Transcripts For CSPAN3 Justice Dept. Officials Testify On Th

To learn more about the Justice Departments investigation into one of the worst attacks in years, the january 6 insurrection on the capital. I would like to start with a video on the aftermath of january 6 and the threat of domestic terrorism in america. There are throwing metal poles at us. Law enforcement injuries. January 6 was a disgrace. There is no question. President trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events. Violence is never a legitimate form of protest. The president bears a responsibility for wednesdays attack. Two a year after january 6, are the guardrails that protect democracy real or illusionary . January 6 laid bare the threat of white nationalism. January 6 is a symptom of a deeper problem. Across the country, Election Officials and election workers, Airline Flight crews, journalists, u. S. Senators and representatives and judges, prosecutors and Police Officers have been threatened or attacked. A charged member of the Boogaloo Boys. Fired 13 rounds into the third precinct building. According to an unsought an unclassified summary, the two most lethal elements are racially or ethnically motivated violence and militia violent extremists. Instigating and leaving some of the most pivotal moments of the rush into the Historic Building check in battle gear and a stacked military formation working through the crowd of the capitol steps. The department of Homeland Security in their annual threat assessment in october 2020 declared Domestic Violence extremism in general and white supremacist extremism to be the most persistent and lethal threat facing the nation. Meant to be political and ideological actions that bring other activists into the movement. It is time to take a hard look at where we are in our resources. We can never again allow our democracy to be put into peril. Those of us who were here will never forget the horrifying images of january 6 2021. A news any gallows erected on the capital lawn, rioters attacking Police Officers with flag poles bearing the american flag. A confederate battle flag, confederate battle flag waving in the temple of our democracy. A site unimaginable during the darkest days of the civil war. The insurrection should be a wakeup call, a reminder that america is still confronted with the it has taken on a new life and of the 21st century. Terror from White Supremacists. A list of other extremists who use violence to further their twisted agenda. Last march, the fbi director told this committee the threat of domestic terrorism has quote is quote a test of sizing around the country and not going away anytime soon. I need the hours following the insurrection, i was hopeful. When the mob had dispersed and the senate returned to the capital to certify the results of the election, we, republicans and democrats alike, were united. We were determined to show that mob they had lost and democracy had won. All of us were well aware of who was behind the insurrection. As we saw in the video, republican congressional leaders like senator mcconnell joined democrats in knowledge and President Trump was practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day. Days turned into weeks and this solid bipartisan rhetoric was shaken. Our efforts to investigate the insurrection and the former president s attempts to overturn the election were stonewalled. Last may, Senate Republicans filibustered a plan to create an independent Bipartisan Commission to investigate what happened on january 6 and to make sure it never happened again. A number of elected republicans who either refused to repeater rate the big lie or have outright endorsed is growing. They are playing with fire. By supporting the false narrative the 2020 election was somehow stolen or rigged, they have rationalized the worst assault on our capital since the word of 1812. They are normalizing the use of violence to achieve political goals. The Intelligence Committee warns us narratives of fraud in the recent general election will almost certainly spur domestic violent extremists to try to engage in violence. Congress, this is how democracies die. Today, more than half of Republican Voters believe the insurrectionists were quote protecting democracy. In a recent study from the university of chicago, they found one in 10 americans believe the use of force is justified to restore donald j. Trump to the presidency. One in 10. These radical viewpoints do not appear out of thin air. Donald trump continues to spew these divisive, dangerous ideas from his exile in maralago. His calls have been echoed by a vocal faction of republican lawmakers. Lawmakers actively encouraging their supporters to treat little opponents as hostile adversaries. Other republican lawmakers have remained silent. Last year, a republican congressman tweeted an animated video showing himself murdering one of his democratic colleagues. Another House Republican has expressed support for quote national divorce. National divorce between red and blue states. I might remind this congressman the last national divorce, our civil war, cost more american lives than ever the any conflict before or since. Some may waive this rhetoric off as political bluster or a bad joke about the reality is more troubling. These tacit and even explicit endorsements of violence are taking a tragic toll. Over the past two years, our nations Public Servants have faced a wave of violence. One survey found nearly one in five local elected officials has been threatened with violence because of their work in the 2020 election cycle. We have seen the polling rise in violent outbursts on airplanes, School Meetings and any others and in other spheres, we have seen Violence Toward Law Enforcement officers. Dont tell me you stand for law and order and turn your back on the threats Law Enforcement officers are facing everyday. At the outset of todays hearing, i would like to request every member of this Committee Use this hearing to explicitly condemn the use or threat of violence to advance political goals. It is a simple request but sadly a necessary one. This committee should speak with a unified voice in saying violence is unacceptable. This is not an issue of where you stand on the political spectrum. Violent extremism exists on both ends and whether an act of violence is being committed by a white supremacist in the capital or a far left extremist at a riot in portland, is inexcusable. We need to understand the nature of the threat. Intelligence officials have windows the biggest terrorism threat stems from white supremacist and violent militia extremists. Some of whom are working in america to topple our democracy. For them, january 6 was a test run. I the year following last month, one domestic terrorist committed a mass shooting in colorado. The attacker had been on the radar of local Law Enforcement for years. Even listed the names of victims in self published books. No action was taken. He ended up killing five people. Before he had a chance to kill more, he wrote Police Officer came to the rescue. She arrived on the scene and ordered the attacker to drop his weapon. He responded by shooting her in the stomach. While wounded and bleeding on the ground, agent ferris returned fire and brought the attack to an end. Officers like agent ferris but their lives on the line every day to defend us. As we saw on january 6 at the capital and the streets of American Cities in 2020, they are too often themselves the target of violent extremism. They cannot take on the biggest threat of our National Security alone. They need our help at the federal level analyzing and acting on intelligence of domestic terrorist sources. That is why i propose the domestic terrorism prevention act. It ensures state and local Law Enforcement have the resources and data to prevent acts of domestic terror and white supremacist violence. Make sure that lawenforcement officials have the resources they need. During todays hearings, i hope we will learn what steps the Justice Department and fbi are taking to keep our communities, our country and officers safe. I hope this committee will be unequivocal in condemning violence wherever it is on the political spectrum. Number more cowering before any mob. Our democracy is in the crosshairs of domestic terrorism. It is time to take a stand. The only way to prevent a recurrence of deadly insurrection like january 6 is by joining together in defense of our constitution and the rule of law appeared i will turn to my friend, Ranking Member Chuck Grassley for his opening statement. Thank you very much. A year ago, i gave a speech on the senate floor. In that speech, i asked all of my colleagues to join me in condemning all Political Violence. That obviously included the terrible attack on the capital but it also referred to nearly 600 riots that came before january 6 violence and i learned something from my colleagues. I have a video i would like to have you watch. I want to be clear in how i characterize this pit this was a protest. It is not generally speaking unruly. Peaceful protest. [explosions] these antipolice riots rocked our nation for seven full months just like the january 6 assault on the capital rocked the nation. The riots caused terrible damage. He saw in the video 2 million worth. You saw in the video hundreds of people were charged federally. The fbi opened over 500 domestic terrorism investigations over 14,000 were arrested. In just the first few weeks. At least 25 died. 2000 Police Officers injured. This included well over a hundred officers defending the federal courthouse in portland. This included 60 secret Service Officers defending the white house. The judicial conference reported 50 federal courthouses were damaged during this time. Throughout a time that was incredibly difficult for our Police Officers, we had some democrats pile on. They called Police Things like stormtroopers. To this day, attacks continue on should rumors of the the good names of police dealt with an impossible situation in the surge on the portland courthouse. Is it any wonder then when it came when it came time to secure the capital on january 6, some were too concerned about optics or about the image of National Guardsmen at the capital . Mayor bowser of d. C. Even said when Police Federal Police Forces like those that came to defend the portland courthouse, that they would not be welcome here. From the time antipolice riots broke out over 18 months ago, the police have retreated from the streets and the results have been very predictable. Beginning june 2020, our country has experienced an unprecedented hike in murders. That spike has continued all the way to the present day. In 2021, more than a dozen cities set alltime homicide records. Street crime from assaults to carjacking to also what we call flash mob style smash and grab robberies have become a way of life in many cities. You saw last night in san jose, california on television as an example. New york mayor eric adams has announced he will revive a plainclothes anticrime unit to combat the violence. San Francisco Mayor london breed has declared a state of emergency over crime in her cities pimp miller lite in her cities. Mayor lightfoot has asked for several resources to help fight crime in chicago. Sadly, antipolice sentiment extends to the murder of police. Dozens were killed in 2021. Fbi analysis showed many of them were targeted because they were simply Police Officers, not because of any private contact with an attacker. The federal fraternal order of police, that data shows ambush attacks on officers have more than doubled. The police are not just heroes because of january 6 when they defended us at the capital. These Police Officers, federal, state, local our heroes all the time. If he we did not treat if we do not treat them as heroes, i fear the Violent Crimes and attacks on Police Officers will only get worse. It will not get any better. I started by saying i gave a speech a year ago asking my colleagues to join me in condemning all Political Violence. I heard senator durbin say exactly that same thing in his opening remarks today. Im sorry to say the situation has not gotten worse the situation has gotten worse since i gave my speech. It has not gotten better. Last summer, President Biden released a domestic terrorism strategy that made no mention whatsoever of the 2020 riots. Though they comprised about a fifth to a quarter of the fbis current domestic terrorism cases. There was almost no thank you to the senator for mentioning leftwing terrorism. Further is the strategy suggested that partisan policies of gun control and teaching Critical Race Theory are part of the solution. Using Violent Attacks to advance unrelated policy goals is a shameful tactic that undermines what our Law Enforcement officers are trying to do to stand up to violence in this country. It undermines the nonpartisan indictment. There cannot be exceptions. That means that we have to deal with the 2020 riots and january 6 when we look over fbi Domestic Terrorism Programs. We in congress have an oversight role to perform. This committee is doing that today, and there is room for improvement. Needed room for improvement. Director ray, over 10 months ago testified to us that there were weaknesses in the leftwing Domestic Terrorism Program that has prevented the fbi from getting the visibility they needed into the 2020. From that time to now, we received next to no information in response to our inquiries about how the fbi has ensured those deficiencies. The time has come to change that. Thank you to mr. Chairman and my colleagues. Thank you. Today we welcome assistant general Matthew Olsen and jill sanborn. They will each have five minutes for Opening Statements and some rounds of questions where senators will have time as well. I ask remotely that the minstrels of the senator room be placed to sworn in. Please raise your right hand. Will you only tell the truth, so help you god . I do. I do. They have answered in the affirmative and we will turn over to the senator. Please proceed. Thank you members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to testify today about the work of the department of justice. The muster terrorism is on the rise. The number of fbi investigations over the past two years has more than doubled. Communities across the country have been victims of acts of domestic terrorism. In el paso, 23 latinos were killed. In alexandria, virginia, more than four people at a congressional baseball practice, and others were killed by White Supremacists in their church. This marks the oneyear anniversary of the attack on the capital on january 6, and the department of justice has taken an unprecedented scope to hold accountable all of those engaged in criminal acts. The attorney general testified last week that more than 725 individuals have been indicted, including those charged with felony. We continue to methodically gather and review the evidence. It has in recent years underscored the threat that domestic terrorism continues to pose to our citizens, Law Enforcement officers, Public Officials, and are democratic institutions. Based on the assessment of the intelligence communities, we face threats from Domestic Violence extremists. Those of us that includes those who commit violent acts in the United States for social or political goals. We have seen a growing threat from those who are motivated by racial animosity, as well as those who describe antigovernment ideologies. At the same time, we remain vigilant of the dynamic threat of International Terrorist groups. The attorney general has observed combating the threat of domestic terrorism has been a core mission of the department of justice. This was founded where than 140 years ago when the renewed department went after the kkk to protect black americans under the constitution. This is one of our top priorities. On the frontline of these efforts are our federal prosecutors. Our National Security division was created in 2006. In any case, the message to domestic terrorism, we provide support to coordinate those prosecutions. We have a team of counterterrorism attorneys, all of which are equipped for domestic and International Terrorist prosecutions. I have established a domestic Terrorism Unit to augment our approach. This group is dedicated and focused