Director Wray: Criminal street gangs are the vehicle we interact with the most as distribution mechanisms for drugs that are coming from the cartels and transnational criminal organizations south of the border.
Director Wray: There are certainly national gangs that we are concerned about, but Americans might be surprised to hear how many, essentially neighborhood gangs, are in many ways, the biggest driver of violence in our communities.
Senator Whitehouse's biggest concern appears to be the background of Justice Kavanaugh.
Spray paint is relatively cheap; street gangs generate more than enough money to pay for it, although taxpayer money probably does end up being used since many gang members receive government dollars.
Director Wray: I feel like every day I'm getting briefed on somebody throwing a Molotov Cocktail at someone, for some issue.
Senator Cruz pointing out that Obama and Biden were sworn-in under the Betsy Ross flag, even though FBI guidance labels it as a sign of 'militia violent extremism'.
Senator Cruz: Director Wray, the House of Representatives have sent you oversight letters detailing dozens of investigations under a threat tag directed at parents, moms and dads, who G-men have come in, because they spoke out against mask mandates, vaccine mandates, or critical race theory, and suddenly the G-men show up. And this was after the attorney general claimed it wasn't happening.
Senator Cruz: How many FBI agents were disciplined or reprimanded after that disastrous case [Whitmer 'kidnapping'], and the misconduct that led to every defendant being acquitted or having a mistrial on every charge?
Director Wray: I can't comment on a personnel matter.
Cruz: The special agent in charge of that case has now been sent to DC, to the Washington, DC office, and now leads the investigation regarding January 6th. Is that correct?
Director Wray: That doesn't sound right to me.
Senator Hawley: According to this whistleblower's allegations, there are three hundred and twenty-four individuals who were evacuated from Afghanistan and allowed to enter the United States, despite appearing on DOD's biometrically-enabled watchlist…a watchlist that identifies folks whose biometrics have been collected and determined to be threats, or potential threats to national security, including known, suspected, terrorists.
Senator Hawley: The whistleblower has also alleged that political appointees at the National Security Council, and at DOD, instructed agency personnel to cut corners when they were processing Afghan evacuees…personnel at DHS who worked on vetting Afghan refugees have been authorized to delete old biometric data whenever they personally want to…are you aware of this behavior at DHS and DOD?
Director Wray: I'm not familiar with the report you are referring to…this was a massive number of people to be vetting in an extraordinary short period of time, and in my view, inevitably raises concerns.
It will probably be posted to Hawley's youtube channel. His staff has been doing that lately.
Senator Sasse: Who is the most significant geo-political foe the United States faces in the next decade?
Director Wray: That would be the People's Republic of China, specifically the Chinese Communist Party.
Hirono complaining that bounty hunters in Texas can go after people who provide abortions, and 'aren't even law enforcement people'.
Director Wray: I had a flight that I'm supposed to be high-tailing it to out of here. I understood we were going to be done at 1:30.
Senator Grassley: If it's your business trip, you've got your own plane. Can't it wait a while?
Director Wray: To be honest, I've tried to make my break as fast as I could.
Senator Grassley: You took more than five minutes.
Director Wray: [laughs]
Senator Durbin: This is a tight-ship, Mr. Director.
kek
Director Wray: We are working closely with, cooperating closely with and assisting, the Durham investigation.
Booker: The number one victims of gun violence in the United States are black and brown people.
[at the hands of criminal 'people of color']
Booker makes it seem as if people shot by police were simply 'not complying with verbal commands'. In reality, they almost always are fighting with the police, or actively resisting arrest.
Senator Blackburn: Do you agree that the Hunter Biden laptop was not Russia disinformation?
Director Wray: You are asking about an ongoing investigation that I expect our folks to pursue aggressively. I can't comment on that.
Senator Blackburn: And you possess the laptop, right?
Director Wray: I can't discuss that; ongoing investigation.
Senator Blackburn: When should we expect to hear from General Durham and his report?
Director Wray: That's really a question for Special Council Durham. We are actively assisting him in that investigation.
Senator Padilla sure seems concerned with 'election deniers' and 'conspiracy theorists' getting into elected office.
He was mentioned the other day by Grassley on the Senate floor, the video clip was in notables, but I don't remember his name specifically coming up here.
"Tim Thibault, special Agent in charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office…has since been referred to the Office of Special Council for potential Hatch Act violations."
Director Wray: We are opening a new China-related counterintelligence investigation about every twelve hours.
Director Wray: The Chinese government has a bigger hacking program on the cyber side that we're up against, than every other nation combined, and have stolen more of American's personal and corporate data than every nation combined.