Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
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OVERSIGHT OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION December 7, 2017 Serial No. 115–72 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://judiciary.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 33–359 WASHINGTON : 2018 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Dec 18, 2018 Jkt 033359 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 E:\HR\OC\A359.XXX A359 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with HEARING COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia, Chairman F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr., JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan Wisconsin JERROLD NADLER, New York LAMAR SMITH, Texas ZOE LOFGREN, California STEVE CHABOT, Ohio SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas DARRELL E. ISSA, California STEVE COHEN, Tennessee STEVE KING, Iowa HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR., Georgia TRENT FRANKS, Arizona THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas LUIS V. GUTIE´ RREZ, Illinois JIM JORDAN, Ohio KAREN BASS, California TED POE, Texas CEDRIC L. RICHMOND, Louisiana JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah HAKEEM S. JEFFRIES, New York TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island TREY GOWDY, South Carolina ERIC SWALWELL, California RAU´ L LABRADOR, Idaho TED LIEU, California BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland DOUG COLLINS, Georgia PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington RON DESANTIS, Florida BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois KEN BUCK, Colorado JOHN RATCLIFFE, Texas MARTHA ROBY, Alabama MATT GAETZ, Florida MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana ANDY BIGGS, Arizona SHELLEY HUSBAND, Chief of Staff and General Counsel PERRY APELBAUM, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel (II) VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Dec 18, 2018 Jkt 033359 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 E:\HR\OC\A359.XXX A359 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with HEARING C O N T E N T S DECEMBER 7, 2017 OPENING STATEMENTS Page The Honorable Bob Goodlatte, Virginia, Chairman, Committee on the Judici- ary ......................................................................................................................... 1 The Honorable Jerrold Nadler, New York, Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary ......................................................................................................... 3 WITNESSES The Honorable Andrew McCabe, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 6 (III) VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:37 Dec 18, 2018 Jkt 033359 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 E:\HR\OC\A359.XXX A359 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with HEARING VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Dec 18, 2018 Jkt 033359 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 E:\HR\OC\A359.XXX A359 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with HEARING OVERSIGHT OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY Washington, DC The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:00 a.m., in Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Bob Goodlatte [chair- man of the committee] presiding. Present: Representatives Goodlatte, Chabot, Issa, King, Franks, Gohmert, Jordan, Poe, Marino, Gowdy, Labrador, Farenthold, Col- lins, DeSantis, Buck, Ratcliffe, Roby, Gaetz, Johnson of Louisiana, Biggs, Rutherford, Handel, Nadler, Lofgren, Jackson Lee, Cohen, Johnson of Georgia, Deutch, Bass, Richmond, Jeffries, Cicilline, Swalwell, Lieu, Raskin, Jayapal, and Schneider. Staff Present: Shelley Husband, Staff Director; Branden Ritchie, Deputy Staff Director; Zach Somers, Parliamentarian and General Counsel; Bobby Parmiter, Chief Counsel, Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice; Danielle Brown, Minority Parlia- mentarian and Chief Legislative Counsel; Aaron Hiller, Minority Chief Oversight Counsel; Joe Graupensperger, Minority Chief Counsel, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations; Arya Hariharan, Minority Counsel; and Veronica Eligan, Minority Professional Staff Member. Chairman GOODLATTE. The Judiciary Committee will come to order, and without objection the chair is authorized to declare re- cesses of the committee at any time. We welcome everyone to this morning’s hearing on Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investiga- tions, and I will begin by recognizing myself for an opening state- ment. Thank you, Director Wray, for appearing for your first time in front of this committee and thank you for your service to our coun- try in your new position. There is much to discuss today, and we look forward to your answers. The President recently tweeted that the FBI ‘‘is in tatters.’’ While some will take umbrage with President Trump’s assertion, it does appear to me that, at the very least, the FBI’s reputation as an im- partial, nonpolitical agency has been called into question recently. We cannot afford for the FBI, which has traditionally been dubbed the ‘‘premier law enforcement agency in the world,’’ to become (1) VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Dec 18, 2018 Jkt 033359 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A359.XXX A359 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with HEARING 2 tainted by politicization or the perception of a lack of even-handed- ness. Questions regarding the FBI’s impartiality first came to light under the Obama administration surrounding the handling of the investigation into the Clinton email server scandal. You, Director Wray, have a unique opportunity to repair the damage of the rep- utation of the FBI, and we encourage you in the strongest terms to do so. Director Comey’s decision to weigh in on the fate of the inves- tigation into the mishandling of classified emails by former Sec- retary of State Hillary Clinton was one that brought criticism to the Bureau from all sides. The FBI’s decision to recommend no charges against the former Secretary, or anyone connected to her, continues to raise serious concerns that our Nation’s system of jus- tice applies differently to the rich, powerful, and well-connected than to everyone else. Many on this committee have repeatedly called on Attorney Gen- eral Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein to name a second special counsel to review the voluminous, unresolved incon- sistencies and perceived improprieties with regard to normal FBI and DOJ investigatory practice that arose during the Clinton email investigation. Despite our requests, the Department has not appointed a second special counsel. While we still request the appointment of a second special counsel, we have now also opened our own joint investiga- tion with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to review FBI and DOJ’s handling of that investigation. The Attorney General has recently committed to provide us rel- evant documents, and I hope to hear directly from you that you will ensure your agency provides a fulsome response of documents to enable unimpeded congressional oversight. Even more recently, reports on the bias of some of the career agents and lawyers on current Special Counsel Mueller’s team are also deeply troubling to a system of blind and equal justice. Inves- tigations must not be tainted by individuals imposing their own personal political opinions. We do not know the magnitude of this insider bias on Mr. Mueller’s team nor do we have a clear under- standing of the full magnitude of bias reflected in the Russia inves- tigation and prior Clinton email investigation. One thing is clear, though: it is absolutely unacceptable for FBI employees to permit their own political predilections to contami- nate any investigation. Even the appearance of impropriety will devastate the FBI’s reputation. We hope to hear from you today about an action plan for making sure this never happens again, that individuals are held accountable, and whether you plan to re- evaluate prior decisions in light of the prejudice shown by officials in integral roles on past and ongoing investigations. Concerning substantive legislative measures, we find ourselves only weeks before a critical program for our national security ex- pires—FISA section 702. This committee passed on an overwhelm- ingly bipartisan basis a reauthorization of section 702 that main- tains the integrity of the program while protecting cherished civil liberties. We ensured that the FBI is not hindered by having to ob- tain a warrant before performing a search for information that the VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Dec 18, 2018 Jkt 033359 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A359.XXX A359 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with HEARING 3 Agency has inside its databases. However, we also put in place pro- tections to ensure that law enforcement cannot short cut Ameri- cans’ civil liberties by reading Americans’ emails without a warrant when looking for evidence of run-of-the-mill crimes. This committee’s legislation struck a balance that will promote national security and civil liberties. So, I hope to hear from you that you will work with us to make any perfecting changes to the legislation so that section 702 can be reauthorized on time. Needless violence on the home front is also a concern for all Americans who value and expect safety and security as they go about their day-to-day lives. We have seen horrific violence in the past year, including the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Vio- lence has hit this very body when our colleague, Congressman Sca- lise, and others were shot. We also see many of our major cities stricken by daily murders and excessive violence. Is this the new normal? I am unwilling to accept that. While we have disagreements over policy for address- ing this violence, we can all agree that it is existentially important for us to understand and address the underlying causes. If we ne- glect this duty, we do a disservice for generations to come. Director Wray, in addition to punishing individuals who have al- ready committed criminal acts, I hope the FBI is also committed to crime-prevention initiatives. I am interested to know what steps Federal law enforcement is taking to address the underlying causes of violence, and whether Congress can offer any additional re- sources to ensure that we can faithfully say that we have done what we can to battle gratuitous violence in all of its forms.