Transcripts For CSPAN2 Deputy AG Knows Of No Reason To Fire Special Prosecutor Mueller 20170614

Appropriation committee which we will hear in the fiscal year 2018 budget request. I am grateful that you and the attorney general brought the leadership to the og. Your input is helpful and necessary as we reviewed the priorities for the Justice Department to ensure that National Security and Law Enforcement is funded appropriately and sufficiently. This is a challenging budget climate as you know. Violent crime has risen and terrorists have escalated fiscal constraints. The president proposes to decrease funding at the department of justice for 630 million in a team for the new total of 28. 3 billion. Since the start of the new administration in the early days of the tenure as Deputy Attorney general, im pleased the department is refocusing on the core mission of enforcing a donations constitution and newly enacted laws. Its critical to target the finite lawenforcement resources towards the worst criminals in our society and i agree with the attorney generals productive to go after the most violent offenders we have in the country. Additionally, the importance of prosecuting the crime is reflected in the president s budget request for 230 new assistance to the attorneys but its growing from. This reordering of priorities was scored by the obama administrations policies requiring federal prosecutors now to pursue the most serious charges. The approach is critical and we hope you will see results for more stringent prosecution. The other drug crisis the department is focused on making a priority for prosecutors and empowering them to bring charges whenever possible under the law. Illegal immigration is one of the most critical problems so it is encouraging to learn it has reduced the border crossings. 70 Additional Support staff for immigration litigation assistance and i appreciate efforts to place judges in jurisdiction and hired judges. The last eight years dozens of the benches have gone unfulfilled due to the failure act and its grown to a Staggering Number of 600,000 the budget seeks 65 million for the executive office to hire another 65 immigration judge teams on top of the ten that were just provided. We will closely review the details and balance the need with a restrictive budget environment that we are facing. I trust the recent establishment in the task force on the Crime Reduction and Public Safety will continue to provide new ideas and recommendations on how the nation will best combat Violent Crime, illegal immigration and other lawenforcement challeng challenges. Cyber security and counterterrorism remain two of the top National Security concerns coming in we would want to know more about how the budget supports departments efforts for these critical fields. Thank you for the testimony today and we look forward to hearing you. Thank you mr. Chairman i appreciate the opportunity to make a statement and your being here. The committee not only holds the Purse Strings as you are aware but also oversight activities in this case for the department of justice. I am troubled because it is troubling when there is a sitting attorney general. This is the second time the attorney general has declined to appear canceling this day before hes scheduled to appear in an open public setting. As the nations chief lawenforcement officer, the attorney generaattorney generalt appropriate person to come for the subcommittee and testify the important work of the department of justice. The doj is on the front lines fighting the epidemic and still gaining strength. The doj hiring freeze for the Correctional Officers and federal prisons and curiously requested federal bureau of investigation is less than congress provided for fiscal year 2017. Even while the bureau conducts a counterintelligence investigatiocounterintelligence investigation into the russian influence in our 2016 process. While providing testimony before the scheduled Intelligence Committee hearing is important, and i understand that, the attorney general is still responsible for answering critical questions from the committee and needs to provide an explanation to the budget as well as the defense of his policies and an open public hearing for not only us that the american public. I applaud your appointment as the special counsel to oversee the Ongoing Investigation into the russian interference in the 2016 election. Many questions remain both of you aryour and the attorney gens role in this manner and your knowledge of resource requests made by the director of your involvement in the firing and your prior meetings with russian officials among many concerns. I will return to the subject starting my custom period later and now many of my colleagues will express their concern and questions as well. So, at some future date having the attorney general appear before an open session. And you mr. Sessions. Mr. Chairman, thank you and Ranking Member shaheen. The Deputy Attorney general says i wont mince words. You are not the witness we were supposed to hear from today or the witness that should be behind the table. That responsibility lies with the attorney general of the United States. The attorneys general of the past did not shy away from the questions regardless of the topic and regardless of the party. The attorneys general to fulfill the constitutional oversight responsibility and they didnt agree to cancel at the last minute and send the secondincommand instead. Members of the committee have questions they may not want to answer. Until nowadays. So with respect we voted for you as you know. You are not who i am interested in hearing from today but i do have questions for the attorney general. I want to know by he played a role in the dismissal and why he can credibly lead the Justice Department for the 8. 3 billion. I believe the attorney generals of the United States chief lawenforcement officer owes it to the more than 116,000 Justice Department agents and support personnel and the state, local and tribal officers and staff supporting more than 4500 assistance programs in every state to justify. The president s budget request for the Justice Department is the dismal. It could be 643 million from the fy 2016 and active level. The departments request is built on unrealistic assumptio assumptions. But worse than that its also the backs of crime victims. The 1. 3 billion from the Crime Victims Fund. Let me repeat that. The administration talked about how they support the requirement that they are asking for 1. 3 billion decision for the Crime Victims Fund. I dont know how you try to combine their rhetoric with the reality and how you can say for the victims of crime by the way we are going to close the door on you. A budget that is touted as tough on crime the president cuts funding for the operations and investigations by 44 million. I have my own suspicions about why the president might seek out the operations of personal but i want the attorney general to come in and talk about it. Just this week the attorney general quote about how he has lawenforcement spec that the Justice Department 326 million in assistance to state and local Law Enforcement assistance and states every one of them are represented on both sides of the bias. Its more than 27 million. And it includes the 10 million from the task force which were hit. I dont know how they cut the treatment. They proposed millions to focus on seizing private land from hardworking americans along the southwest border to the president can build his misguided wall. We wont protect our people but people seize their land. It makes one thing clear, President Trump and the attorney general are committed to abandoning the victims of crime and victimizing those in the communities. And finally, regardless of the circumstance and appearance here today i will raise this one point with you. The office of Legal Counsel issuissued an opinion are givine executive branch to meet the legitimate oversight request of the individual members of Congress Must be met. This is a coequal branch of government and Many Republican and democratic administrations have a number of times when republicans control. Ive never heard anybody, republican or democrat make this claim that hed reject on both sides bil to the Judiciary Committee chairman grassley, whom i worked both with us to share and Ranking Member called the opinion nonsense and i believe there is in a two call. But they should know this. Todays chairs for tomorrows Ranking Members in the oversight that will do nothing to advance the interest. I will put my whole statement. You may proceed. Thank you. Good morning to Ranking Member shaheen, members of the committee. I am honored to present the 2018 budget for the department of justice. The proposed budget matches the interest of the American People by allowing the dedicated men and women of the department to continue their outstanding work. We are grateful for your strong support and we look forward to building on our successes as we work to protect the nation from the rule of law and to ensure equal justice for all. The 2018 request shows a strong commitment to the Justice Departments top priority is to provide more funding to fight the picker resume cybercrime to reduce Violent Crime, the tackle tackle the illegal immigration and also gives the resources that we need to support the state, local and tribal partners and essential Law Enforcement work. For the goal of increasing efficiency and effectiveness. It is an honest one eliminating the thousands of previously unfunded and vacant positions that give a misleading discussion of the personnel we have in the department. Those positions in both cases have been vacant for years or have never been at all. Second the budget seeks to identify areas we can afford to cut back without harming our mission. And finally, the budget improves the application of the precious resources so we can do the most Effective Work with every tax dollar w they spend. National security remains the highest priority. We face a wide array of evolvint involving threats from terrorism to espionage and the cybercrime. The lawenforcement increasing inability to access a collective intercept Realtime Communications and store data. As the result of changes and technologies the phenomenon impairs the ability to conduct investigations and to bring the criminals to justice. The lawenforcemen lawenforcems operate in the constitution and respect the private interests. When there is a legitimate need to access the information and we have a court order or other legal authority, Public Safety is jeopardized when we are not able to obtain that information. The Department Must keep adapting to the evolving challenges. To that and the budget provides an extra 98. 5 million to combat terrorism, espionage and Cyber Security threats. The Justice Department is also committed to protecting the American People from Violent Crimes and from the adverse effects of the illegal drug distribution. Crime is rising across the country. Senators, the evidence is indisputable. Rising Violent Crime increasing drug abuse are devastating Many American families. We need your help. The proposed budget provides the department of lawenforcement agencies with extra support so they can target the criminals, transnational crime organizations and Drug Trafficking rings. It also provides is the chairman mentioned from 230 additional assistant u. S. Attorneys to focus specifically on the efforts to fight Violent Crimes. Those Additional Resources will enhance the ability of federal Law Enforcement to fight crime and keep the community safe. We are focusing on getting illicit drugs off of the streets through strong enforcement efforts and through the drug take effect programs. In addition to that, we call on doctors, pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies to take a hard look at their practices and help us develop ways to reduce the pharmaceutical drugs. The department of justice will do our part with the department of Homeland Security and the budget provides muchneeded funding to hire 75 additional Immigration Judges and support personnel to reduce the unacceptable backlog on the Immigration Courts. It will also allow us to hire more deputy u. S. Marshals and more border enforcement prosecutors said that we can effectively apprehend and prosecute criminal aliens who threaten the communities. The federal government doesnt maintain Public Safety alone. 85 of the lawenforcement officers in the country are not. They work for the tribal partners and we rely on them heavily. Men and women serving on the front lines are the first line of defense and killed to keep the community safe. They deserve our support. The budget maintains the commitments to the spell you to partners and prioritized as Grant Funding to the highperforming programs with proven to be effective. The budget funds the important priority is while hoping to achieve a more efficient and Cost Effective for her. We will do all we can to be stewards of the departments resources and we have the duty to safeguard taxpayers money so that it will be available to fight crime and protect people. The department of justice is the home to more than 115,000 honorable men and women who work every day to serve, protect and defend the American People and respects the constitution of the United States. This makes it possible to do our job with the investment supported with your support, we will continue to fairly enforce the nations law and ensure safety and equal justice for all americans. I look forward to working with the subcommittee and the congress in the months and years ahead. And if i may, senators come in my few remaining moments i learned about an incident in georgia that we understand to the Correctional Officers were murdered in the course of transporting prisoners in georgia we talked with david harlow this morning and we committed all federal resources to help catch the fugitives and hold the perpetrators accountable. He talked with victims and their families and in support of the lawenforcement personnel, we are working on the case as we sit here today and an attack on any Law Enforcement officer is an attack on every lawenforcement officer. And on the principles that we all believe in. Senators, i am happy to take any questions about the proposed budget, and i look forward to that. Thank you. Thank you for the testimony. What specifically is the department to doing to hire the charges . Ive been in the job for six weeks and i learned when i took the position our fiscal year budget includes 145 million to enhance Border Security and immigration and includes as i mentioned in the Opening Statement 75 new teams and i believe its approximately 450 people judges and their support staff and 75 million to address the backlog which exceeds 500,000 is approaching as the chairman mentioned 600,000 to prosecute the violations of the Immigration Law and additional deputy u. S. Marshals and additional attorneys in the Civil Division but with regard specifically to the backlog, we are very focused on that and one of the challenges that we have is some bureaucratic delay in hiring and filling vacancies, so in addition to creating 75 new charges in filling those positions they are going to fill the vacancies, so it is a big challenge and the top of the leadership in that office will make it a top priority to first put an end to the increase in the backlog and then work on ways to more efficiently and quickly reduce the backlog because anybody that has a case pending in the Immigration Court deserves an expeditious resolution on the case. That is hard for us to swallow. As you mentioned that was the single strategic explosive devices and has been extraordinarily valuable. And with the 65 million this is day one time nonrecurring non occurring request. We believe it is ineffective operation we will continue supporting that. Were trying to work with you. Century citys borough. With a states and local jurisdictions in compliance with federal law and the bureau of prisons must give enforcement officials priority is that correct . Those that grant awards comply with all federal laws . That is correct. The bureau of prisons should give immigration and Customs Enforcement officials with federal detainers. That is correct. This is a problem. I am not immigration detainment. Revenue whether question is for the record but other people and to question you. Mr. Rose and stein reported that President Trump is considering firing special counsel robert mueller. And the special counsel may be disciplined to remove from office by personal action of the attorneygeneral dave may remove the special conduct and conflict of interest or for other good cause with departmental policies and show inter and and for the special counsel for that reason. As i understand you are exercising hiring and Firing Authority because attorney general sessions is recused . Correct . Dc any evidence . No i have not. And given the special counsel dependents to conduct that investigation . I appreciate that question at the last hearing to show why i am confident but the short answer is that regulation is implemented during the Clinton Administration plan to have sufficient independence of the attorney general that is the live person that has the a authority actually the chain of command and to have my assurance real faithfully follow the regulation and what we need to have that investigation conducted appropriately. Has said Deputy Attorney general . That was issued on may 17 so that is the source of his authority. I certainly agree that is important but i am concerned that reata firing of those u. S. Attorneys and at least did New Hampshire with a person that was fired how many u. S. Attorneys have been nominated . When the first analysis for said the nominations yesterday that there was some press that was misleading but obviously it is very important to me and know how important than the last two saturdays i have spent in the department interviewing each weekend so we anticipate by the end of the summer we will see a large number of u. S. Attorneys nominated. Minder standing at least in New Hampshire to see the way was there a reason why every u. S. Attorney was fired on the same day . Maddow every but because i was one of them. [laughter] there were four that were not fired but i was not in the department at that time that i learned about them after the decision was made. You mentioned in the Opening Statement the tragedy in georgia those officers that were murdered in those said to have a very difficult job that is very dangerous so i am troubled by the fact that while the administrations hiring freeze was in april that the department of justice imposed a hiring freeze so while there was a blanket exemption it does not include the bureau of prisons which is still under the freeze. And with those offers could do to that imposition of a hiring freeze that was canceled so they could not go forward with the hiring and as you point out it was a difficult job. And then to have a hiring freeze within the bureau of prisons . There may be some misunderstanding so at the headquarters of washington it is my in standing to allow these to continue that if people left so in love that discretion that is most critical to do the operation. And is that personnel . I will talk to the director about that and then he is still fill those positions of the think it is appropriate. I appreciate your willingness for those that were not officially filled but they were cancelled by doj. I will look into that. Deputy attorney general mr. Rosen stein i have a couple of questions as the president ever discussed the appointment of special counsel in any way . So second of president drum borders due to fire what would you do . I would not follow those of us they were awful. I understand he could be fired only for good cause. So that is why i would do so that it doesnt matter what anybody says. I want to turn to be open your a crisis opioid as it was responsible for more than 59,000 deaths including a record 376 such deaths in maine that is more than the year before. So the situation is actually getting worse. Last year i was briefed by federal Law Enforcement officers that say have a major influx with the direct ties to gangs in major cities. With the mexican drug cartels between new haven in connecticut and banker maine , they traded that for firearms then distributed those two other gang members upon their return to connecticut. We need a multi pronged approach with education prevention so key to that of lawenforcement plague of this tool is Cooperation Among federal state or local officials. The department of budget request that was appropriated for the comprehensive addiction and recovery act programs and even more troubling to me to be proposed for that antiheroin task force those that seized heroin and arrested the drug dealer so why is the administration proposing that cut and eliminating the funding with the task force . There are important issues. One of the most important to talk about today and i brought a charge of Drug Overdose in the United States of america. This came to my attention to your four years ago it was a significant spite of death to be opioid drugs and it has only accelerated since then. Soda final statistics from 2015 reflect 52,000 americans lost their lives and we believe 2016 projections before we have final numbers more than half of those go to the opioid drugs. People all think about here when and increasingly that it imposes a drug to the First Responders because of how deadly and dangerous that can be. With the gangs coming into the home state that is the area where the federal prosecutors can do a lot of good. But the only solution to the heroin crisis if that is one of the key tools and then to put the matter of business so one of the thing is a we will do with 900 additional employees. But this isnt so because of budgetary constraints. To have additional federal prosecutors to combat that. And their other areas that which we ran away to the Justice Department to focus. Rarely of lawenforcement. But the cops program is in this budget but with the 7 million funding with additional federal funding for that the enforcement program. And then we think that would be more effective. And that is intended to illustrate and to enhance operations for that distribution into enhanced regulatory enforcement for those Prescription Drug programs for growth and then to be diverted to illegal uses. I remember watching those and i will not be satisfied. And start going via other direction. Thinks for being here. Could you put it in as clear and . The attorney general recusal on Public Record and don that attacked and acting attorney general and actually does not know what we are investigating. So what appears to be the only comment Jeff Sessions made on this on march 2nd march 2nd, 2017 i decided to recuse myself for any matters related in any way to the president of the United States. So to understand the extent there may be counterintelligence investigation with those criminal investigations so who decides where the line is . And then to have a multiple process going on in those that was engaged in those measures against us. And there is no clarity from what he is recused from. Can we do have clarity because those that made that determination and that official works in the deputys office. So can you tell the public what the attorney general has recused from . Director and trying to explain that would be inappropriate for me because we dont talk that subject matter while they are ongoing. That is what the prosecutors are doing. So with the Public Agency here is the delineation and also a process that we could determine so is there such a document . That is not necessary so nothing gets to the attorney general, as they come to my office. If they come through the office . Were not briefing the oval office either i dont know how they get there. Maybe it is my lack of though what degree that i am missing but the most basic question is if the attorney general had a press conference and said given all of these challenges i about i ever accused now the question is what matters . So i will ask one final time if you can try to describe to the public for the layperson who was following following, what is he allowed to be involved in and what is he not and how we know he is complying . Appreciate that since your question senator i will try to explain. I think about these differently than the people who were not a lawyer. But it is important for me to explain that means a lot to me i have a responsibility not to talk publicly to or what we are investigating because that could adversely affect the investigation that would that be fair to those who are under investigation. And if that attorneygeneral is a witness . If he was the would not talk about it. Senator i will not be talking about the investigation. If so there would be Public Confidence. And if there are questions they should be directed to him and he will hold the integrity of the investigation. If you become a witness in this investigation. There will not answer hypothetical questions. I am working with professionals who know these rules and i can assure you we will do the right thing. Can you please put it in black and white for the committee the scope of the recusal and how this works . Day understand you have to be careful and i get back to put the public deserves turgot how this plays out i cannot imagine you cannot describe that even in the abstract to be sure there is a full and fair process. We will make an effort to do that in writing. But i want to assure you that and to make a fair result. Been working with those officials of the department. Mr. Chairman you have testified in front of every senator in closed session ended fundys Intelligence Committee in open session theres a lot of conversation on this. And to help clarify one thing a read with some interest that there was a secret plan to privately remove the special celts will and to see that i could just think of director, restatements with those of unnamed sources that those are completely false end is there anything to that secret plan that they tried to remove the special counsel . But nobody is above the of law if not faced with accountability and checks and balances. The president meant every judge has a checks and balance in the system i cannot understand to say we need to create a special counsel and theres only person that has no accountability anywhere for anything. I assume everybody has won everywhere but that does not mean it is under consideration. Also thanks to the department of justice because senator warren and i cannot agree on everything but we started to work on a process for the department of justice to stop the slush fund in the background to spend the money and not revealing the nature of those settlements. Just last week it announced your stopping the process. Thank you that is something youve worked on a couple of years and you just implemented negative. I appreciate that. Also i will say the question about the Crime Victims Fund and recission help me understand that recision. The Department Budget request 3 billion from the Crime Victims Fund and this will build models state million provided and includes 2. 2 billion from Assistance Grants for 25 million to improve the treatment of the victims and 150 million to set aside for travel. The cut is from the excess balances because of record high collection in the past. Ive made Business School graduate i know it can be complex have talked to officials who have said that is what the number represents of the cut of the excess palace because of record high collections in the past in the past. There will tell you why this is over important for the last two years in the subcommittee i have raised this issue that has set aside dollars coming into a specifically to help by definition and crime victims that has been used that way multiple places appropriately but what has happened because it has the access balance of 9 billion Congress Says we will spend that that it doesnt but takes that 9 billion and spends it somewhere else on paper then the next year since that save 9 billion again on paper. So it is above the budget caps that is the changes of mandatory programs i have raised the last two years of possibility those dollars would be spent one time and could not be spent again i have been unsuccessful to do that now you bring in another problem of trying to figure out how do we get transparency . That this is actually used for the victims of crime not as an offset to for our budget whereas a recision somewhere else actually used for the victims of crime. Anyway we can get that transparency the way it was originally intended then i am in favor of that. How can we Work Together to solve this . I appreciate that question and i have reviewed this question i know you recognize it is very technical. But not that we overspent and additional 9 million on paper. I think that is of another broader issue of the thinkpad is a question that i am best to answer. I hope to be able to Work Together of backed that we actually use those dollars for victims of crime and i will try to follow put the question for the record and then we will followup. Thanks for being here today. The attorney general session ends abruptly canceled his commitment to appear before this committee. It is his job to be here today the fact he has chosen to skip the shearing is unacceptable for go to the attorneygeneral i believe is skipping it to avoid difficult questions over his recusal. They conduct important forensic interviews to help meet the needs of child victims. Im pleased that the budget request fully funds these programs. I thought we would start with at least one positive thing to talk about. As has been discussed, it is the scope of recusal that is unclear to lawyers and non lawyers. You are here instead of the attorney general and you are here as acting attorney general with regards to special counsel and you exercise the higher end of decisions with regard to special counsel. Thats because attorney just general sessions is recused. On may 9 you delivered a memo entitled restoring Public Confidence in the fbi. In your memo it focused on director James Cummings conduct during the clinton investigation and concluded the way he handled the conclusion of the investigation was wrong and you stated having refused to admit his heirs he could not be expected to implement the corrective actions. Is that correct. I believe it is. On that same day Jeff Sessions sent a memo to President Trump relying on your memo where the attorney general recommends james comey be removed. Is that correct. I believe thats correct. During the january 10 confirmation hearing he said he would recuse himself from matters involving campaigns for the president of the United States and specifically investigations into secretary clintons email server. Is that correct. Thats my understanding. Why did you write a memo to attorney general sessions exclusively discussing the matter that as i understand it, Jeff Sessions was recused from and why was that an appropriate basis for him to make the hire, fire recommendation to the president. I dont think that is a question for me to answer. I have said in my previous briefings with the senate in the house that my memo truthfully reflects my views. Im not in the position to comment on anyone else. From my perspective that memo is about what its about. I do not know what was in anyone elses mind. I understand there are serious allegations that have been raised and i think its up to director muller to determine whether any of these issues are within the scope of the investigation. Thats why i havent commented on it. I just appointed him several weeks ago. I havent talked to him about the substance of the investigation since then but i recognize the importance and i think the director should review that and make a determination of whether or not he believes its in the scope of the investigation. I appreciate that answer. Its distinct from an answer i got in another setting. Its distinct from another answer i got from you in a different setting. Is it not your argument that the attorney general made a recommendation to hire or fire the fbi director because that is outside his recusal. The scope of his recusal doesnt affect his ability to manage the department. I do have a personal opinion about that, i just dont think its appropriate for me to express my personal opinion. I hope i havent said anything inconsistent then i said elsewhere. If i have please let me know. I do not want, on the recusal. I think the attorney general made the decision to recuse but i wasnt there at the time, as you know, and there were decisions that have been made before i arrived about what matters would be appropriate for the attorney general to handle. When i stepped in i continued, consistent with what had been done by these career professionals and i believe i have faithfully, within the department, honored that recusal regarding matters of justice. I just dont want to comment on what mightve been in someone elses mind or offer an opinion about that. This is exactly why the senator asked the whole questions. I am a lawyer. I also am having difficulty understanding the scope of the recusal, its contours and definitions, and i have an unresolved question about whether or not thats why the attorney general failed to appear today to avoid having to answer direct questions about the scope of his recusal. I do appreciate and respect your appointment of a highly talented special counsel and there have been questions from both sides that imply strong support for his independence and his conduct and i appreciate the care with which you are answering my questions, but i simply conclude by saying i have Unanswered Questions that can perhaps only be answered by the attorney general himself and its my hope will have him appear by the Judiciary Committee and the Appropriations Committee charged with overseeing the funding for the department he is currently directing. Senator graham. Thank you. Why isnt Jeff Sessions here today . My understanding is consistent with what was in the attorney generals letter. I dont have any other reasons beyond what he set forth publicly. Do you know of any reason or cause to fire mr. Muller as of this date . No i do not. That would be your decision if that ever happened. Thats correct. And you are going to make it and nobody else. As long im in this position it would be my responsibility. Im glad youre in that position. Is giving a political donation a reason to disqualify someone from serving in the special counsels office. No it is not a disqualification. As a matter of fact, many states judges and prosecutors are actually elected and donations are part of that system. Yes thats true. Would be a disqualification for somebody in the special counsels office who had represented ms. Clinton in the past to serve . It would depend on the facts and circumstances. As a general matter, no. Is in fact closer to a conflict of interest. I dont answer hypothetical. Everyone needs to make a determination based on the facts and circumstance. What process to the member of the senate used to inform the special counsel that you have a concern about hiring someone who represented clinton. We have a process within the department of justice so i encourage you, if you have those concerns to raise them with director muller or me. Should i do it to you or him. Well, you could do to both. I dont know if ill do that but ive read some things , i dont think donations are disqualifying at all but if you disqualified the Clinton Foundation or clinton herself, that would be disturbing to me. As to russia, do you have any doubt that the 17 Intelligence Agency report that was submitted last year or early this year, that russia interfered in our election as accurate. This is an issue that was discussed in my confirmation hearing in several of you attended that. At that point i had only access to the Public Information from what. I now have access to classified information and i think that assessment made by the Intelligence Community is justified based on the investigation and the evidence they had. Thank you very much. What role did you play in crafting this budget . Where does this budget come from . I appreciate that question for the it is career professionals in the department. Its very complicated. Some of them are seated behind me but they have a whole team behind them and i suspect there are dozens of folks involved. Is their desire to cut the budget by 2 or did that come from somewhere else. I do not know the answer to that. Could you find that answer. We are accountable for that. Im not suggesting those with their decisions. They implement the priorities given to them. I do not mean to shed responsibility for the bottom line, but the assistance we have in preparing the budget. Its a simple question. Were you directed to cut the budget or did you agree to cut the budget. Did that come within the department of justice or mandate. I honestly do not know the answer. Thats fine. You can get back to me. In terms of threats to the country, are they going up or down. I havent done a study to characterize it but i think everyone recognizes the Terror Threat is extremely serious. What we have more fbi agents or less than last year. I believe we will have, i apologize according to the numbers that i have, the fbi will have an increase of 150 for a total of 12484. Is that more agents than a hundred and 50. That is my understanding. I will check and get back to. You agree the fbi, department of justice National Security and other form. s National Security in another form, the role of the department as well as a domestic role. It is National Security in reality. Heres my final question. We are dramatically increasing the Defense Department because it has suffered mightily over sequestration. Can you make an argument that if you are a National Security component of our overall defense strategy, why we would cut you now given the threats we face. I believe if you look at the budget we are not cutting in areas like cybercrime and all those areas. There will not be cuts there. There will only be cuts in areas that are not critical. I can assure you our goal is to use these resources more effectively to reduce crime and drug abuse and to fight terrorism. We are not going to relent in our commitment to those goals. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Its good to see you. I will say, it is the height of arrogance for the attorney general not to come before the committee that oversees the Justice Department budget. That being said, i am glad to have you here. As you know, during the confirmation process, you and i had a conversation about the Consent Decree between the Justice Department and the Baltimore City Police Department and Baltimore City. Since our conversation the courts have approved the Consent Decree and i just want your continued assurance that you will work in your capacity as Deputy Attorney general to make sure we further that agreement and make sure we can get the parties together and move it along. Our goal is to reduce Violent Crime and protect constitutional rights. I know you are aware, and its very painful to me, we have a crisis of Violent Crime in baltimore. The murder rate this year is on track to reach a record high in Baltimore City. We need to do everything we can to support our local partners and we are working in many ways to support the local Police Department. Last year we had 318 murders. The year before 342. We are on track to have more and baltimore this year. That is a very high priority for me although im no longer there physically, every day, we are engaged in i will continue to work with our authorities and federal agencies in the u. S. Attorneys office to do anything we can to help support our partners and baltimore and turn around that trend of violence in that city. Thank you. I look forward to continuing to work with you on what is an unacceptable increase. Seeing this bike is something we have to tackle with urgency. I do want to follow up on some of my colleagues questions regarding the special counsel and its especially pressing in light of these reports that did come out yesterday that folks at the white house, maybe the president were looking at ways to fire special counsel muller, and as you testified today, given the Current Situation you are the only person today in a position to actually do that firing. Is that correct. That is correct. As i understand your testimony, you said this is a matter that is within your jurisdiction so based on that, i would assume it would be a violation of the attorney generals recusal if he were to try to fire the special counsel. Is that right. I do not expect that to happen. What it would be a violation, this is a matter under your jurisdiction if he attempted to do so. I think thats probably fair, but that is not going to happen. Im glad to hear that. Im actually more worried about the scenario at this point where, if you were to receive an order from the white house to fire the special counsel, i am less worried about you doing it because you just testified today that you would only do it based on good cause. I am worried about circumstances where the president tries to keep going until he find someone willing to take that action. My question relates to the definition of good cause. You are very clear in your testimony that the authority to remove special counsel is based on a finding of good cause. Is that correct. Yes thats correct. Is an order from the president to fire the special counsel good cause . It doesnt matter who its come from, it would be based on the reasons for the proposed removal. And removing the special counsel in order to prevent them from pursuing the investigation, that would not constitute good cause, correct. Correct. If somebody else were to fire the special counsel, in other words if the president were to find somebody to do it, my question is what is the protection in that good cause definition . In your view, could the special counsel contest his firing if he did not believe it was good cause. Senator, i hope i wont have to answer that. The purpose of that regulation , the folks who wrote it put a lot of thought into it and the anticipated people would follow the rules. Your question is what if somebody doesnt follow the rules, what happens next . We have wellinformed folks and great lawyers that would deal with that if it arrived but i do not anticipate that. In your opinion, im hoping it doesnt arise either, but we know there are scenarios with historical precedent where this could arise. My question is with the department or special counsel have recourse in the courts arguing that there was not good cause for firing. I dont know the answer to that. As long as im in this position he will not be fired without the cost. If you were it would be my response ability, but that is like a law school hypothetical when i would be reluctant to answer without doing research first. Welcome Deputy Attorney general. I had a conversation in my office with the attorney general prior to his confirmation and we spoke about the department of justice government to government work and he admitted to me at that time that his familiarity with the tribes and alaska was limited. It was important for him to hear the depth of some of the issues we are facing as we deal with any level of Law Enforcement. Many of our communities have none whatsoever. As a consequence we are dealing with troubling statistics within our state. I was pleased to note they are making notes for implementation and also requesting funds to continue work in fy 18. I think we have some things we would like to discuss with you and your folks with regard to fy 17. Funding levels are perhaps a bit problematic. Tribal Court Funding is one that i have a great deal of interest with, but i do want to find a path forward with d. O. J. As it relates to some of the more immediate and very unique issues that we have as we deal with our tribal villages and the issues they face. You would think we are far enough away and remote enough that the Opioid Epidemic would not be hitting us in the state, but it is on a level of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault that we face in terms of the statistics. The uptick of Violent Crime that we are seeing in urban alaska, these are areas we believe deserve a more specific approac approach, and we would like to work with you. We have invited and welcomed the attorney general as well as you and others within the department of justice to come up to the state and sit down with our native leadership to discuss these issues. I reiterate that and essentially ask for your continued willingness to work with us in some innovative ways to address the issue of justice and Law Enforcement in rural alaska. Yes. I would welcome that opportunity. We didnt have this issue in my home state of maryland but many of my colleagues have talked with me about the challenges that we have on the native american issues. Early in my tenure we talked about some of these issues and i welcome the opportunity to work with you on that. Good. We need to do that. Let me switch gears. We been talking about opioid and addiction but lets talk about another issue, alaska is one of those states that has enacted medical marijuana statutes but through Ballot Initiative weve allowed for broader sale and use of marijuana that is regulated as we regulate alcohol. In the state we think the Regulatory Regime is a fairly strong and consistent one. That memorandum suggests the federal government will not get in the way of states which maintain strong Regulatory Regimes. I had some correspondence with the prior attorney general relating to this, but the fact is the Banking Sector is close to those in the marijuana business, making it difficult for states to access paper trail to ensure those in the business are compliant. We recently heard they believe they can sees tax payments sent by mail from people in the marijuana business. I understand d. O. J. Wants to eliminate the appropriations writer prohibiting federal interference with state medical marijuana laws. I am concerned and im speaking for a lot of people in my state who are worried about the inconsistency between this date marijuana laws as well as federal policy. The department of justice does not take the position that state marijuana laws are preempted by the substance act. I dont know if youre headed in that direction. The coal memorandum suggests deference to state laws but were not seeing the federal government doing much to ensure those laws are enforceable. The bigger question is, where are we headed with marijuana. I appreciate your concern. Its a very difficult issue. We do have a conflict between federal law and the law in some states. It is a difficult issue for parents of teenagers who have to provide guidance to our kids about how they should treat. Believe me, i agree with that. Ive talked with Chuck Rosenberg about this and we filed the law and from a legal and scientific perspective, marijuana is an unlawful drug. Therefore we have this conflict. Jim tried to deal with it in that memorandum and that memorandum is still in effect at the moment. Maybe there will be changes in the future, but it was still operating under that policy which is an effort to balance the conflicting interest with regard to marijuana so i can assure you that will be a high priority for me as new attorneys general, board to talk about how to deal with that challenge in the states the hype legalized or decriminalized Legal Marijuana , but we are still, in the department of justice. They mentioned that we are responsible for enforcing the law, its illegal and that is the federal policy with regard to marijuana. Confusing. Thank you. Senator feinstein. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, i would like to say i associate myself with the remarks of senator shaheen and senator collins. Yesterday mr. Rosenstein, i was in new york and a distinguished lawyer came up to me after i finish speaking and said, beware, this president is going to act to terminate the special counsel, and i said he couldnt possibly do that, it would be catastrophic. He said just wait. I came home and turned on the television, and this morning, thats what i heard. Its very hard to know what to believe. I do believe it would be catastrophic, and i do believe it would destroy any shred of trust in the president s judgment that remains over here. I do not know, with specifics, what the procedure is if that were to happen, but as i understand what you said, that could not be done without your consent. Is that correct . Yes that is correct. What you have said you would not ascend under the present situation because theres no cause. Yes, thats correct. Is it fair to put that to rest. As far as im concerned, yes senator. I appointed him, i stand by the decision. I think it was right thing to do under those circumstances. I am going to defend the integrity of that investigation. Thank you. Let me go on to the methamphetamine grant. That is a program i helped establish in 2014. If i understand what you said, very quickly, the cut is 7 million in math and 10 million in heroin, but the addition is 40. 4 million for dea. Is that correct. That is my understanding senator and i have been briefed by career officials that whisper in my ear saying yes that is correct. We will commit more resources to combating heroin and opioid drugs over the next year. Good. So, the cops anti meth and that amine program will remain intact. I think the answer to that is what we intend to do is to fund taskforces in a different way. I think that funding went directly to state and local Law Enforcement. Our idea is to fund it directly through dea. There will be task force but they will be state and local. So you are canceling the funding that goes to local police organizations. The direct funding to establish the grants, those local taskforces are proposed to be eliminated but there is additional funding the da will used to fund state and local officers. So the answer is yes, you are defunding community Police Departments. I believe the answer is we are proposing to defund the 7 million that went directly to local task force. Okay, i just want you to know that in california alone, in the past few months thereve been 61 arrests, 428 kilograms of math seized, 242 kilograms of heroin, 10728 kilograms of marijuana and 11 firearms. It is a very busy task force and it no doubt, if the money is not there, could likely be eliminated. Secondly, there is a growing concern that the rush investigation is taking too long. I heard a congressman expressing that point of view. Mr. Conley briefed senator grassley and myself three months ago and it was a very full and good brief. Do you have any estimate as to the time this investigation will take or when we might be expected to have some conclusion. I regret that i do not. In a way, our investigations, it depends on a lot of factors and so its generally very difficult to predict in advance how long the investigation will take. I can assure you its important to me that it be done expeditiously and i communicated that to the director and im sure he also appreciates the importance of moving as quickly as we can. How do we move it expeditiously . It requires having resources which i believe we do have and always have had to conduct the investigation and making good decisions about how to conduct the investigation. I believe we can rely on him to do that. So there is no estimate as to when we might expect some resolution. Correct. Okay. Lets go to the wall. It is my understanding that for the 600 miles of wall, there are 400 lawsuits pending. Is that correct. I dont believe i have a number for you. I can try to get back to you on that. I dont have a number. My understanding is you put additional attorneys in the budget to handle these. Is that correct. That is correct. How many are there . We have proposed 27 additional attorneys in the Environmental Division and 4 million be available to meet litigation requirements associated with increased enforcement. Thats not just about the law but it would include any irrigation. That would be 400 cases that are now pending. What is your estimate of lawsuits on the remainder of the wall. Im not familiar with that. I can try to get back to. I really would like you to because i think its going to be extraordinary. I think as you get into the rio grande valley, you will find Property Owners are not very pleased, and i think we ought to know about it as we budget. But i ask that you get back to me prior to the time we mark this bill up . I can try to give you the information we have. Its important to keep in mind we are the lawyers on these issues but its Homeland Security that would have the primary responsibility for operational decisions. I will give you whatever we can but i think Homeland Security might be in better positions,. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Chairman. thank you mr. Rosenstein. Thats easy for me to remember. We Work Together all time. I want to ask you about something different, probably not at the top of your agenda, but i hope it will be on your agenda. Outdated federal Consent Decrees and how things affect songwriters in nashville. In 2006 i introduced legislation based upon a book called democracy by decree, what happens when courts run government by professor sandler and attorneys for the National Defense counsel. It was about the growing number of federal Consent Decrees that seem to manage everything. A lot of it had to do with education, some with the environment and clean air education and a variety of other things. It took the issues out of the hands of legislators and courts were running the government. Right years ago the Justice Department noticed antitrust implications on the tour that regulates how songwriters are paid for their work. I was with some songwriters and ive gone outside of a pharmacy and is all in old couple and said how are you all doing and this lady said we are just falling apart together. So i mentioned that to the song writers and said we can do something with that and they wrote a song called falling apart together. I get the fourth of the royalties because thats the way that it works if we write a song of each split it up. Last year i got 110 even though it is on his album and hes a pretty wellknown singer. That is the first problem. Under the present decree, you have a rate court had sex with the songwriters get paid. It doesnt reflect the market value. The second is more immediate. Your Department Issues regulations. We have to see who represents us and we can go out and find that person and make a deal with the bar or restaurant that affects all the others and i can turn the practice of songwriting and national upside down. And im not surprised someone in the department of justice wouldnt know you cowrite songs and might spend a weekend writing songs but what this would do is just care that all apart and cause these songwriters, not wealthy people, to have to consult and make agreements and to do all this kind of thing. They have appealed the interpretation of the court, Federal District court appealed with that. The general issue of the democracy decree outdated federal Consent Decree and considering whether it is in time to give the governors and mayors and legislators an opportunity to file vacancies and get them back in the hands of the democratic process and second. That would be the practical effect. I do want to comment on the general issue with regarding the dissent decree. Will it help solve the problem. How do we evaluate success. We are opposing the dissent decreasing as im sure you are recognizing the consent between the parties and so theres always opportunities to revisit if there is an agreement among the parties. We will think very seriously about all those other issues. It seems to want to keep something in the democracy. Thank you mr. Chairman. There wasnt anything left after each of the songwriters got 110 for the year. This system you put in place for the special prosecutor is quite a showing to all of us. Did you talk about the investigation and resources he might need to reach on in a proper way to support that effort . I have not. Under the regulation if tasks for the general Management Division taddition to consult ae resources and budget. That gentleman happens to be sitting behind me. And he has talked about it. I have not i can assure you he will get the resources he needs. Will he be able to do the job the way that it is intended to be done . Could you be terminated without cost . Yes. Who would appoint your replacement as your position now attorney deputy general . So that is a possibility . Anything is possible. Thats what we know. Therethere is great concern ins as all of you can tell. Im going to get them off their opportunity to talk to you. I know a lot of my colleagues here dont have the same opportunity, but i want to thank you for being here. We have an epidemic weve lost more people per capita than any other state. We are doing everything humanly possible and we cannot do it without the help of the Attorney Generals Office and the department of justice and everyone else is involved. The main approach to fighting the addiction. This is an extremely high priority. We talked with the potential candidates and others and this is one of the issues i talked about so this will be one of the high priority for this administration. I know you are aware they traveled to charleston and gave up their remarks for the opioid response summit and as i mentioned earlier is a strategy that recognizes the need to work in coordination with state and local officials and recognizes its not just about Law Enforcement with the resources we need. The Current Population 392 people. Out of state companies basically which are supplying offices are legitimate businesses that send 9 million highly addictive hydrocodone over two years. Its just unbelievable. Of course you know we have an awful lot of suits going on right now i can die drug suppliers. Are you all involved in those . They do have a divergent strategy, and we are aware any significant proportion of the problem is a Prescription Drug problem and thats a that is thd portion of the problem so i believe we need to work with the pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors and doctors to identify folks that are overprescribing and hold them accountable. The drug courts have had a tremendous impact and we think its been very positive. We are concerned about the drug courts if you can tell me what your administration is supporting on the drug courts. We are proposing funding for the state, local and it is proposed in the budget. Thathe funding will enable themo implement the courts that include Substance Abuse treatment along with mandatory drug testing, sanctions and incentives with the goal being to transition people off of drugs. That is part of a larger request for funding programs into support for comprehensive the ce addiction and recovery act of what some people refer to. Thank you. Key is just yielding right back. Thank you Deputy Attorney general. I want to followup on something my colleague from West Virginia begin with, which are the resources for the council. You said more than once that you anticipate and you know the resources that would be needed for the full investigation will be there in full measure for the council, correct . What kind of oversight do you because we know as appropriators and folks looking over the budgets in on and one way to sqe or chase the direction is to have tighter oversight or to squeeze down on the resources available. Do you have the ability to do that or do you tell the director that he can basically have whatever resources he needs to have, who has the oversight of the budget . Within limits, the administrative officers felt if there was something inappropriate they would bring it to my attention but i dont expect that to happen. I think the resources will be reasonable and there will be no dispute. I would anticipate that as well. Thank you for the answer. The attorney general sessions to talk about the 360 seems to be a good program thats gotten off to a great start. Im not sure that it is least defensiblit is found in. They are the challenges with fentanyl. People will become increasingly aware with it over the years because it is an emerging threat with small quantities that can be very dangerous. It can be sent in the mail and we are aware that it is coming into the United States primarily in two ways. Through the Mexican Border and by mail with china, so we need to work with the dea and the Postal Inspection Service and i think also with authorities we need to get help in china and mexico to deal with them. It is at the top of my agenda as ive been in the job only six week but ive already talked with a number of folks including the administrator and we are going to find a way to combat that threat. It also affects First Responders who got the cleanup seem, everything was clean but then at some point something came off his glove and he had to be revised with just a miniscule exposure to something dangerous. You are alsthere are also i am e of the background check fbi facilities located in virginia, and it is processing millions of background checks. I am concerned in the budget it was implemented for the fees collected that they previously used to update. We know how important the it infrastructure is to get it right in this important issue. What can you say about that with your department, and do you feel, what would they have over that . Im not sure that i know about the recession. I would be happy to look into it for you. I dont have any information about it. Let me ask another question. Weve been hearing about the backlog and the department of justice, well they reversed the trend expressed by the committee affirming a stronger commitment to increase the necessary resources for this particular purpose and direction we are committed to working with our state, local and travel partners to include other forensics testing that includes 500 million for the other programs and specifically with regards to your question it that includes 45 million for the national assault alleged to be socalled sanctuary cities under 18 usc section 1373. We sent letters to ten jurisdictions and these were those that had been inspected last year as the jurisdictions of the Inspector General and nearby potentially in violation of their obligation under the grant to comply with federal law so we notified all ten localities. I would hope that we would have those responses by the end of the month. Which three have you heard back from . Have you heard from new orleans . Wouldve a jurisdictionwith a jw orleans comes back to you and says they are in compliance, take my word for it. As with all of our primary dealing with governments, the primary check is the Self Certification that they apply to the grant requirements there is an auditing capacity so in some cases, there may be reviews and if they found violations we would have to deal with the applications as we do in ordinary grants. I dealt with matters in which the grant recipients violated the question of the appropriate remedy. So, there is a potential for auditing and oversight we have received from the staff new orleans is one of the free and they have responded and certified and it is complying. The other two are in nevada and the state of connecticut. I want to be sure may i call you general . I want to be sure to understand. The department sent letters to the ten jurisdictions that have alleged to be sanctuary cities. Are you a sanctuary city, and you expect they bring you back and say no. Are you complying with 1373 the sanctuary whether it is defined as a sanctuary city is a different issue. The question is are you complying with 1373. Its not. Is of course about immigration versus illegal immigration but its also about respect from the law. On the one hand it says im in complete compliance with section 1373 im not a sanctuary city but on the other hand is as a i refuse to be a part of the Deportation Force a. This is america you can believe what you want to believe that we are a nation of laws. That bothered me. So, what is going to be done to develop . Let me make a prediction. All of the cities are going to stay down on compliance. I want to make sure that i clarify this. If somebody certifies to the department of justice compliance we expect them to be in compliance so it would be a serious matter if somebody sends a certification to be signed by a person and they need to be confident that they are right if somebody signs a certification compliance we will review them because theyve been identified by the Inspector General where there was concern he will review the submissions and if they are not in compliance therefore they are in violation of the contract we will pursue appropriate remedies that could be pre terminating the contract or the funds so it is a serious matter. Ive gone over but over what period of time are you going to check the comply in the ordinary grants that you process, theres a lot of conditions and there is a review process in that department with other grantmaking components there is a potential for the investigations by the Inspector General so we do review those in the ordinary course and on a prospective basis we will require the certifications and jurisdictions in compliance with 1373, and i am hopeful that if people were not following the law in the first place they will certify and change the practices so that they are following in the future. Thank you mr. Chairman and thank you for your indulgence and allowing me to go over. Thank you mr. General. You lost a little time. Is fine. He was going to visit with the president. Thank you so much for being here. I just want to echo first with my colleagues have set up the drug courts on both sides of the aisle. That is something that really does reduce recidivism and does a great job. In arkansas both the regular drug court and also the veteran drug courts working with the pa and usinvaand using the resourct they have it is just a Great Partnership thats making a big difference. I am pleased that they are reinvesting this strategy that targets Violent Crime and i understand that you created a Violent Crime Strategy Task force. Can you elaborate on the details including what agencies are playing what polls and do you ru have the necessary resources to carry out the mission which is so very important . With comparing the Violent Crime as i know you are aware in 2015 and increased by more than 3 which to put that in context its the largest increase theyve experienced since 1991 nationwide. In 2015 and increased by 11 which was the largest increase since 1971, so we consider this to be an urgent problem for us. The attorney general established a task force on the Public Safety and the task force is drawing the expertise from throughout the department to come up with strategies, and we have a number of proposals, some of them which are in this budget that would help us to reinvigorate the fight against Violent Crime including, i am hopeful we will be able to reinstitute what was referred to as the project safe neighborhood i was involved in back when i first became u. S. Attorney. State and local partners they deal with a large volume of offenders, people that have committed crimes who are drug addicts. In the federal system when we are prosecuting the cases that are distributors, we deal with a different type of defendant for the state and local partners they are able to help those folks overcome their drug addiction, they will be able to reduce crime so i think it is critically important to support those efforts. Very good. Chairing the Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee one of my concerns is the number of Immigration Judges we have about a 500,000 backlog and i think theres 75 million to put more resources and judges. Can you talk a little bit about that and the efforts that youre making in that regard and kind of put the plan is to eliminate the backlog how youre going to resource those judges. There are two ways we are acting on for the backlog. First is filling existing vacancies because there was a delay in filling the immigration judge vacancies as they arose and so we had a lot of judicial slots that were already funded both were vacant and now we are moving quickly to fill those positions and in addition to that, the budget request of 500 million for the office and the department is called the executive Office Review that is the office that handles those cases and that will include 75 million for new judges, 75 new judges and a total of 450 staff which includes the folks that support those judges and so once we get all those folks out into the field, we anticipate we will be able to make a big impact on the backlog of representing 21 increase in the staff and would be able to adjudicate those resources i believe much more fair and expeditiously and in addition to that we are working to fill 36 vacancies that already exist and weve already hired 38 Immigration Judges this year, and we hope to have all of the 345 judicial slots filled by the end of the here. Are you going to realign or are you in the process of realigning where they are as . Conferencing things like that, do we use this kind of technologys . We are looking at a alignment of the judges and putting them into places that are more valuable. I do hope to look at ways that we can operate more efficiently. You mentioned teleconferencing technology to move the cases quicker. It isnt good for anybody to have the cases pending for so long. The director of the preview now has an acting director and i plan to work closely with him and his successor when we appoint a permanent director and the challenge ive given to him as lets fill the vacancies but also figured out if there are efficiencies to move the cases through the system more quickly because i think it is in everybodys interest. The Justice Department holds over 4 billion in the funds that are set up. The department is now in year number six of the fund, and to date to my knowledge no assets have been disbursed to the victims. In addition, the report indicates that the special master of the fund has collected over 40 million in fees. Questions have been raised about the methodology of making the distributions to determine the validity of the claims that these methodologies are unorthodox so they are not working if theres been no distribution. What the department began kind to review this matter in other words look at this as something wrong and see ways that they can be made more quickly and efficiently because the fund was set up to compensate the victims. Youve been a prosecutor. Will you comment on that . From the perspective of the prosecutors and the agents one of the most important things we can do is reimburse victims. That was the purpose of the fund. We should do it as quickly as possible. I just turned about this issue this week so i need to look into it a bit more but my understanding is the problem here was the volume of the claims that we received i understand 65,000 claims, so it is a process that each one of those dealt with individually and then we dont distribute the money until we are confident about the pool of people that ought to receive it. So i do appreciate your concern and i can commit to you we will look into that and see why it is taking so long. Will you get back to the committee on this . Its been raised by a number of people. Will you do that . My understanding is we have begun to notify the claimants so there are some people who are getting answers from us but i will report back to you on that. Counterterrorism, how does the departments budget particularly the funding for the fbi and prove its partnership with the United Kingdom and other partners in the global war on terror, and what benefits do you feel will come from the new Bilateral Agreement between the u. S. And the uk to expand the data sharing in this area . National security is the highest priority. The key is to work with our partners in foreign countries, that is critically important. With regards to this issue in the Bilateral Agreement in the u. S. And uk that is critical to allow us to efficiently access electronic data sharing is critical in one of the challenges is we share the data and we need to maintain the confidentiality. What we introduced last month was a legislative proposal to enable the Bilateral Agreements and the benefits would include helping allies investigate and fight those that have information it may be lawful and one but not another s limited ts Bilateral Agreement process will allow us to bring them into harmony reducing the incentive to the localized data by the companies, so we look forward to working with the congress and we look forward to addressing any other concerns you may have about it. In the area of cybersecurity the past couple of years we have all witnessed a series data breaches occurring in the u. S. Government and also the private sector, including some of the nations Largest Companies and financial institutions. The department is requesting additional funding in the year 2018 budget to combat cyber crime across several agencies including the fbi and National Security division and the Criminal Division and attorneys offices. What is the department proposing to combat cyber crime that its unable to publish with existing funds. There are some changes in technology that are actually developed in an effort to end debate could defeat endorsement ever thinks of the enhancements include 41. 5 million to enhance the cyber efforts. That will include the technological tools and expanding the highspeed networks and includes 20 million to address threats posed by foreign intelligence and insiders and 22 million to address a problem that is the most significant Law Enforcement challenge. This technology is a tremendous challenge for us because they we always trying to stay a step ahead of us in this epidemic as you may be aware in New Hampshire we are second only to West Virginia in terms of the percentage of Overdose Deaths that we have ended this year sadly we have seen it arrived in New Hampshire and had six people die in the state. I guess i just disagree with you in a couple of areas. One is on the eliminating the task force grants program. Senator feinstein talked about her efforts to focus which has been successful. Hes been able to direct some support to local Law Enforcement and a while i think a lot of our agents and federal Law Enforcement officials do a great job we dont have as many of them in New Hampshire as we do local and we need to provide some resources for the local Law Enforcement because they are the people that day in and day out are on the frontline so i would urge you to go back to think of eliminating the task force, the antiheroine Task Force Program is what we are trying to accomplish and i would also ask what youre doing to address you talked about meeting china are what we are seeing from a mail order drugs coming into the United States. Theres a story this weekend by the New York Times reporting on the dark web thats being used. Can you tell me what youre doing to shut down those sites . For the task forces on the point i would like to make is we have different ways of addressing the same issue but we are committed to spending the same resources. Can i just interrupt you because the other issue thats been brought up by several of my colleagues has been the drug courts which we found to be very effective in New Hampshire yet youve reduced funding in the 2018 budget. I have a number. From 43 million to 4 billion. And while it may not seem like a lot of money come in New Hampshire that is a lot of money. That is a lot of money to me also, senator and it does reflect the commitment on our confidence that the program can be effective and im sure if the program is funded we will work with the office of Justice Programs to make sure tha that s a spenspent effectively. To address the question on china, ive been in this job for six weeks, have not met with china but i do hope to talk with the dea and the Postal Inspection Service and any other federal agencies that have a stake in this to figure out what we can do. The problem with the story that you are referring to is that its a very effective tool for criminals to commit a crime with limited ability to be detected, but we do have ways to catch those criminals. We had a case just a couple years ago involving a dark website in which the defendant was caught and successfully prosecuted in new york and will no longer be in the position to use the internet at the tool to distribute drugs and facilitate other crimes, so we do have the ability to catch the offenders but it is challenging because the technological burdens. But i will work with fbi, dea, secret service and other agencies to do everything we can to get ahead of the problem. Thank you. If there are legal changes in the policy i hope you will share that with us so we can try to support your efforts. With the move tlet me move to ac very quickly because in april the Marshal Service publicly released the detail for the education secretary to be 1 million a month. By the end of september this is going to triple 8 million. I just wonder if you can tell us why the Marshal Service is playing the role in her protective detail i understand four to eight deputy marshals at a time on the detail when the department of education has their own security team. Can you tell me who made this determination about why this was necessary and my understanding is the only time that this has ever been done before was for the drugs are in the 90s. I do not know and the decision was made before i was confirmed by would like to get back to you. I was a governor and ive had Credible Threats against me. Ive never had four to eight people on my detail 24 hours a day. Thank you mr. Chairman. Deputy attorney general, i appreciate the chance to talk with you about some of the budgetary details relating to the department of justice. First, just to follow up on a number of senators have talked with you about the crisis i would commend to you to stop acts of the bipartisan bill led by the senators. Many of us are cosponsors many i saw concluded that tries to deal with some of the issues around the shipment into the United States and to strengthen some of our abilities. On the appropriations subcommittee where i am the ranking, we have responsibility for the office of National Drug control policy. Its not the subject of this hearing today but i do intend to push back on the elimination of the funding because i think that its been particularly helpful. The Bullet Proof Vest Program is a program i wont support it and its given roughly 13,000 jurisdictions bulletproof vests that are anatomically appropriate to the current best technology for the federal role is making sure that they are highperforming bulletproof vests and theyve literally saved the lives of Law Enforcement officials, some of whom i know personally from a home state. Im pleased to maintain funding for this important funding that makes it a carveout in the Justice System grant rather than being funded separately as it has been the case in the past to be at the partnership is a carveout of the justice Assistance Grant program, so effectively, the two programs would cut the justice assistant grand by 45 million by carving the amount rather than having them separately funded on top of the 71 million. In the budget focus on addressing Violent Crime in a supporting Law Enforcement, why did the Administration Resources for state and local Law Enforcement by making the bulletproof vest a carveout of the Larger Program rather than funding them separately . My understanding is that we have recommended 22. 5 for the program that i agree with important and as you pointed out it is consistent i and the amout allocated of the last two fiscal years. My understanding is that it set aside within the program, i dont know the technical reasons for that, but i can tell you that i think it is an Important Program and we have a budget that proposes to spend 22. 5 billion on the vests and if approved im sure we will. I look forward to working with you in a longterm predictable way. I was pointing out the production that joined the letter opposing the reduction is even greater because these are programs previously separately funded. In my hometown of wilmington and is one of the number of cities where weve seen a significant spike in Violent Crime and the Violence Reduction network was s an effective highimpact partnership between federal Law Enforcement and local Law Enforcement. To give an example before homicide clearance rates that jumped from below 20 to about 50 , and i want to specifically thank again the justice assistance and their Hardworking Team for their efforts that made possible the baltimore leader coming to wilmington and coordinating the whole series of Law Enforcement interventions that were cumulatively very powerful. In your response to the questions in the confirmation hearings that reducing Violent Crime would be a top priority and youve reviewed the funding in a variety of resources. Will you ensure the resources continue to assist the cities like wilmington who partnered and made progress and have shown themselves to be good partners with federal Law Enforcement into programs like they are in the past . Yes, senator. In fact i knew him from baltimore, and i worked with the department and the rollout. Very pleased the program was detected in wilmington. The author requesting funding of 5 million for the national Crime Reduction Assistance Network that is the formal name of the Violence Reduction network and i think that is a very important opportunity to consult. People have proven track records because we have a lot of committed Law Enforcement officers out there who will come those that come in and give a fresh look so i strongly support the program and we have a symposium maybe even next week that is part of the initiative and i do intend on making that a priority. Anything we can do to partner with federal Law Enforcement and municipalities that continue to see sustained and elevated and stubbornly difficult levels of crime to have gotten worse in the past year we have new leadership in the city and dedicated Law Enforcement officers and the previous chief was quite responsive but we need to continue to engage on this and i appreciate the investment in learning from and carrying forward what they were able to do. Thank you for appearing here today. If there are no further questions this afternoon, senators will have the ability to submit additional questions for iraq or that will b do thatt of the hearing record and we would request that enforcement answer the questions because some senators were in other committees today. The subcommittee stands in recess until thursday june 29 at 10 a. M. Where we will take the testimony of the acting administrator. The committee is adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]