. S. Attorneys offices, handling these cases on consistent basis. Were looking at violence and acts of violence and not looking at protected speech. Let me move quickly to and sell. This is a gray, just horrific, deadly, the perpetrators of the crime involving oxford michigan and Uc Santa Barbara were insult proponents. That is the hatred of women, gender, misogyny, extremism mixed in with the talks of race. This National Threat Assessment Center released a study on terrorism who called themselves anti feminist or involuntary some feminists. They have the inability to develop relationships with women, the highlight is that, my question is, if you can finish the question which, is your focus on that . We are focused on all manner of ideologically focused or directed violence. Certainly, the instances you mention, some of them are under investigation. I cannot talk about Ongoing Investigations. The general challenge is that individuals with a mix of ideologies are easily radicalized online and have access to significant and powerful weapons. The gentleladys time has expired, the gentleman from california is recognized. Thank you, thank you madam chair. Mr. Olson, in the 22 years that i have sat down therere and up here on the dais i saw the creation of your organization, the creation of sub organizations, and like a few of us at the top of the dais i remember why you were formed. 9 11 created the mandate. We were concerned about domestic activities leading to attacks on the United States. Formerly foreign motivated. It does seem to me, justice commentary, that we are straying further and further permission. I think it is important that you follow the facts where you need and go after terrorists. I had an attempt to bomb my office which was a domestic terrorism, members of this body on both sides have been shot and nearly killed by people who objected to our positions. I am not saying to get rid of them but i am concerned that what we fund, when we promote, and what your responsibility is is to keep the homeland safe. Disproportionately that is based on foreign actors linked to u. S. Actors. To that extent i have a specific question today that is of deep concern. On june 6th a venezuelan flag plane landed, it had five iranians and 14 of venezuelan crew. They were irgc officials, the other crew members had ties to terrorism. The plane was owned by a u. S. Designated airline that had been seen and proven to be firing weapons into syria from iran. It was designated to be connected. All of this is undeniable. The plane itself, its tail number doesnt itd by the United States in the past. As a result, six weeks ago federal judge in argentina referred and and lapped to your organization. And, today, has not had a response. This is normally a 24hour turnaround, because in order to hold these people, in order to have the information, in order to fight the war on terror and terrorism they need your cooperation. Are you familiar with this case . I am generally familiar with the case, yes, colonel smith. Can you explain by both myself and a u. S. Senator do not have an answer, along with the argentinians who should have gotten it in 24 hours . This is an ongoing matter that i cannot talk about the specifics. I am happy to take this question and get back to you with the information i can further provide. Myself, senator ernst, and others would appreciate that. Let me just say that we find it conspicuous that iran seems to not be getting the kind of scrutiny, particularly considering the connection, considering the threat to israel, the United States, the threat to our allies in south and central america. That should have been a high priority, i would like an answer and i would like to know here, today, in the remaining time what you believe the appropriate turnaround time is for this kind of a request. Particularly with prevent terrorist activities in the hands of a friendly foreign government. I will take you to take the threat from iran very seriously. If i can pause you for a moment, we took it seriously under the trump administration, we took it seriously when we were fighting iran. Currently there are negotiations to essentially normalize relations with iran going on at the highest level of this government. The scrutiny i have now is, why is it taking beyond 24 hours, tell me why it is not. The historic turnaround time to work with our allies when confronted with terrorism. I simply cannot speak to the particulars of that. I will take every other case, are we going to get turning for our turnaround time in other cases . Policy issues at the very top of that would seem to have you not want to go after the irgc for their conducting of terrorist activities that in dangerous, israel, and our other allies . I can absolutely assure you the Political Considerations are not a fact. You can assure me, mr. Olson, you have not done it yet. The gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Johnson of georgia is recognized. Thank you, madam chair, and thank you to this witness for your appearance today. Sir, i would like to ask you, does the fbi target parents at School Board Meetings who are protesting against mask mandates, critical race theory, or any other subject . And they do not threaten violence, does the fbi have a system where it investigates these parents who are lawfully exercising their First Amendment right . The answer is no, the fbi and the department of justice investigates crimes, violence, and threats of violence. It does not, in fact it is prohibited from opening investigations based solely on First Amendment protected activities. There is no targeting of anyone for exercising their First Amendment rights, that was made clear by the attorney general in his consistent with my experience over 20 years of the Justice Department. As the fbi seen a rise and threats against local School Board Officials that are threatening violence . My understanding is that there has been a general rise in threats against individuals who served in positions, such as School Boards. But also local and state elected officials, as well as Law Enforcement. This concern about the rise and threats of violence from criminal activity involving people who serve in positions of civic life. That is a growing concern for the department of justice, as it is for state and local Police Departments and prosecutors around the country. Does the fbi and the Justice Department go with the local and state governments. When there are threats of violence against School Boards officials. That partnership between federal Law Enforcement, and federal prosecutors. Particularly on the Law Enforcement side, from the state and locals it serves him positions of public trust, at every level are subject to threats of violence. At the same time that individuals who seek to speak out at open hearings, whether a school board or a city council hearing, that those rights are protected as well. Thank you, do you find that the United States has been targeted with disinformation from both foreign and domestic sources, and that this disinformation affects parents at local School Board Meetings. It affects members of congress with respect to disinformation about hunter biden, should there be any, do you find that disinformation and highs caused people to react in ways that are problematic . I cannot speak to a particular instances of this or misinformation and how it may affect individuals and particular matters, when i can tell you is that the Intelligence Community for the United States does believe and has assessed the spread of information, jocularly over social media has increased the reach and speed of the reach of violent content, and it has increased the speed at which individuals may become radicalized, and mobilize to violence, that is where we are focused is where individuals are moved to commit acts of violence or threats of violence. Criminal act that we can then investigate and prosecute. Has this disinformation been a factor in the rise of the terrorist threat from the farright nationalists, domestic farright nationalists who are also racists . In my view, congressman, the challenge of disinformation and misinformation is agnostic, we saw this when it came to the use a propaganda by isis to try and recruit and mobilize people to violence in the United States, and it is true when it comes to domestic violent extremists as well who maybe move to become radicalized based on miss and disinformation that they consume over social media or from other sources. Thank you, thank you for being diligent and they protecting of the security of the American People, was that i yield back. Thank you, gentleman from ohio is recognized for five minutes. Thank you, madam chair, mr. Olson, are you juicing the numbers . I am not sure what you are referring to. You talk in the Opening Statements about the number of domestic Terror Threats, we have also people saying theyre being pressured to categorize cases as domestic terrorism threats that are not, the Opening Statement, most of your statement you talked about this new option, are you juicing the numbers . I am not aware of the references you are making to a suppliers, but i can tell you is that the Intelligence Community has assessed that the threat we face from domestic violent extremism is elevated, that is consistent with what we see. Who is timothy bolt . I am sorry, i do not know that name. You do not know that name, mr. Grassley does, mr. Gates brought him up in my five minutes of questioning. He is a person who suppressed information that was verifiable of hunter biden in 2020. Do not know this individual is . Im sorry, i do not. What is interesting about the individuals as he is the guy who told us that they whistleblowers are pressuring to recategorize the cases as domestic terrorism cases. You do not know anything about him . I do not. That stands to reason, i find that interesting. How many poor parents hasday department of justice investigated . The Justice Department and the fbi investigate individuals who commit acts of violence or threats of violence. Relative to the school board issue, we know of 20 some, over two dozen because we have had other whistleblowers come forward and tell us about that. It is almost like it as a well worn trail of fbi agents coming as whistleblowers to our office because of the things theyre concerned about going on with the Justice Department. We know other two dozen i want to know how many more you have done. Sorry, i did not investigate anyone based on their status as a parent or not apparent. We investigate prosecute investigate based on the spread threat tag, how many more than the 20 something we know about already have been investigated because they had that threat tag associated with their name . I do not believe anyone has been investigated because they have a threat tag, i cannot speak to that. How else do you identify them . That was the fbi memo, the officials have been investigated. We know of over 2000 of them. I do not have specific information about that. You are on the press release when attorney general issued his memorandum that the National Security division was mentioned in the press release that one out that day. Heres what the press release said. According to the attorney generals memorandum the Justice Department will watch a series of additional efforts to include the creation of a task force, that task force been created . I believe that it has, yes. I believe that it has, yes. Who is on it . A number of components across the Justice Department. Who is on the task force . A number of components represented from the Criminal Division, the civil division. Components do not create task, forced people to. A number of representatives of those components, served on the task force. Do you serve on it . I am not a member of the task force, i have not been to any meetings, so there are a number of representatives across the department before on that task force. From the nsd is on the task force . I do not have information on this. This was a big press release, this is the biggest story on the news last fall National Security division is one of the components, you have never been to a Task Force Meeting and you do not know who from your division is . Correct. Are you embarrassed about this . Is this an embarrassment . The National School Board Association pulled back their letter, they apologize for and rejected that they did it, a bunch of states have pulled out of the organization, i am wondering if that is the same attitude you guys have, i think it would be good if you did. I think we take seriously that anyone who deserves in civic life deserves to be safe, anyone who serves on a city council, in a position of public trust should not be the subject of threats of violence or violence, that is the point of this effort, is to work with particularly and parents should feel safe they shouldnt speak their mind about their kids education not be harassed for doing so, we have sent you 103 letters, 584 specific request of the last few months, i have a whole stack of them, have you collected any of the information we have asked for, have you collected that information . I am aware that there have been requests, i do not know the status in response to those requests. We know the status from the response, you have basically said we will not give you anything. We got two letters with half a paragraph on each letter, i just want to know if you have actually collected the information, we know you will not give it to us, we have seen that over the last nine months, have you collected it . Sir, i am not sure what you mean by collected any of the information. 584 specific quest about correspondents, emails, communications between the Justice Department, the white house, the department of education, we have asked the information, i am just asking if you have even started to collect it. And certainly willing to take that question back to our office of legislation. The gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from rhode island is recognized for five minutes. Thank you, and i want to thank you, assistant colonel general ors olson for being here today, one of the more dire threats were seeing from National Security is coming from within our borders. In recent years we have seen a rise in domestic terrorism and hate crimes across the country, and analysis by the center for strategic and International Studies shows that domestic terrorism in 2020 was at the highest level in nearly three decades. Since 2005 rightwing extremists have been involved in 267 domestic terror plots and attacks and are responsible for 91 deaths, according to the center. This is including countless russia lee motivated attacks, Mass Shootings, and killings including in el paso, texas in 2019 at the tree of life synagogue in 2018, to any other places to name, it is dealing great fear and insecurity emily American People. The National Security division, and your work is incredibly important to the defense of the homeland, not only from foreign threats but from domestic ones as well. Which brings me to my first question. Attorney general garland and secretary of Homeland Security mayorkas have both testified that the greatest domestic threat facing the United States comes from racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, specifically those who advocate for the superiority of the white race. How is the doj modified this intelligence and prosecution apparatus since the beginning of the Biden Administration to prioritize terrorist activities by White Supremacists, White Nationalists, and Anti Government groups in the United States . Theyre responsible for kind of violence i just described. Sure, we are threat driven at the National Security division and across the Justice Department, we respond to the threats that we see and the way the fbi and the rest of the Intelligence Community characterize those threats, they include threats from International Terrorist groups like alqaeda and isis but increasingly we have become concerned about groups that are based in the United States, those groups run the gambit in terms of ideology, a mix of ideology. My question is why has the doj struggled to investigate and prosecute these threats . But i would say, for our part, but we did was to establish the specialized unit within our counterterrorism section this year, to focus on domestic terrorism threats, and domestic violent extremists, to make sure that we have the right data, that is a challenge to understand the nature of the threat, to make sure that we have prosecutors dedicated to that effort, and also to make sure that we are focusing on the violence, and not First Amendment protected activities because of course, one of the concerns that individual may espouse hateful rhetoric, racist rhetoric, Anti Government rhetoric, but that is protected by the First Amendment. My concern is when those views cross over to criminal acts such as acts of violence. I want to ask you about a piece of legislation, the american ovation and choice online acts, this is legislation that promotes competition, innovation, and Consumer Choice online. In this letter of support, very strong letter of support the department of justice explained that the gatekeeper power of dominant platforms threatens our Economic Leadership and resiliency, and that by reigning in this power our legislation will help promote americas dynamism and competitiveness, some opponents of the bill have falsely claimed it would harm our National Security, that the legislation has not been properly vetted for National Security considerations. Isnt it true that the Justice Department support of this bill reflects the entire departments views, including those of the National Security division and as head of the National Security division, do you have any National Security concerns about the legislation. And certainly aware of the legislation and also that the department has submitted a letter in support of the bill, and that letter reflects the input of my division and the National Security division, i also know that the bill contains a number of provisions that are designed to address the types of concerns that were raised about and are being raised about National Security, i look forward to working if there are additional changes that need to be made to address any additional National Security concerns. Thank you, finally, terrorism in the form of nationals has become prevalent in the United States. 2021 saw nearly 500 Mass Shootings in that sense, the gun violence archive began tracking them in 2014. Does the doj view these attacks as part of a broader problem, how do you incorporate the prevention of mass shooting into the National Security work if you do it all . The challenge of Mass Shootings, tragic as we have seen, spans across the department of justice. The Criminal Division, the Civil Rights Division, and the National Security division. When we have instances of a mass shooting that is motivated by political views or ideology, that falls into the category of domestic terrorism. That will be something to the National Security division works on, we often work in coordination with the Civil Rights Division because it has the jurisdiction over hate crime statutes in many of these cases that are prosecuted through hate crimes. But i can, say which i think is obvious, is that easy access to military grade weapons increases the likelihood that individuals who are of extremist and hold extremist views, and seek to carry out acts of violence are able to do those on a more significant scale. Thank, you ill back. Thank, you mr. Johnson of louisiana is recognized for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Olson it is ironic to hear my colleagues talk about disinformation because theres a lot of it being shared on the other side of the aisle, let me reset the table on the documented facts of what exactly we know about this whole School Boards issue. As activists groups on the left continue to push their agenda on americas children last year, parents across the country began to speak out, they came to School Board Meetings, they express their views on critical race theory, mask mandates, and controversial curriculum, that is their First Amendment right. As more parents spoke at the National School Boards Association and the biden ministration colluded, that is a specificallys term for a reason to create justification to use federal Law Enforcement tools to silence those parents who are becoming a real problem for the agenda, as part of this collision the nsba School Board Association says a now famous letter to the white house, in september 29th 2001, to urge the Biden Administration to use the heavyhanded Law Enforcement to target those moms and dads and chill theyre protected First Amendment right, the white house not only colluded with the nsba to craft the substance of that letter, but, following the letter President Biden called the president to say he was appreciative of their letter, and invited her to visit the oval office. The letter stated quote, malice, violence, and threats against school officials, quoting, could be the equivalent of a form of domestic terrorism or hate crimes, unquote, we did not make that up, it is all documented, on may 20th of this year they released a report, it had a Commission Report because 20 of its organizations, its state School Board Associations pulled out and disavowed them over all this nonsense. They commissioner a port to examine the events surrounding the letter to President Biden, the report offered all of us in all the American People and all the American People were paying attention of just exactly how the Justice Department courted with the white house to target parents, they found that the First Communications the First Communications between them and the white house occurred on september 9th, almost a month prior to all of this, and that the Biden White House closely coordinated with them on its letter to President Biden, this is their information, not republicans in congress. Contra to attorney general garland sworn testimony this committee, whistleblower information now shows that the Justice Department and its components quickly operationalized his directive. On october 20th, the day before the congressional testimony the fbi assistant director for Counter Terrorism decision sudden enough referencing the october 4th directive, notifying fbi personnel about a new threat tag created to apply to the school border. When those rectangles eu officials, we are not making this up, whistleblowers have confirmed it all, that threat tag has been used in almost every region of the country, relating to almost all types of educational settings. I do not want to miss quote you are under oath, i believe just a few moments ago you testified, quote, no one has been investigated because of the eu official tack. Did i miss quote you . No one has been investigated solely because of a threat tag, i will tell you, that people are investigated because of acts of violence or threats of violence, that is why people are investigated. Is your testimony today that parents, moms and dads who went to School Boards were engaged in violent sufficient to trigger investigation. I do not have specific information on the number of cases. Of course, you cannot tell us a number of cases, why is that sensitive . I do not know the number of cases. You are the director, how do you not know the number of cases . This is not an important thing. He testified on court notice, you do not know the number . If i may, the National Security division only handles a matter if it is a matter that falls within the crimes we are responsible for prosecuting. There may be cases that are being handled by other divisions. How many is your division handling . Im not aware of any. Tell me about the threat of a deal officials, what was its purpose . I would suggest directing that question to the fbi. That is convenient, when theyre here they point the finger elsewhere. Let me say this, moms dads voicing their concerns at School Board Meetings are not domestic terrorists. For the white house to collude with anybody who suggest that is outrageous, it is one of the glaring examples and the reasons why millions of American People now believe the u. S. Department of justice has been weaponized for political purposes, you and i both know the real threat to that is the rapid erosion of faith that our citizens have in our system of justice and the institutions. They are at record lows, we cannot maintain a Constitutional Republic if people do not trust the system of justice and the fairness of the system, targeting citizens who are expressing their outrage over curricula is not an appropriate use of your resources. We are going to get the bottom of this will get the majority here in a few months and we need you back under oath. I think theres a lot more answers you will have to provide. I yield back. If i may respond, i absolutely agree, it is essential that we maintain the trust of the American People and that they understand we follow the rule of law and investigate crimes that regard to politics and ideology, allegations that the fbi is silencing parents is reckless and false. That is not what the facts show. The gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from new york is recognized for five minutes. Thank you, madam chair, to be clear the Department Justices up and weaponize. One has been weaponized is the radical right wing runaway, illegitimate Supreme Court majority taking away long held freedoms from the American People, that is what has been weaponized. Mr. Olsen, a turn in general garland testified that the greatest medic threat facing the United States comes from racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists. Do you agree with that statement . I cannot say which type of ideology, because there is a mix of ideologies that often formed a domestic terrorism threat, i do think that the rise in domestic terrorism from a range of ideologies is a significant concern. In recent years we have seen a significant update and bile attacks, many cases perpetrated by White Supremacists, according to a 2020 report by the center for strategic and International Studies, White Supremacists conducted 67 of terrorist plots and attacks in the United States, is that figure consistent with what you have seen in terms of the rise of domestic terrorist attacks . I do not know that exact report, i do know that our Intelligence Community has said that the most significant number of attacks come from two sets of ideologies. Racially motivated and Anti Government. Those are the two that are most likely to result in lethal attacks. Has there been any understanding as to why you have seen a rise in organized and racially motivated domestic terrorist activity . I think there are studies to look at potentially many factors that give rise to this threat, i would note that it is not nail, it goes back to the beginning of the country, you department of justice was founded in part to take on the kkk, it is not a new challenge but it is one that has increased in recent years. It is not in a challenge but it is newlyresonant, that is a very troubling development. What role does social media play and the ability to radicalize potentially hundreds of thousands if not millions of americans with respect to this violent extremism that we are seeing increase and its residents . It is a significant challenge, congressman, the intelligence agencies that look at this have assessed that the way social media works can accelerate and individuals move from being radicalized to even mobilizing to violence because of the exposure to online content that can happen at such a quick pace. Individuals are radicalized quickly, often radicalize in ways that are difficult to detect because they are consuming this content by themselves are in very small groups. With respect to the january 6th attack, am i correct that there were several white supremacist organizations like the oath keepers on the proud boys miss england played a prominent role in the horrific events of that fateful day . There is no doubt that individuals that identify themselves as members of those groups that you mentioned, oath keepers and proud boys were present. Many of them have been charged indictments in washington, d. C. , including two separate indictments to charge the crime of seditious conspiracy. It is also fair to say that oath keepers and proud boys are increasingly targeting people within Law Enforcement or for a Law Enforcement personnel. In some cases, people within the military, or Foreign Military personnel . We certainly look at individuals within these groups and if they espouse the types of ideologies. We are looking at individuals. Some of them self identify as being members of those groups but we do not look at those groups as groups. We look at individuals who may conspire with other individuals, who are self identified as those groups to see if they have committed criminal acts. That is how we look at those cases. Given this rise in racially motivated violent extremism, how is a department of justice or your particular division working with state and local Law Enforcement officials to try to prevent, the best accent possible, the massacre at the tree of life synagogue. Or, most recently, the massacre at a supermarket in buffalo, new york . That is a very important question because when it comes to this type of violence it is almost certainly going to be the state and local First Responders who are going to be the first on the scene. In many cases they will ultimately prosecute these cases, a partnership between the fbi and state and local police, as well as at the prosecutorial level is important to this challenge. We are training, the fbi is often a sport rule for investigative standpoint, sometimes in a primary role when these cases are prosecuted in federal court based on federal charges, many cases are prosecuted in state courts, we need to make sure that we are also all playing at the same level. Thank you. The gentlemans time has expired, the gentleman from colorado is recognized for five minutes. I think the chair, mr. Olson i was honored to serve as a career prosecutor with the department of justice, at the u. S. Attorneys office primarily at the time the main justice for 15 years, i understand what you are saying about revealing information about Ongoing Investigations, i understand what you are saying about the, or at least i understand your reticence and answering some of the questions, i think it would confront the American People, and i have some prepared questions that i will hopefully get answers to, i think it would confront the American People to know that you get it. I now have the honor practically every weekend to listen to constituents that are afraid that the federal government is getting into an area that it should not get into. State and local officials can handle protests, threats, violent acts, and they are fairly rare when you look at all of the School Board Meetings that have been going on across this country. I would be comforting for all of us to hear that you understand that it is not a federal issue, antifa is a federal issue, White Nationalism, i hope you eradicate White Nationalism in this country. I think everybody on both sides of the aisles would agree with that. I think there are should be nobody who would commit a violent act. Would not go after people for their beliefs, but anybody who would commit a violent act because whats premised or White Nationalist beliefs, by all means, look at that on a National Level. It is a national scope. School board meetings and the threats against school more meetings concern a lot of us greatly. There is actually a tag that is associated with that, i will give you an opportunity to answer that, i would like to ask a couple of other questions as well. I appreciate that, i agree completely with everything you just said, by a large but we are talking about when it comes to threats of violence directed against state and local officials, School Board Members, those are matters handled by state and local prosecutors and Law Enforcement, they always have been and they must continue to be, there is a role for the federal government with the National Level cases you are talking about. Racially motivated violence, domestic violent extremism, there may be a case at the state lower local level, the rare case that rises, but i do think you are right that that is where, i am a parent of three children, my son is sitting behind me, i have been to School Board Meetings i have been spoken, must his dismay, at School Board Meetings. I understand parents have a right to be involved, and speak up, and disagree with the decisions that are being made at the local level, actually we are committed, i am personally committed, the National Security division is committed to protecting the rights of parents and citizens to speak out, voice their concerns, even if we do not agree. We really need to draw that line between that free speech that we cherish and violence. I also greatly need to be thoughtful about the role the federal government plays. And to play an appropriate role, often in partnership and support of state and local Law Enforcement. I appreciate you saying that, i think it comfort the American People and i want to make sure your son understands that he should be very proud of his father service to our country, i want to ask, though for, there is another area that concerns me, another area that i continue to hear concern from my constituents, that is that the riots on january 6th at the United States capitol were horrific, they were intended to disrupt a legitimate government function and they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The riots that occurred throughout our country in the summer of 2020 were horrific, they were damaging, and the american, many of the American People in my district. Granted, it is a fairly rural district and israeli conservative district, many of those people expressed concerns that there is not a parity between the attention that was given to those that committed crimes on january 6th, and those that commit crimes throughout the summer of 2020. Furthermore, as part of the analysis. The crimes that were committed throughout the summer of 2020 appeared to be coordinated. I would like to ask a very specific question, can you tell this committee that george soros was not behind, and his money was not behind, directly or indirectly the antifa activities that occurred in the summer of 2020 . In any of the work i have done i have never seen any suggestion. That is not something i look at in terms of the cases that we handle and the National Security division. I agree with you that we need to look and are looking across the board when we are talking about crimes committed during the riots in summer of 2020 and a graphic attack in the capital on january 6th. Using the tools that we have, the reality is that thousands of arrests occurred in the summer of 2020 or handle by state and local. The difference is, it counts for attention paid on january 6th and the nature of the attack on the significance, most of those crimes are federal crimes. If not all, because of the target. Things that accounts for the difference in view when it comes to the role of the federal government. The fundamental point that you make i completely agree with. We need to be a political and how we handle these cases. When it to look across the board and be driven by the nature of the threats that waist face. The gentlemans time expired, the jugular from california is recognized for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Olson, my republican colleagues have said over and over that school board violence is fairly rare, a reuters story on february 15th 2022 begins with the letter came to the home of brenda sheridan, a School Board Member address to one of her adult children. It threatened to kill them both unless she left the board. It is too bad that your mother is an ugly communist horror said the hand scold note. Which if she does not quit or resign before the end of the year, we will kill her, but first we will kill you. The story goes on to document over 220 examples of such violent intimidation, i would like to ensure that underneath animus consent into the record. Without objection. Mr. Olson, what concerns me as you are being questioned by a lot has become more comfortable in violence than voting, that is associated itself more with chaos than community, but do you agree that what i just described to you is something that Law Enforcement should be concerned about, and that Law Enforcement should investigate . Absolutely, i dont who has served in a position such as the School Board Member should be free from the fear of threats of violence or active violence. Absolutely. I am the son of a School Board Member myself, as someone who decided to serve for the same reason you decided to serve, do you also agree that if a parent goes peacefully but very passionately describes their own beliefs about their childs curriculum, that person should not be investigated . Of course, that is protected by our First Amendment. I have to say, i am not surprised that there are so many acts that are rare of violence, in this building americas leaders are stoking that violence. So many of my colleagues on their social media love to hold their Assault Rifle and threatened the president to come and get it. They love to use their social media accounts to threaten to kill the speaker of the house, that has happened. They depict themselves in anime and still president of the United States. It would not surprise me that people in their community would go to a School Board Meeting and asked the way that i just described, i am grateful they were investigating people. Legitimate concerns about the curriculum. I also just have to debunk the sorest nonsense, thank you for clarifying. That is a part of a longstanding antisemitic trope that we see from the other side that goes after any jewish individual who contributes to campaigns to suggest that they support and fund violence. It is incomparable to take the violence that occurred in the protest of the summer of 2020 and what happened in this capital, the largest crime ever investigated as far as number of individuals investigated and sentenced. Thank you for that. I want to ask you very briefly about the antitrust legislation that my college mr. Cicilline referenced. If we were to have a side loading, to take the store and acquire them to take on apps from anywhere, essentially take a curated app store and allow them to be a flea market where anyone can come and sell their apps on the platform must there is concerns whether the chinese would flood the app store with their own apps that could vacuum up u. S. Consumer data and send it back to beijing. Not only affecting our privacy but also the people in the Intelligence Community, was russia using a platforms flooded with apps that could so disinformation . Whether it is our own elections or the campaign in ukraine, would you be willing to pay listen to evidence from other parts of the Intelligence Community if they have new concerns that come out after the letter that your agency sent as it relates to the anti trust legislation . Yes, as we had a chance to talk about. Im sorry, im at the department of justice. Yes, yes, as this legislation for the process we did have the opportunity to comment on it. I think some of the concerns that were incorporated addressed National Security concerns. Of course, if there are additional issues and concerns raised by our Intelligence Community it would be incumbent on us in the Justice Department and elsewhere to take this seriously. Thank you, i yield back. Thank you, the gentleman from texas is recognized for five minutes. Thank, you madam chair. Being any orders or warrants and change to assist in the investigation of what happened on january 6th. I think you can appreciate, congressman, i am not in a position to talk about any matters that occurred before the implementation of the only way we can have oversight to discern whether or not we should ever allow fisa to continue is if we find out what has been going on. I was here beginning january of 2005 when we talked to lots of people from the Justice Department. We were assured nothing but foreign matters were going before the fisa court, imagine the shock when we saw the order from the fisa court which basically, not basically, it says that all call detail records created by communication between the United States and abroad, there is the foreign, or wholly within the United States including local telephone calls all had to be turned over. As i understand, there are still orders similar to that that have a big net and once that information goes into the database of your department and the doj and the nsa than there are thousands of people that can access that and have access to that. And they have done searches. So, the question, when you have something that we are told is wholly domestic, that it is the domestic threat that is so serious, it is an important question to know whether you are using something called fisas, where the f stands for foreign to go after american citizens. I can tell you, when i was back in 06 and away we are taking these matters up, if people had known how badly that was being abused, there were people back then on both sides of the aisle who would have said, wait a minute, this is just being abused so much. It is a fair question to know, in general, not specific cases, is the fisa court being used to get orders to investigate january 6th . Again, i am not familiar with the order that you referred to at the moment. It was wikileaks. That was what was so shocking to so many of us, the abuses occurred during the bush administration, the obama administration, there were some in the trump administration. I feel sure it is still going on, we need to know the extent of that. Let me ask you about a case in texas. A lady theyre working for a private organization got a text from her nephew, he had been looking through the fbi pictures and said, do you recognize anybody in this picture . It looked similar to her, she did an lol, that looks like me, do not turn me in. A couple of days later, two fbi agents show up at her place of business demanding to know where she was on january 6th. She was in texas. Then they threatened her boss that he could go to prison for covering for her. Is there any order from any court that allows the doj or the nsa to monitor Text Messages of american citizens. Obviously there are court orders, whether they come from federal courts, not the fisa court, or the federal fisa court, that authorize pursuing into law search warrants, and surveillance. Yes, but search warrants under the Fourth Amendment have to describe with particularity the things to be searched or seized, that is not happening, that has not been happening, and so when you have no probable cause to go after somebody in texas, we had heard about their Words Software to look for specific words that allow you to go after anybody that has not committed crimes. We really need to know how widespread that is, can you give us an answer . Has not been used . It is important to point out that the way the law works is that the federal judge, a federal pfizer court judge would only approve an order based on probable cause and an individual is asian of a foreign power. We have proof. The gentlemans time has expired, mr. Raskin is recognized for five minutes. Thank you, madam chair, welcome, sir, welcome for your testimony. Dangerous extremists jacked up on racist and antisemitic propaganda with widespread replacement theory have committed massacres in buffalo, el paso, in the synagogue. In the mother a manual church in charleston, south carolina. The American People are obviously very upset about this explosion of gun violence by dangerous extremists. A number of the extremist groups also participated significantly in the violent insurrection against our government on january 6th, 2021. I am wondering about the internal structure of the department of justice. And how it has worked to try to address this threat in the country. I know that after 9 11 the department redefined its mission and priorities to focus on counterterrorism, this included the formation of the Antiterrorism Advisory Council and the Terrorism Task force. Have these existing structures created in the wake of 9 11 been adopted to address White Supremacists violent radicalization and the new domestic Terror Threat . Or are there other structures that you have innovated in order to respond . I think it is a very important question, i do believe that we are adapting. The National Security division as others have pointed out was formed in 2006 to accommodate the threat from alqaeda and particular. We have evolved over time and built the ability to go after cyberattacks. We have increased the transparency. The domestic you raised about domestic terrorism. This year i established a domestic Terrorism Unit to increase the focus on the types of threats we face from domestic violent extremists. In addition i have one with the assistant attorney general for Civil Rights Division in Ongoing Partnership because so many of the attacks that you mentioned, buffalo, charleston, el paso, these are not only domestic and violent extremists and attacks but they are also hate crimes. We have learned over the years that are hate crimes are our most effective criminal tool to go after those in support of each other and partnership. A partnership that may not have been obvious 15 years ago between the National Security division and the Civil Rights Division has been very effective and making sure that prosecuted are making that to bear on the growing problem that we face, as you know in your question. I think we are evolving and working with the fbi. I think domestic terrorism operation session to focus on this threat but there is more we can do. We are going to be continued to be driven by the nature of the threats that we face. I appreciate, that violent farright terrorism is striking all over the country, churches, mosques, synagogues, movie theaters, walmarts, grocery stores. Of the 30 domestic terror fatalities last year, the found that 28 of them resulted from 20 farright terrorist attacks. The vast majority, nearly all of them. You previously testified that the number of fbi investigations of suspects accused of domestic extremism has more than doubled since the spring of 2020. Has this jump in the number of investigations led to an increase in actual indictments and prosecutions . Excluding, for the moment, the january six prosecution. I do not have a specific number on that, congressman. That number, that jump, that doubling does include the january six cases. Of course, there we have over 800 arrests of individuals. Not all of them are characterized as domestic violent extremists, to be clear, but many are and those are accounting for at least a significant portion of that jump. That is over the past two years to the number of investigations. Okay, are there any proactive measures we are taking to try to address this . I am sorry, say, again sir . Other proactive measures the doj is taking to address the threat of farright terrorism . Absolutely, part of the challenges that we have not historically done a good job of categorizing and capturing the numbers, just the data collection, because many of these cases are actually prosecuted at the state and local level, or by federal u. S. Attorneys offices around the country. We are Getting Better at trying to just capture that data, that is one proactive aspect of this. As well as training we are doing around the country. Gentlemans time is expired. I yield back. Thank you, the gentleman from ohio is recognized for five minutes. Thank you, madam chairman. Mr. Attorney general, every riot, act of violence, or threat thereof taking place anywhere in this nation, whoever is responsible for it is unconscionable, and we on this side, republicans, we reject it, we condemn it, as elective members of congress we must do our part and call out acts of violence, just not those that fit a particular part of the narrative, we need to reject them all. Democrats, unfortunately, have become very focused on the rhetoric that led up to the riots on january 6th. And yet, for the most part they have been silent when similar language and tactics are used by their supporters. Following the unprecedented leak of the Supreme Courts draft decision in jobs, democrats ignored threats of violence, including an assassination attempt on a Supreme Court justice. In addition to the pro abortion activists, these abortion activists have targeted Supreme Court justice, fanatics professing pro abortion views and targeted, destroyed, and vandalized dozens and dozens of prolife facilities and churches to further a political cause. Arguably, the incendiary rhetoric used by someone on the reichl effed is only encouraging that violence against those facilities and those justices, and is putting lives at risk. Members of Congress Must condemn, not condemn, violence and furtherance of a political agenda. Look no further than Chuck Schumer who took the steps of the Supreme Court in 2020, when the court was considering a louisiana prolife law and said, quote, i want to tell you kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind. You will pay the price, you will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions. That is what Chuck Schumer said, the democratic head in the senate, assistant attorney general olson, is that the kind of rhetoric that is helpful when trying to abort abortion related violent extremism . I quickly agree with you that this is not a partisan issue, everyone has served in a position of public trust, certainly at the very top in the members of our Supreme Court deserve to be safe, we have taken very seriously the threats of violence, in fact, we have prosecuted an individual with some criticize nation of justice kavanaugh. We have supported legislation to increase that support. We take that extremely seriously, similarly you mentioned the attacks on pregnant series our centers and prolife centers and groups. Also not a partisan issue, violence and threats of violence are not a partisan issue, the fbi has opened a series of cases involving threats against this resource centers, some of them opened as domestic extremist cases. This is not a partisan issue. You absolutely need to do that, we have facilities where these organizations are trying to help women in need, and they are being attacked, it is outrageous, as we saw in june the radical pro abortion group, the same organization that originally posted the addresses of the six conservative justices published the name of Justice Amy Coney barretts church, and the school her children attended. The very school that her Young Children attended, encouraging protesters to voice your anger. Is that the kind of rhetoric that is helpful in trying to abort abortion related violent extremism . We look at violence and acts of violence that violent criminal law, it is an unfortunate fact of our civic life that there is a strong language, reprehensible language on both sides. I assume he would condemn putting up a Supreme Court justices childrens school, church,. You do not condone doing that sort of thing, do you . I am personally finding certain comments and statements reprehensible and not acceptable, but in my role the National Security division we look at threats of violence, and we prosecute those. At the same time, we protect americans rights to enjoy their First Amendment rights. Let me ask you this, another leftist group, shut down the sea offered bounties, bounties to d. C. Industry workers, later, et cetera for reporting confirmed sightings of conservative justices. And, additional money if the justices were still at the establishment 30 minutes after the additional report. Is offering bounties for sightings of justices hopeful, or trying to avert violent extremism . Our goal is to investigate and prosecute crimes, threats of violence and violence. It is one of our protections that people can speak in ways that many people do not agree. What theyre putting a lot of time lives in danger. I know my time has expired, i yield back. The gentleman woman from florida is recognized for five minutes. Thank you so much, thank you for your service. We appreciate your testimony today. Just confirm that your job is to prevent, disrupt, investigate, and prosecute all forms of terrorism. Is that correct . That is correct. Does that include both foreign and domestic . It does. Are you committed to protecting in your work the Constitutional Rights and Civil Liberties of all americans . I am. Regardless of the color of their skin, gender, sexual orientation, and religion . Yes. As a former Law Enforcement officer, contrary to some of my colleagues who really like to pick and choose who they want to prosecute based on political party, or if it serves their political agenda by any means necessary. Mr. Olson, i can assure you that i am committed to holding all violators of the law accountable. I do believe that those who are most dangerous, those who are most engaged in the most hideous behavior, should be held accountable first. We have heard a lot of talk about the school board, as a parent who has attended School Board Meetings, a lot like you, School Parents are supposed to be involved. What is happening when is with their children. I can tell you i have never seen any parental behavior that even comes close, even as a Law Enforcement officer, to the violent, deadly behavior that we all were subjected to on january 6th. However, my colleague seldom talk about that. Unless it is in an effort to explain their an action, or it is an effort to explain why they should ignore subpoenas, as a matter of fact my colleagues on the other side said if you did not know better, you would think it was a normal tourist visit. It certainly was not that, nor did they talk a whole lot about uvalde, buffalo, pulse nightclub that is in my district, bomb threats against hbcu. Mr. Olson, you talked about the unit that you have formed within your department that will investigate domestic terrorism. Could you talk a little bit more about that . Staffing, resources, where are we . Are we able to meet the goals of that unit . What do you still need from congress to help you to be able to fulfill that mission . I appreciate this opportunity, we formed that unit with the existing attorneys we had in the counterterrorism section. Starting small, we are going to grow it to meet the threat, when i can tell you as i said in my opening, when we look at the threat across the board. Whether it comes from violence against Public Officials at the state and local level, all the way to attacks like we saw in buffalo, in particularly the january 6th attack stands apart. It represents the single largest domestic terrorism investigation in the nations history. More than 800 arrests, felonies, cleareyed and that attack posed to democracy with individuals pose in that attack, with a peaceful transform of power. That is why our organizational National Security division is joined in partnership with u. S. Attorneys office here in washington d. C. , the Criminal Division of the Justice Department to have the resources on what amounts to the wideranging investigations in history. Which really of lacks the significance and gravity of that day, the day leading up to it. You would really think the Judiciary Committee of the United States house of representatives would be really concerned about the most wideranging investigation that involved trying to not certify a free and fair election. That is not the case as all of america knows today. I want to quickly ask you, he made a statement to congresswoman jacksonlee earlier about the millions of queries that likely resulted in a search for victims of a cyber breach. Mr. Olson, was that the related to the courts cyber breach . I dont think i can talk about in the setting. The reason for these searches was because it was an investigation of a cyberattack. Okay, that is something we can discuss another setting. Im happy to talk about this with you and others in a classified setting. My time is up, but thank you again for doing gods work. We appreciate you. We have two votes on the house floor. Therefore their community will recess until immediately after the last vote. The committee stands in recess. Economy, inventory swing is