House hearing live: Gabbard, Ratcliffe and Patel to testify at intel committee on threats, Iran war

[0:00] cash patel the acting director of the national security agency and commander of u.s cyber [0:05] command lieutenant general william hartman and the dia director lieutenant general james [0:11] adams thank you all for your appearance today and for your service i also want to offer a special [0:17] thanks to general hartman who is about to enter a well-earned and well-deserved retirement general [0:22] on behalf of the committee thank you for your lifetime of service to our nation i'd first like [0:29] to take this opportunity to commend the thousands of men and women in our intelligence agencies whom [0:34] our witnesses represent our intelligent professionals are second to none because of [0:40] their service their dedication and their sacrifice americans are safer at home and around the world [0:44] but because of the nature of their work grateful americans don't buy their lunch at restaurants or [0:49] even have a chance to say thank you so on their behalf let me simply say thank you i want to make [0:56] two basic points this morning first the world is always a dangerous place especially for america [1:03] but thanks to your agencies and president trump's leadership the world isn't quite as dangerous for [1:08] americans as it was a year ago thanks to the efforts of our military and intelligence personnel [1:14] including my fellow arkansans who are now serving in the middle east the iranian revolutionary regime [1:20] that terrorized the world for 47 years is finally knocked on its back foot last summer we devastated [1:27] iran's nuclear facilities in recent weeks we've eliminated iran's top leadership pummeled its [1:32] military sunk its navy destroyed its missiles neutered its proxies and left its economy reeling [1:39] after 47 years of indecision and timidity america has finally put our foot down i'm also pleased to [1:47] report that things have improved a lot in our own backyard now that venezuela's illegitimate communist [1:52] dictator nicolas maduro is rotting in the new york prison only the united states could execute [1:58] a military and intelligence operation of this difficulty without a single american life lost [2:05] our military is awesome but these operations wouldn't have succeeded and they probably wouldn't [2:10] have even been tried without timely accurate and fact-based intelligence from your agencies [2:17] these successful operations are a testament to our intelligence professionals ability to expose and [2:23] uncover critical details about america's enemies so let this be a warning to those who wish america [2:29] harm we leave no stone unturned and there's no one or no thing close to you that might not betray you [2:38] today's hearing is an opportunity for the american people to hear an unvarnished and unbiased account [2:44] of the remaining threats we face from communist china north korea and russia to the east to narco [2:50] terrorist cartels here at home these threats truly do span the globe and for my second point your agencies [2:58] have improved over the last year thanks to reforms that has gotten them back to basics of course my [3:05] two points are related when our intelligence agencies return to their core mission stealing [3:11] the secrets of our adversaries to deliver timely and needful intelligence america is safer for it [3:17] these efforts are already bearing fruit for example last year the cia increased its foreign intelligence [3:23] reporting by 25 percent this year the cia is on track to hire and deploy more officers than at any [3:30] point in the last quarter century while i'm greatly encouraged by the progress more remains to be done [3:37] we must always equip our intelligence personnel with the tools they need to do their jobs well and [3:42] execute their missions that's why i fully support president trump's request for a clean reauthorization of [3:48] fiza section 702 and it's why i expect a healthy intelligence budget request in the administration's [3:55] supplemental appropriations request to fund operations against iran and narco terrorists no [4:01] doubt our military needs supplemental funding but our intelligence agencies need it just as badly [4:07] moreover i urge each of you to continue to make personnel and institutional reforms that will [4:12] cement cement these changes and foreclose a return in the future to bureaucratic bloat political bias [4:20] and excessive caution within your services when i became chairman i promised real reform across the [4:26] entire intelligence community our first intelligence authorization act set the foundation for a [4:31] more efficient intelligence community by for example reorganizing the odni improving the security of [4:38] cia installations and directing resources towards foreign intelligence collection and covert action [4:45] this year i look forward to going further namely by growing our cadre of collectors making generational [4:51] investments and core capabilities providing new capabilities to defend our space assets and further [4:56] codifying reforms to guard against any future return of bloated and biased bureaucracy i look forward [5:03] to working with you towards these ends i now recognize the vice chairman um thank you mr chairman and let me also [5:11] offer a good morning to our witnesses um let me also join you mr chairman by and begin by thanking [5:17] literally the tens of thousands of men and women across america's intelligence community who work every day to [5:25] keep our country safe their work is by necessity secret that is the nature of intelligence but that is also [5:33] why hearings like this one matter so much over the past year we have seen a series of developments that [5:41] raise serious concerns about the erosion of safeguards that protect both our democracy and our security and [5:51] nowhere is that more worrying than when it comes to the integrity of our elections for decades now our intelligence [6:00] community has warned that foreign adversaries including russia china and iran are actively seeking to shape [6:09] the outcome of american elections these efforts have included cyber intrusions disinformation campaigns [6:17] and covert influence operations designed to divide americans and undermine our confidence in our democratic [6:23] institutions protecting our elections from these threats should be one of the intelligence community's [6:30] highest priorities the dni is supposed to be coordinating intelligence on foreign election interference [6:40] warning the american people about adversaries seeking to undermine our democracy ensuring that federal [6:47] state and local officials have the information they need congress even required the creation of a [6:54] foreign malign influence center inside the office of the dni to coordinate the intelligence community's [7:02] response to foreign election interference and ensure that these threats are properly shared across the [7:09] government that is the mission congress assigned to the dni but while foreign adversaries are actively [7:17] probing our democratic institutions the dni has eliminated the foreign malign influence center [7:24] and does not have a designated official coordinating the response to election threats and for months the [7:32] committee has reportedly has repeatedly requested briefings from the ic briefings that are required by law [7:41] on legitimate foreign threats to the midterms we have received no response now that silence i believe [7:50] should concern every member of the committee because it clearly demonstrates the dni is not interested in [7:57] protecting american democracy by combating foreign influence instead unfortunately we have seen the dni involve [8:06] herself in purely domestic matters last month we saw director gabbard personally participate in a law [8:15] enforcement raid to seize election ballots and voting machine records in fulton county georgia a raid tied to an [8:24] election that the president lost six years ago when the warrant supporting the raid was unsealed it showed [8:31] something deeply troubling there was no foreign connection to justify the involvement of our nation's top spy [8:41] instead the predicate for the warrant was a slot of debunked conspiracy theories that had already been [8:49] rejected repeatedly by courts by independent investigators and by even by george's own republican [8:56] secretary of state yet the nation's top intelligence officer official was personally involved in this operation [9:03] this raises one very serious question if the intelligence community is not being deployed to mobilize [9:13] getting to mobilize against foreign threats why is it being deployed at all on a domestic issue [9:20] the dni's appearance at this rate as well as her involvement in seizing voting machines [9:26] from puerto rico suggests something that should also alarm every american i believe an organized effort [9:33] to misuse her national security powers to interfere in domestic politics and potentially provide a pretext [9:42] for the president's unconstitutional efforts to seize control of the upcoming elections don't take my word for it [9:51] the president has repeatedly pushed for the nationalization of our elections calling for federal government [9:58] to override the state election laws and quote take over voting while continuing to make false statements about election fraud [10:07] and we have heard troubling rhetoric from senior officials that reinforce these concerns as former [10:14] homeland security secretary christie noem said publicly we've been and this is a quote we've been [10:19] proactive trying to make sure we have the right people voting electing the right leaders to lead this country [10:31] at the same time the administration has brought into government individuals promoting conspiracy theories about [10:37] our elections the so-called white house director of election security and integrity kurt olson played a key [10:45] role in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election now mr olsen holds a position inside the federal [10:53] government with the authority to refer criminal investigations and access our most sensitive security [11:01] information all supposedly doing his witch hunts around elections matter of fact according to the court filings [11:10] he helped trigger the fbi seizure of the ballots in fulton county so it's worth asking why is someone whose [11:17] career has been devoted to undermining the legitimate results of a democratic election now operating from [11:25] inside the federal government with access to law enforcement and intelligence authorities what exactly [11:33] has he been empowered to do as members of our committee know this create as members know this committee was [11:40] created in the aftermath of the unconstitutional abuses exposed after watergate the guard rails have been [11:48] built around our intelligence and law enforcement agencies over the past several decades exist for a [11:54] reason without them america begins to look more like adversaries emphasized in this year's annual threat [12:02] assessment china russia iran north korea and less like a democracy confronting confronting these very clear [12:12] and present threats to american security requires experienced professionals and ex intelligence agencies [12:20] that are focused squarely on their mission instead over the past year we've seen actions that only serve [12:27] to weaken them politically motivated purges at the fbi has resulted in the exodus of hundreds of agents [12:36] and the reassignments of hundreds more from key national security areas like counterintelligence counterterrorism [12:44] and cyber and where they've been redeployed to immigration enforcement in one troubling case [12:51] agents working on a task force focused on threats from iran clearly something that's pretty damn important [12:58] right now were dismissed because they had previously participated in the investigation of the president's [13:06] mishandling of classified information elsewhere the bureau's budget is being slashed last year it cut over 500 million [13:15] dollars with the largest decreases from cyber counterterrorism and counterespionage and the remaining [13:24] scarce resources are being squandered on things like a 60 million dollar jet for the director's personal [13:30] travel so we can go golfing in scotland or partying with athletes in milan in fact according to a whistleblower [13:37] account those flights became so frequent they even delayed the bureau's response to major incidents like the [13:43] charlie kirk assassination or shooting at brown university credible reports also indicate that highly [13:49] trained fbi agents from elite swat units have been reassigned to chauffeur his girlfriend and [13:57] unprecedented use of personnel whose training intended are actually intended for hunting violent [14:02] criminals and neutralizing terrorists unfortunately this dysfunction has not been limited to the fbi [14:11] both the national security agency and the defense intelligence agency and this is no reflection [14:16] on the two gentlemen sitting in front of us were both left leaderless for months after the president [14:23] fired their directors one at the behest of a 9 11 conspiracy theorist and the other for providing a [14:31] fact-based assessment that contradicted the president's claims about obliterating iran's nuclear program [14:40] clearly if the program had been truly obliterated the president wouldn't be bombing again right now [14:48] and again more than one-third of the personnel at cissa created by congress to protect critical [14:54] infrastructure like power water and election systems have been forced out that seems like a real mistake [15:01] as we still grapple with the intrusion called site type typhoon and the recent iranian cyber attack [15:08] on striker and we are now seeing in real time the cost to the state department thousands of american [15:16] citizens were trapped in a literal war zone with little assistance from their own government for a [15:22] time those calling the state department hotline for assistance were greeted with a pre-recorded message [15:27] that said quote please do not require rely on the u.s government for assisted departure of evacuation [15:36] this was a foreseeable security crisis when you start a war of choice when there was no imminent threat [15:45] you should be able to prepare to make sure you get americans out of the war zone that same attitude [15:54] pushing some of our closest friends into the arms of our most capable foes has profound consequences [16:00] two of our most significant allies canada and the uk are currently working to sign trade deals [16:07] with china because they no longer believe the united states is a dependable partner that's a remarkable [16:15] statement in 2026 and in the president's war of choice with iran a war that has already killed 13 [16:23] service members cost americans taxpayers billions of dollars and scrambled supply chains from oil to [16:31] fertilizer to aluminum nobody answered the call when the president asked our allies to help reopen the [16:38] strait of hormuz as the president's own counterterrorism chief acknowledged in his resignation yesterday [16:47] iran posed no imminent threat the united states unfortunately our allies have been alienated [16:55] and distracted by the administration's unilateral threats like invading greenland [17:01] and the result is clear americans have been left more exposed in an already dangerous conflict [17:09] now what i say what i just outlined is quite a list and it's a partial one at that matter of fact [17:14] we've got a full list we'd like to share with all the press so what does this all mean it matters [17:20] because i believe the warnings contained in this year's annual threat assessment i believe our ic [17:28] when they say the global security environment is becoming more complex and that armed conflict [17:35] is becoming more global and i also agree with the assessment when it says that to succeed [17:41] we must think prudently and prioritize our efforts on the topic of the annual threat assessment i want to [17:48] close where i begin by noting that since the first time since 2017 in the aftermath of russia's [17:57] intervention in our 2016 elections the annual threat assessment includes nothing nothing about [18:07] adversary attempts to influence american elections now i don't believe this omission means that the [18:14] threat has disappeared it means that the intelligence community is no longer being allowed to speak [18:21] honestly about it and it raises serious questions and i will be asking about the your priorities [18:28] director gabbard in terms of what you're choosing to prioritize instead thank you mr chairman i yield back [18:34] before we go to the witnesses now that we have a critical mass of members i would simply like [18:37] to remind members that we will handle questions as we did last year seniority uh at the time of the gavel [18:44] and alternating between democrats and republicans we'll have one round of questions seven minutes [18:49] per round i will not entertain questions after seven minute time has expired furthermore i expect [18:55] to convene the closed session in our usual location promptly 30 minutes after the open session begins [19:03] director gabbard the floor is yours thank you chairman cotton vice chair warner members of the committee [19:10] good morning i'm here today to present the 2026 annual threat assessment joined by the directors of the cia [19:17] fbi dia and nsa before i continue on behalf of the intelligence community i want to extend our thanks [19:26] to general hartman for his 37 years of service in uniform and closing out his 37 years with tremendous [19:34] leadership of the nsa this briefing is being provided in accordance with odni's statutory responsibility [19:41] i'd like to remind those who are watching what i am briefing here today conveys the intelligence [19:46] community's community's assessment of the threats facing u.s citizens our homeland and our interests [19:52] not my personal views or opinions in this assessment we're following the structure of priorities that [19:58] were laid out in the president's national security strategy starting with threats to our homeland and [20:04] then shifting to global risks the defense of our homeland is of the utmost importance to the american [20:11] people and efforts by this administration have shown over the last year the results of bolstering [20:17] homeland defense in the security of the american people for example the strict enforcement of u.s [20:23] policies at the u.s mexico border and regionally have served as a deterrent drastically reducing [20:29] illegal immigration based on customs and border patrol data january 2026's monthly encounters are down [20:36] 83.8 percent compared to january 2025 encounters declined 79 compared to 2024 the drivers of migration are [20:48] likely to continue potential worsening instability in countries like cuba and haiti risk triggering [20:53] migration surges and smugglers who have long operated as transnational criminal organizations continue [21:00] to view chaos as an opportunity for profit and will continue to look to profit from illegal immigration [21:07] flows these transnational criminal organizations continue to pose a daily and direct threat to the [21:13] health and safety of millions of u.s citizens primarily indirectly by producing and trafficking in illegal [21:20] drugs under president trump's leadership fentanyl overdose deaths have seen a 30 percent decrease [21:26] from september 2024 to september 2025. president trump's aggressive efforts to more directly and actively [21:34] target these transnational criminal organizations and reduce the inflow of fentanyl precursors [21:40] has already had a significant impact which is likely to continue we've seen fentanyl potency also [21:47] decrease likely due to disruptions to the production supply chain u.s efforts to work with china and india [21:54] to halt the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals to north america are demonstrating some improvement but [22:00] there is more work to be done as sadly there are still tens of thousands of fentanyl related deaths in america [22:06] every year mexico-based tcos like the sinaloa cartel and jalisco new generation cartel dominate [22:14] the production and smuggling of fentanyl heroin meth and cocaine into the united states colombia-based [22:21] tcos and illegal armed groups like the revolutionary armed forces of colombia and the national liberation [22:27] army are responsible for producing and trafficking large volumes of cocaine to the u.s and european markets [22:34] with now some indicators of attempts to expand their market to the asia pacific region colombia [22:40] remains the world's largest producer of cocaine and colombian criminal groups have expanded their [22:45] trafficking relationships with the neighboring ecuadorian and brazilian gangs as you know ms13 is [22:53] well established and sells within the united states and uses violence to intimidate the salvadoran diaspora [23:00] engaging in murder extortion retail drug trafficking firearms offenses and prostitution fueling increased [23:06] violence and instability these and other tcos continue to present a very tangible and individualized [23:13] risk of violent crime to everyday americans and contribute to regional instability as the president [23:19] increases his focus on counter drug and counter cartel pressures they're likely to seek ways to try to [23:25] adapt their operations including shifting production locations and trafficking routes and methods the [23:33] united states continues to face a complex and evolving threat landscape with a geographical geographically [23:38] diverse set of islamist terrorist actors seeking to propagate their ideology globally and harm americans [23:45] even as al-qaeda and isis remain weaker today than they were at their respective peaks the spread of [23:52] islamist ideology in some cases led by individuals and organizations associated with the muslim brotherhood [23:58] poses a fundamental threat to freedom and the foundational principles that under underpin western [24:03] civilization islamist groups and individuals use this ideology for recruiting and financial support [24:11] for terrorist groups and individuals around the world and to advance their political objectives of [24:15] establishing is an islamist caliphate which governs based on sharia they're increasing examples of this in [24:22] various european countries and president trump's designation of certain muslim brotherhood chapters [24:27] as foreign terrorist organizations is a mechanism to secure americans against this threat in response [24:34] to setbacks to their capabilities of conducting large-scale complex attacks islamist terrorist groups [24:40] have shifted toward focusing on executing information operations to spread propaganda and inspire or enable [24:46] individuals located in or with access to the west u.s counterterrorism efforts primarily in iraq [24:55] somalia yemen and syria in 2025 for instrumental in removing key terrorist leaders and operatives [25:03] degrading the ability of al-qaeda and isis to quickly reconstitute its leadership and plan large-scale [25:09] attacks against the homeland and u.s interests abroad strict u.s border enforcement measures and [25:15] increased deportations of individuals with suspected links to islamist terrorists have reduced access to [25:20] the homeland and removed some potential sources of future terrorist attacks since january u.s officials [25:27] have only had a handful of encounters at our borders with individuals associated with terrorist groups [25:33] this is a positive trend however our interagency coordinated efforts to continue to identify locate [25:39] and remove known or suspected terrorists who may already be in the united states continues with vigilance [25:46] in 2025 there were at least three islamist terrorist attacks in the united states law enforcement [25:53] disrupted at least 15 u.s based islamist terrorist plotters roughly half of last year's disrupted plotters [26:00] had some online contact with islamist terrorists inspired by islamist foreign terrorist organizations abroad [26:07] for example in the recent attempt to attack a synagogue in michigan the shooter had familial ties to a hezbollah leader [26:15] al-qaeda and isis pose the biggest threat to u.s interests overseas in parts of africa the middle [26:20] east and south asia where these groups operate in the middle east aqap in yemen isis-k in south asia [26:28] and isis in syria are among the most likely groups conducting external plotting isis in syria is likely [26:35] seeking to rebuild its ranks expand support networks and solicit funds by re-engaging with and recruiting [26:41] from the likely hundreds of isis detainees and thousands of isis-linked women and children who [26:47] were either released or escaped from prisons and displaced person camps that were previously run by [26:52] the syrian democratic forces in northeast syria meanwhile state actors present a risk broader in [27:00] scope by seeking new capabilities in kinetic and cyber warfare the united states secure nuclear deterrent [27:08] continues to ensure safety in the homeland against strategic threats however the intelligence community [27:14] assesses that russia china north korea iran and pakistan have been researching and developing an array [27:20] of novel advanced or traditional missile delivery systems with nuclear and conventional payloads that [27:26] put our homeland within range the ic assesses that threats to the homeland will expand collectively to [27:33] more than 16 000 missiles by 2035 from the current assessed figure of more than 3 000 missiles the icss is [27:42] that china and russia are developing advanced delivery systems meant to be capable of penetrating or [27:46] bypassing u.s missile defenses north korea's icbms can already reach u.s soil and the icss is that it is [27:54] committed to expanding its nuclear arsenal pakistan's long-range ballistic missile development potentially could [28:01] include icbms with the range capable of striking the homeland the icss is that iran has previously [28:08] demonstrated space launch and other technology it could use to begin to develop a militarily viable [28:15] icbm before 2035 should tehran attempt to pursue that capability however these assessments will clearly [28:24] be updated as the full impact of operation epic fury's devastating strikes on iran's missile production [28:29] facilities stockpiles and launch capabilities is determined these nations collectively will likely [28:36] seek to understand u.s plans for advanced missile defense for the homeland probably for the purpose [28:41] of shaping their own missile development programs and assessing u.s intentions regarding deterrence [28:47] shifting to the cyber domain the ic assesses that china russia iran north korea and non-state ransomware [28:53] groups will continue to seek to compromise u.s government and private sector networks as well as [28:58] critical infrastructure to collect intelligence create options for future disruption and for [29:04] financial gain the icss is that china and russia present the most persistent and active threats [29:10] and are continuing their r d efforts north korea's cyber program is sophisticated and agile [29:17] in 2025 alone north korea's cryptocurrency heist probably stole two billion dollars which the icss is [29:23] is helping to fund the regime and include further development of its strategic weapons programs [29:30] financially or ideologically motivated non-state actors are becoming more bold [29:35] with ransomware groups shifting to faster high-volume attacks that are harder to identify and mitigate [29:42] innovation in the field of artificial intelligence will likely accelerate these threats in the cyber [29:47] domain the icss is that it will increasingly shape cyber operations with both cyber operators and [29:53] defenders using these tools to improve their speed and effectiveness for example in august of 2025 cyber [30:00] actors used an ai tool to conduct a data extortion operation against international government health [30:06] care and public health emergency service sectors as well as religious institutions moving to the [30:13] arctic the icss is that russia and to a lesser extent china aimed to strengthen their presence in [30:18] the region through increased maritime trade natural resource extraction and military activity [30:24] russia which has the longest coastline in the arctic has long sought recognition of its polar great power [30:31] status and is deploying more military forces and building new permanent infrastructure china though [30:36] not an arctic country is engaged in more limited efforts in the region to advance its own strategic [30:41] and economic interests the icss is that china is the most capable competitor in the field of artificial [30:51] intelligence the icss is that ai capabilities are rapidly advancing and changing the threat landscape [30:58] as this is a defining technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human learning [31:03] comprehension problem solving creativity and autonomy it will be critical to ensure that humans remain [31:09] in control of how ai is used and of the machines that may threaten to autonomously violate the interests [31:15] of the american people across all domains ai adoption at scale across the spectrum of usage poses serious risks [31:24] ai has the potential to aid in weapons and systems design has been used in recent conflicts to influence [31:30] actions targeting and streamline decision making underscoring the risk and likely threats that could [31:35] manifest on the battlefield early developers in the quantum in quantum computers will give countries an [31:43] extraordinary technological advantage over others to quickly process national security information [31:49] and break current encryption methodology used to protect sensitive finance health care and government [31:55] information the global security landscape is volatile and complex with armed conflict growing more [32:03] common and posing potential threats against u.s interests strategic competition and regional and smaller [32:09] powers are becoming more willing to use force to pursue their interests heightening the risk of conflict [32:16] the ic assesses the space domain is becoming increasingly contested with china and russia developing [32:22] counter space capabilities to challenge u.s space efforts the threat of nuclear proliferation and advancing [32:29] chemical and biological warfare capabilities continues to grow i'll turn now to our [32:34] our neighborhood in the western hemisphere where flagging economies high crime rates pervasive organized [32:39] crime migration flows corruption narcotics trafficking all of these present a spectrum of risks to u.s [32:45] interests and where strategic competitors seek to gain greater influence in the region [32:51] the icss is that latin america and the caribbean almost certainly will see hot spots of volatility in the coming year [33:00] since maduro's arrest the ic assesses a shift in venezuela's leadership towards cooperating with the [33:07] u.s to open its economy to develop the country's oil and gas extraction capability and we've seen their [33:13] movement in releasing political prisoners the u.s mexico canada agreement review in 2026 will likely [33:20] increase uncertainty in many latin american countries especially those that rely on mexico as an export [33:26] destination for intermediate goods for manufacture and onward export to the u.s china russia and iran [33:33] are likely seeking to sustain economic political and military engagement with latin america the icss is [33:41] that china's demand for raw materials is likely to continue to drive its economic outreach while russia [33:46] likely wants to expand its current security and diplomatic ties with cuba and nicaragua the icss is that [33:53] china aims to elevate its own political economic military and technological power to increase its [33:59] own regional positioning and global influence to fend off threats to their interests while there are [34:06] challenging areas where interests diverge president trump's diplomatic engagements with president [34:11] xi to work towards u.s interests have enabled progress where those interests align the icss is that [34:18] china continues to rapidly modernize its military forces across all domains in pursuit of its goal [34:23] to achieve world-class status by mid-century this includes building a force with the aim of being [34:29] capable of deterring u.s and allied forces in the region and to achieve their stated objective of [34:35] developing the ability to seize taiwan by force if necessary however the ic assesses that china likely [34:42] prefers to set the conditions for an eventual peaceful reunification with taiwan short of conflict [34:48] the icss is that an increasingly confident north korean regime remains a source of concern regionally and [34:53] globally its weapons of mass destruction its conventional military capabilities illicit cyber [34:59] activities and demonstrated willingness to use asymmetric capabilities poses a threat to u.s [35:05] and its allies particularly south korea and japan north korea's partnership with russia is growing [35:12] and in 2025 kim took steps to improve ties with china still north korea's most important trading partner [35:19] and economic benefactor the icss is that north korea's support for russia and the war against ukraine [35:25] has increased north korea's capabilities as their forces have gained combat experience in 21st century [35:31] warfare along with equipment in 2024 north korea deployed more than 11 000 troops to russia to support [35:38] combat operations in kursk pyongyang continues to develop and expand its strategic weapons programs [35:45] including missiles that can evade u.s and regional missile defenses it is continuing to work to [35:51] increase its nuclear warhead stockpile and maintains biological and chemical weapons capabilities russia [35:59] retains the capability to selectively challenge u.s interests globally by military and non-military means [36:05] the icss is that the most dangerous threat posed by russia to the u.s is the potential of an escalatory [36:11] spiral in an ongoing conflict such as ukraine or a new conflict that led to direct hostilities including [36:18] the potential deployment of nuclear weapons the icss is that putin continues to invest in russia's [36:25] defense industrial base as well as novel capabilities that may pose a greater threat to the u.s [36:29] homeland and forces abroad than conventional weapons russia has advanced systems hypersonic missiles [36:36] and undersea capabilities designed to negate u.s military advantage moscow also relies on other [36:43] tools to exert pressure using gray zone tactics to further its goals and compete below the level of [36:48] armed conflict russia is also building an extensive counter space capabilities to contest u.s space [36:56] dominance its development of a nuclear counter space weapon poses the greatest single threat to the [37:02] world's space architecture during the past year the icss is that russia has maintained the upper hand in [37:08] the war against ukraine u.s led negotiations between moscow and kiev are ongoing until such an agreement [37:16] is met moscow is likely to continue fighting a slow war of attrition until they view their objectives have [37:21] been achieved in the middle east conflict and instability will shape security political and [37:26] economic dynamics in a variety of ways the icss is that operation epic fury is advancing fundamental [37:33] change in the region that began with hamas attack on israel in on october 7 2023 and continued with the [37:41] 12-day war last year resulting in weakening iran and its proxies the icss is the regime in iran appears [37:49] to be intact but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities its [37:56] conventional military power projection capabilities have largely been destroyed leaving limited options iran's [38:03] strategic position has been significantly degraded the u.s led maximum pressure campaign and snapback of [38:10] european sanctions added additional pressure to an already bleak iranian economy resulting in mass [38:16] protests earlier this year that tehran suppressed by killing thousands of protesters even if the regime [38:22] remains intact the icss is that internal tensions are likely to increase as econ as iran's economy worsens [38:29] even so iran and its proxies continue to attack u.s and allied interests in the middle east the icss is [38:40] that if a hostile regime survives it will likely seek to begin a years-long effort to rebuild its military [38:46] missiles and uav forces prior to operation epic fury the icss is iran was trying to recover from the [38:54] severe damage to its nuclear infrastructure sustained during the 12-day war and continued to refuse to [38:59] comply with its nuclear obligations with the iaea refusing them access to key facilities the icss is [39:07] that china russia north korea see the united states as a strategic competitor and potential adversary iran [39:14] has long viewed the u.s as an adversary and is engaged in active conflict with the u.s as of today [39:20] these four countries the icss is are likely to continue their selective cooperation with each other [39:26] which could bolster their individual capabilities and threats to u.s interests more broadly [39:31] however currently these relationships are primarily bilateral on selective issues and depend on [39:38] broader circumstances divergent sovereign interests and in some cases concerns over directly confronting [39:44] the united states these factors the icss's are likely to constrain their relationships finally [39:52] conflicts on the continent of africa are likely to persist through 2026 due to poor governance economic [39:58] demands and external support tensions continue between ethiopia and eritrea which could rapidly accelerate [40:05] to conflict contentious national elections in somalia could distract the federal government away from [40:11] counterterrorism actions against al-shabaab which continues to conduct terror attacks while providing funding and [40:17] propaganda support to other elements of al-qaeda in yemen the civil war in sudan continues even as external [40:24] negotiations occur isis in west africa and the sahel have increased the intensity of their attacks [40:31] against local security forces expanding their areas of operation and moving closer to cities with the [40:37] u.s presence the icss is that african governments will likely use their wealth and critical minerals [40:43] to seek partnerships that deliver them meaningful benefit concurrent conflicts and crises across the [40:49] continent will continue to put u.s citizens at risk and cause further instability in closing as leaders of the [40:57] intelligence community we remain committed to providing president and policy makers with timely [41:03] unbiased relevant intelligence to inform decision making and to ensure the safety security and freedom [41:09] of the american people thank you thank you director gabbard general adams camden arkansas is the home of [41:16] brand new production lines for the israeli missile defense interceptors could you please explain how critical [41:22] arrow and iron dome systems being built in camden um are for not only israel's defenses but the defense of [41:31] hundreds of thousands of american citizens and troops in the region uh chairman cotton uh thank you for [41:37] that question and uh i i have to say that the arrow system and the iron dome system are critical defensive [41:44] systems that prevent uh uh adversary power projection from impacting um the uh the targets and the friendly [41:53] areas in israel the arrow system itself is uh the high altitude primarily against uh mrbms and it's proven to [42:02] be very very effective against those uh systems the iron dome is more of a closer in system protecting against [42:10] rockets and things of that nature but the combination of those two with uh u.s uh systems creates a shield [42:18] to prevent uh those attacks from the iranians uh impacting key areas in uh in in areas where they're [42:25] protecting thank you general adams i was recently in camden with secretary hegseth as part of his [42:30] arsenal of freedom tour and they are greater kansan to do great work to keep our nation safe uh general [42:36] hartman we've often spoken about our pressing need for more cyber security manpower and part-time [42:42] formation such as the arkansas air national guards 223rd cyberspace operation squadron are a great [42:48] great way to grow the force what recommendations do you have to grow these cyber protection teams and [42:55] develop more capacity for local and national missions chairman cotton thank thanks for the question [43:03] i did hear a little bit about the great team in arkansas there and i know 855 cpt operates from that [43:09] formation and so for us certainly looking at a number of different initiatives one ensure that we [43:14] can share all of the relevant top secret classified information and uh other sort of indications and [43:21] warning that the organizations need but i will tell you i'm an advocate for an ability to establish some [43:28] sort of joint reserve cyber organization and so that at cybercom we can ensure that those organizations [43:35] uh have all of the advanced training that they need to ensure that those organizations have access to [43:41] all of the intelligence that they need and to ensure that we control some level of funding at both cybercom [43:47] and nsa that can be used to mobilize those personnel to handle the most difficult problems that we're [43:53] faced with and we have been working with congress on some of that language and the department and we [43:57] appreciate it sir thank you general hartman as i said in my opening um we only have this one public [44:04] hearing a year even though the committee hears from each of you several times the year in classified [44:09] settings um so we don't often have a chance to tell the american people what great work their [44:15] intelligence professionals are doing for them so director ratcliffe um could could you take the [44:20] opportunity to to maybe join in the excellent briefings that secretary hegseth and general kane have [44:26] provided on a regular basis um over the last couple months um on the military aspects of both the maduro [44:32] raid and operation epic fury to explain the cia's contributions to those operations thank you [44:39] senator um you know last year when i was here in in my confirmation i promised you all and you had all [44:47] asked for a more aggressive cia one that was focused on core mission getting back to the business of [44:54] stealing secrets to be able to provide our policy makers with a decisive strategic advantage that would [45:02] allow uh and advance and contribute to foreign policy and national security successes to the credit of [45:10] the cia workforce um the cia has delivered some of those successes have been very public um as you [45:19] mentioned senator uh operation midnight hammer operation absolute resolve flawless military operations like [45:27] that are hostage to uh a flawless intelligence picture and the cia as you know from classified briefings [45:35] contributed in myriad ways to the success of that but what i would say to you is uh those successes are [45:42] just emblematic of the phenomenal progress and success really by every measure every metric every standard [45:49] across every national security space uh with regard to the work of the cia uh senator you mentioned some [45:56] of it in your opening um the increase of our assets stable um and our human sources up by 25 percent [46:04] our fi collection across the board our foreign intelligence collection uh up by 25 percent overall and in [46:11] important categories like china for instance up 100 percent uh in areas like tech and ai up 45 percent [46:19] on the counter narcotics front our operations up by 70 percent and with regard to counterterrorism [46:26] those are classified numbers that i'll share with you in the classified portion of this hearing [46:31] but they're off the charts good um the best way i can summarize it um senator is i had a 32-year veteran [46:38] of the agency retired this year and he said to me i hate to go uh i don't know if this is the best year [46:44] that the cia has ever had but it's the best year i can ever remember and i think that reflects the [46:49] current morale of the of the cia it's a workforce that knows it's doing a great job it's no it's it's [46:55] it knows that it's being allowed to do what they signed up to do which is provide that decisive [47:01] strategic advantage uh to our country for great successes that everyone can see so i thank you for [47:07] the opportunity to let me uh recognize the cia workforce thank you director rackliff i want to [47:13] address one specific threat from iran the threat of an intercontinental missile which is really just [47:18] the combination of two technologies one thrust to get something into space and a re-entry vehicle to get [47:24] it back to earth um iran has always had a space launch program which is flimsy cover for the first part [47:31] of that intercontinental missile program i haven't seen any iranian astronauts in space lately [47:35] and second they have medium range ballistic missiles which already have a re-entry vehicle so if you [47:40] crudely married those two technologies together i've heard some analysts say that iran could have had a [47:48] functioning intercontinental missile to threaten the united states in as few as six months would you [47:53] agree with that assessment well you're uh you're right to be concerned about iran's development of [47:58] longer range ballistic missiles senator if if a lot if iran were allowed uh to develop at the ibm irbm [48:05] ranges which is three thousand kilometers it would uh it would threaten most of europe and yes as you [48:12] mentioned um we know that iran is gaining experience in these larger uh more powerful booster technologies [48:19] through its uh so-called space launch vehicle program um if left unimpeded yes senator uh they [48:28] would have the ability to uh range missiles to the continental u.s um it's one of the reasons why [48:35] degrading iran's um missile production capabilities that is taking place right now in operation epic fury is [48:43] so important to our national security thank you vice chairman thank you mr chairman um director gabbard [48:52] the um whole country knows that you were recently involved in a fbi operation to seize ballots in fulton [48:59] county georgia yet this was despite the fact that the warrant showed no foreign interference or nexus [49:08] matter of fact the warrant was based entirely on conspiracy theories that have already been examined and [49:14] rejected repeatedly now where is the authority for you to involve yourself in a domestic law enforcement [49:23] activity thank you vice chairman i appreciate the question as you know i've addressed uh every issue [49:31] you've raised in detail in a letter but i'm grateful for the opportunity to do it in this forum [49:36] as you stated congress provided by statute odni with the responsibility of election security and [49:43] counterintelligence uh in 2021 as you also know odni has purview and oversight you i i know the history [49:51] very well but could you just i am addressing the question odni also uh has purview and overview over [49:59] two uh domestic related agencies the department of homeland security and the fbi both of which have [50:04] purview over election security responsibilities to ensure the integrity of our elections uh i want to [50:11] correct one of your statements that you've made multiple times which is false i did not participate [50:17] in a law enforcement activity nor would i because that does not exist within my authorities i were [50:23] president on the scene are the photos are the photos of you obviously i was at fulton county sir [50:29] at the request of the president and to work with the fbi to observe this action uh that had long [50:36] been awaited i was not aware of what was in the warrant or was not and what was the president's [50:40] specific request for you to go to what was the specific request that was made by the president [50:44] for you to show up in fulton county to go and observe the fbi's activities on this issue so why [50:50] when you look at the fort you have the answer do you have the answer why the president was knowing [50:54] about this affidavit before it was even served i'm not aware that the president knew about an affidavit [50:59] before it was served then why was he sending you to fulton county this occurred the day that the fbi [51:05] had it approved their warrant approved by a local judge and they began to execute this [51:11] address your question sir about the foreign nexus question in order for us to better understand the [51:17] vulnerabilities in our election systems that may exist today as we look to 2026 and yes we are very [51:23] focused on trying to make sure that this election is one that the american people have let me i've got [51:29] a number of questions director i have a number of questions let me ask my next question please um you [51:36] have not provided any of the required reports or briefings to this committee on foreign interference [51:45] this is the first threat assessment since 2017 that didn't even mention foreign interference last [51:55] uh year when you were in already um confirmed it mentioned it at high level are you saying there [52:01] is no foreign threat to our elections in the midterms this year as i stated in the outset of my remarks [52:08] this year's annual threat assessment matches the prioritization of threats and please answer the [52:14] question yes or no is there foreign threat interference to our elections this year laid out are there [52:19] foreign please allow me to answer the question sir the intelligence community has been and continues to [52:24] remain focused on any collection and intelligence products that show a potential foreign threat for [52:31] those who are so so far there has been none then because you've made no reports system excuse me ma'am [52:36] if you want to ask the questions you should have stayed in congress please answer the question i [52:40] didn't ask you a question sir i'm trying to answer your questions so you're saying the failure to provide [52:44] any reports or the failure to have any mention of a foreign threat assessment i would draw the conclusion [52:52] there must be no foreign threat to our elections in 26 so that brings me a question that i have for both [52:57] you ma'am and director patel there are reports that in 2020 the president was preparing an executive [53:05] order to potentially seize um ballots or bring in federal forces there is a published report that [53:12] there is a similar eo being drafted right now about 2026 citing china director patel do you have any [53:19] knowledge of that draft eo uh thank you vice chairman i do not sir director gabbard do you have any i do not [53:27] thank you let me move to iran now i i understand and i appreciated director gabbard your comments [53:33] yesterday about agreeing that the president has sole authority i guess in his bones to declare whether [53:40] something is an imminent threat um i didn't agree with uh your friend mr kent but i didn't again i [53:48] agreed with him yesterday on the fact that there was no imminent threat um i guess what i'm concerned [53:55] about one thing is uh even in your printed testimony today on page six um and your last paragraph on [54:03] page six as a result of operation midnight hammer iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated [54:08] there's been no efforts to try to rebuild their enrichment capability you omitted that paragraph from [54:14] your uh oral opening was that because the president said there was a imminent threat two weeks [54:22] uh sorry i recognized that the time was running long and i skipped through some of the portion you [54:27] chose you chose to take my oral delivered remarks chose to omit the parts that can contradict [54:34] the the president the president continues to say as well that you know he had no idea was shocked [54:41] that the iranians had moved to take over the strait of her moves did you um provide any intelligence [54:48] that would say that it would be um that it was not likely that the iranians would try to move on the [54:54] strait i'm not aware of those remarks and i think those of us here at the table uh can point to the [55:00] fact that historically the iranians have always threatened to leverage their control why would the [55:06] president say he was amazed i'm not aware of those what about the comments the president made that [55:10] thought that he was surprised again reports um that iran struck the adjacent gulf states again i'm not [55:17] aware of those remarks we have well let me ask you continue to did you did you brief the president [55:22] did you brief the president did you brief the president did you brief the president if he starts [55:27] a war of choice that the likely result would be that iran would strike adjacent gulf nations and [55:36] close the strait of her moves did you brief him on those two facts that i think have been [55:41] consistently that can then the uh assumptions of the intelligence community i have not and won't [55:48] divulge internal conversations i will say that those of us within the intelligence community [55:53] continue to provide the president with all of the best objective intelligence available to inform [55:58] his decisions senator collins thank you mr chairman director gabbert you just testified that isis [56:10] that isis is growing and operating in somalia afghanistan syria pakistan and iraq al-qaeda [56:13] al-qaeda are significantly weaker and reflecting that view you have devoted declining budgets personnel and [56:30] emphasis on countering terrorism yet the fact is that isis is growing and operating in somalia afghanistan [56:38] syria pakistan and iraq al-qaeda is surging in afghanistan the arabian peninsula and throughout central africa [56:52] the houthis in yemen and the rest of the iranian proxies remain a serious threat focusing as you have done [57:04] on great power competitors seems to have diverted resources from the fight against terrorism a fight [57:15] that's very much still going on as i have said repeatedly it is terrorists who want and can kill americans [57:28] today we've just seen the terrorists in michigan attacking the synagogue in addition it appears that [57:38] a more stovepiped effort in the intelligence committee has returned how are you ensuring that americans [57:50] are safe and that you are countering counterterrorism threats to our homeland and to u.s citizens abroad [58:02] thank you senator collins for your question and the opportunity to clarify the comments in my opening [58:07] statement my reference to the size of isis and al-qaeda organizationally is smaller and weaker than it [58:16] was during its peak over a decade ago however i completely concur with your remarks about the [58:23] threat of isis al-qaeda and other islamist terrorist groups around the world and the threat that they [58:28] pose to u.s interest service members and directly to the homeland our odni national counterterrorism center [58:35] has been at the forefront of ramping up and i believe is more active today than it has been certainly [58:41] in a long time we are dedicating every resource that they ask for as well as the counterterrorism elements [58:47] across the ic to make sure that we are never taking our eye off of this persistent threat to the american [58:54] people the change in tactics based on the current environment is something we continue to be most [59:01] concerned about where increasingly we are seeing less indicators of large-scale organized complex [59:10] threats or attacks and instead efforts focused on individuals either who have been radicalized by [59:17] islamist propaganda and may not have ever had contact with with isis or al-qaeda for example [59:23] and others who have had contact of which we are able to have more indications of this remains and will [59:32] be and as we come to present our budgets to you a foremost and primary priority the integration [59:39] across the intelligence community on the counterterrorism threat occurs every single day with our teams [59:45] working very effectively together to thwart terrorist attacks as we have over the last year director [59:51] patel i'm going to follow up on this issue with you isis targets potential recruits online through [1:00:00] social media gaming platforms encrypted messaging apps isis even facilitated a network online to smuggle illegal [1:00:13] immigrants into the united states since april 2021 there have been more than 52 jihadist inspired cases [1:00:25] networks across 30 states what measures are the f is the fbi taking to prevent foreign terrorist organizations [1:00:37] from recruiting or influencing americans while also ensuring the protection of individuals right to privacy [1:00:48] thank you senator and i think you um said it best they have um transferred their on their capabilities [1:00:56] in terms of personal recruitments to online recruitments which makes any terrorist organization [1:01:01] including isis all the more powerful what we have done is extended and expanded resources to [1:01:06] environments like the threat screening center which allows us to collect biometric capabilities from [1:01:11] all over the world we've had a double digit increase in that and a double digit increase in intelligence [1:01:16] production but what we've also done in the ct space specifically is expand the number of agents and intel [1:01:23] analysts that go online and and detect based on our biometric capabilities and intelligence that we have [1:01:28] from the interagency and what that leads us to is what we saw in december of last year senator where we [1:01:34] at the fbi stopped four terrorist attacks four in california texas north carolina and pennsylvania [1:01:43] three of which were isis inspired we were able to detect these individuals both online and in person [1:01:48] using our covert platforms and we shuttered a bombing campaign in southern california and two mass casualty [1:01:54] events for new year's eve director gabbard the intelligence community did not detect an extremely [1:02:06] serious breach affecting our telecommunications industry due to the chinese salt type typhoon incursions [1:02:15] for a very long time in addition the chinese vault typhoon threat is poses a terrible threat to u.s critical [1:02:27] infrastructure specific sectors throughout the united states have been overlooked and under protected [1:02:38] what are you doing to deal with the threat to critical infrastructure our electric grid our [1:02:46] communication systems given this huge miss by our talented intelligence community thank you senator [1:02:56] collins for the question um you know working with our partners at nsa and others uh to detect these [1:03:05] threats and how they may be evolved or developing is something we're continuing to work on building [1:03:11] strong partnerships with the private sector whether it be in the telecom industry the financial sector [1:03:16] the healthcare sector the energy sector is something that i am rebuilding we've seen some of these [1:03:22] ongoing relationships uh falter over previous years i've personally been astounded by some of the [1:03:29] conversations i've had with leaders from these industries who are just as concerned as we are about these [1:03:34] threats to our critical infrastructure and yet uh don't feel that they have the connectivity or the [1:03:40] information to be able to secure their own infrastructure so in short building those stronger [1:03:46] partnerships uh integrating and being able to share information intelligence where we can [1:03:52] is critical for us to be able to secure our country from these threats thank you senator collins [1:03:58] senator wyden thank you mr chairman director gabbard last year your agencies testified and i quote [1:04:04] iran's large conventional forces are capable of inflicting substantial damage to an attacker executing [1:04:12] regional strikes and disrupting shipping particularly energy supplies through the strait of hormuz in other [1:04:19] words every problem we're seeing now was not only foreseeable but was actually predicted by the [1:04:28] intelligence agencies so director in the lead up to the start of this war three weeks ago did the [1:04:36] intelligence agencies stick to their assessment that in response to an attack the iranians had the [1:04:42] capability to shut down the strait of hormuz uh thank you senator wyden the intelligence community has [1:04:50] continued to provide the president and his team with the intelligence uh related to this operation in iran [1:04:58] before and on an ongoing basis so right now we're in a global energy crisis we're paying more for gas the [1:05:06] economy is in danger and it seems to me and i heard you discuss this with senator warner too that there's a [1:05:13] lot of hedging going on with respect to entirely foreseen consequences of the war and that strikes me [1:05:20] madam director is what amounts to a historic mistake now my second question is did the intelligence agencies [1:05:28] assess that the iranians could respond to a regime change attack from us by attacking u.s forces [1:05:34] and other american and other americans in the region the ic assessment has always taken very seriously [1:05:42] the threat of the iranian regime's missile capabilities and how our american troops within [1:05:48] the region may be put at risk again you know it seems to me with americans dying in the war it's hard [1:05:56] to see how you can sit here and say that the intelligence agencies couldn't provide a clear warning [1:06:03] that if attacked the iranians would respond by attacking our people now on monday madam director [1:06:10] donald trump was asked about iranian strikes on the gulf states he said and i quote nobody nobody no no no [1:06:18] the greatest experts nobody thought they were going to hit the gulf states you all are supposed to be the [1:06:23] greatest experts that's what we have you there for director gabbard did the intelligence agencies assess [1:06:29] that iran could conduct strikes on our own partners in the region if it was attacked the intelligence [1:06:35] community has continued to assess the potential threats to the region the existing threats to the [1:06:41] region and providing those assessments to the policy makers and decision makers let me move on to [1:06:49] several others of you with respect to 702 of fiza and i'm just going to start with you general hartman when congress last reauthorized [1:06:55] reauthorized section 702 of fiza it included a provision that expanded the type of companies and [1:07:01] individuals who could be forced to assist the government in its spying has this expansion [1:07:08] resulted in any intelligence general hartman senator thanks for the question uh just to be clear this [1:07:16] provision provided us an ability to collect foreign intelligence on personnel outside of the united states [1:07:27] is the major 702 issue in terms of expansion what was the effect of what was done uh senator i would uh [1:07:35] prefer to talk to you about exact specifics uh in the closed session i'm happy to do that let's understand [1:07:41] though this is a dangerously broad provision that could be used to rope in anybody with access to a cable [1:07:50] box a wi-fi router or a server it was jammed into the 2024 reauthorization bill at the last minute senators [1:07:58] were told they had no choice but to support it and now two years later we've just had testimony [1:08:05] from a very respected individual who's saying so far it has had no value so colleagues we are getting [1:08:13] ready to have another discussion on this and this ought to be a warning to every senator that not every [1:08:18] new spying power that is sold as urgent and critically and critical actually is senator could i please respond [1:08:25] to that of course so so senator i just want to be clear it provided us no additional authority that [1:08:32] doesn't involve collecting intelligence on foreigners that are outside of the united states of america fine [1:08:39] director patel a question for you in 2023 your predecessor testified that and i quote to my [1:08:45] knowledge we do not currently purchase commercial database information that includes location data [1:08:51] derived from internet advertising is that the case too still and if so can you commit this morning [1:08:59] to not buying americans location data thank you the fbi uses all tools center thank you for the question [1:09:08] to to do our mission we do purchase uh commercially available information that's consistent with the [1:09:14] constitution and the laws under the electronic communications privacy act and it has led to some [1:09:20] valuable intelligence for us to be utilized with our private and partner sectors so you're saying that [1:09:26] the agency will buy americans location data i believe that that's what you've said in kind of [1:09:33] intelligence lingo and i just want to say as we start this debate doing that without a warrant is an [1:09:40] outrageous end run around the fourth amendment it's particularly dangerous given the use of [1:09:45] artificial intelligence to comb through massive amounts of private information this is exhibit a [1:09:51] for why congress needs to pass our bipartisan bicameral bill the government surveillance reform act i have [1:09:58] time i believe for one more question director uh patel you three weeks ago uh indicated you were [1:10:04] dissatisfied about having your phone records subpoenaed do you think the government ought to get a court [1:10:09] order to collect phone records senator my experience the government does get court orders to obtain uh phone [1:10:17] records one last question general adams for you in 2021 your agency confirmed that it had purchased and [1:10:25] searched domestic location data it is still your agency's position that you can buy americans location [1:10:31] data without a warrant and if so are you still doing it senator thanks for the question with regards to [1:10:38] commercially available information and publicly available information the purchases that this agency [1:10:43] that my agency makes is in alignment with the constitution and protects us persons information [1:10:49] so so but you're buying location data correct i mean we've now had that referred to twice and i [1:10:56] don't think there's any question that you're doing it all of the purchases purchasing of commercially [1:11:03] available information by the agency is passed through legal channels and is in complete compliance with [1:11:08] laws thank you mr chairman general hartman i want to give you a chance to answer more specifically [1:11:13] what senator wyden said you did answer it uh indirectly does anything in section 702 give the [1:11:19] government the authority to target any american with a cable box or a wi-fi router chairman nothing in 702 [1:11:30] gives us the authority to target an american with a cable router or a wi-fi device thank you and i [1:11:36] would observe about commercially available data that the keywords are commercially available if any other [1:11:43] person can buy it and the fbi can buy it and it helps them locate a depraved child molester or savage cartel [1:11:54] leader i would certainly hope the fbi is doing anything they can to keep americans safe it's not much [1:12:00] different from long-standing supreme court precedent that for instance says law enforcement can go through trash [1:12:06] that you put on the side of the curb because you no longer have a privacy interest in it senator cornyn [1:12:13] thank you all for your service to our country and the people you represent uh you have our we are in [1:12:21] debt to all of you i want to ask you director ratcliffe yesterday uh the head of the national [1:12:28] counterterrorism center resigned saying that iran did not represent an imminent threat to the united [1:12:35] states is there anything to indicate that iran had ceased in its nuclear ambitions or in its desire to [1:12:43] continue to build ballistic missiles capable of threatening american troops and allies in the [1:12:50] middle east senator no in fact the intelligence reflects the contrary so you disagree with mr kent [1:13:01] i do i would think uh any fair-minded assessment of the situation even based on open sources would [1:13:08] reflect the danger iran poses the regime poses to the united states isn't it true they've basically been at [1:13:15] war with the west since 1979 during the iranian revolution and have american blood on their hands [1:13:22] that's absolutely correct uh i think iran has been a constant threat to the united states for an [1:13:26] extended period of time and and posed an immediate threat um at this time the threat assessment says [1:13:38] that al-qaeda and isis maintain the intent to launch operations targeting the u.s but it's most likely to [1:13:44] occur through u.s based loan offenders i want to ask you director patel um it seems like there's been a [1:13:54] a raft of incidents recently um on march the first in austin texas where i live a lone gunman wearing a [1:14:04] sweatshirt saying property of allah and who uh the t-shirt he wore underneath had an iranian flag [1:14:10] uh killed three innocent people and injured 12 more um and then we know in uh in virginia the old dominion [1:14:20] shooting um somebody who unbelievably was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for attempting to [1:14:27] support isis but then was released only to commit another terrorist attack we all are familiar with [1:14:34] what's happened in michigan in new york and uh i applaud the uh important role that the fbi has played [1:14:44] in stopping some terrorist attacks but obviously the fbi can't be everywhere all the time would you [1:14:53] please talk about the uh your cooperation and collaboration with uh homeland security investigations [1:15:01] in countering terrorist attacks against the united states thank you senator absolutely it is essential [1:15:07] that the fbi cooperates with the entire interagency but as to your question about dhs specifically [1:15:13] what we have stood up around the country are 59 homeland security task forces in 59 separate locations [1:15:19] these are joint terrorism task force essentially the jtdf model was expanded so the fbi owns 56 joint [1:15:26] terrorism task forces in each of our field offices on top of that we have 59 hstfs which are co-led by the [1:15:33] fbi and dhs and what that allows us to do is things like we did down in new orleans just over the holiday [1:15:41] period where we served for a six-week period of time um and where we dropped the murder rate by double [1:15:46] digit points and also the first time that mardi gras in its entire history had not one homicide so when you [1:15:52] bring the powers of the homeland security folks dhs and the fbi together this is the purpose of it to [1:15:57] get after not just the terrorism threat but the violence and the criminal activity in our cities and [1:16:02] that's why we're in 59 cities across the country and it's working in places like memphis and every other [1:16:08] city we have it are you aware of the fact that uh homeland security investigation is a major directorate [1:16:14] within immigration and customs enforcement yes sir yes sir and are you aware that uh senate democrats [1:16:22] have uniformly voted not to fund the department of homeland security including uh homeland security [1:16:31] investigations tsa fema and other functions of the department of homeland security senator i'm aware [1:16:40] that uh employees of dhs are uh one month without pay they're not being paid right yes sir and uh we're [1:16:48] all seeing the what's happening at airports where people are having to wait hours at a time [1:16:54] because of the the fact that these uh tsa agents are overburdened but what i wanted to uh focus on with [1:17:02] you is is the refusal to fund the functions of the department of homeland security including [1:17:09] homeland security investigations making americans less safe absolutely so give us an example of some of the [1:17:24] uh cooperation that uh you all have engaged in with um the fbi has engaged in with the homeland security [1:17:32] investigations i'm looking at a at an article here that talks about the 190 000 afghan nationals that were [1:17:41] admitted to the united states and literally unvetted uh and and there are examples of individuals uh within [1:17:50] that uh 190 000 who committed to terrorist attacks against uh against the united states and against uh [1:17:58] american citizens uh is that the sort of thing that uh you are investigating with hsi uh senator that's [1:18:05] one of the many things we're investigating with hsi dhs cvp ice give me some other examples of the [1:18:11] collaboration on what other topics including uh uh in addition to uh terrorism attacks what we're [1:18:18] allowed to do with our dhs partners senator is enable their uh massive workforce to supplement ours and [1:18:24] what they're allowed to do is share intelligence on what you just things that you just talked about [1:18:28] about the 100 plus thousand um illegals that came in from afghanistan during the afghanistan withdrawal [1:18:35] unfortunately they weren't vetted thoroughly so what we're doing is going back with our dhs partners [1:18:40] and vetting absolutely every single one of them to the best that we can but unfortunately we're not [1:18:45] able to go out into the country and find every single one of these individuals but we need uh more than [1:18:50] uh 12 000 fbi agents to do that job which is why we are utilizing the 100 000 or so 18 11s at the [1:18:58] department of homeland security to give us the information they have from their immigration [1:19:02] records from their travel records from their travel logs overseas and within the country [1:19:06] and what we're able to do is remove these individuals off the streets in every single [1:19:11] state across the country to include violent gang members to include trend de aragua to include [1:19:16] isis affiliated individuals to include al-qaeda related affiliated individuals and hopefully [1:19:21] we do it before um and not after like the tragedy that we witnessed in washington dc [1:19:27] where an individual from afghanistan was allowed to enter into our country and shot multiple members [1:19:31] of our uniformed military service thank you senator king thank you mr chairman i i do need to point [1:19:37] out in response to some of the previous comments twice in the last two weeks as recently as last [1:19:42] thursday uh senator patty murray the appropriations committee put a bill on the floor that would have [1:19:48] fully funded tsa fema sisa and the coast guard for the rest of the year leaving the focus on the dispute [1:19:56] that we have with the conduct of of ice as separately so uh inexplicably to me that bill was blocked [1:20:06] by my republican colleagues it would have as i say fully funded uh tsa fema sisa coast guard [1:20:13] and then focus the the attention on uh the situation with ice so i just want to be clear on who's blocking [1:20:20] funding for those uh four agencies uh i'd like to ask uh ms gabbard and and director ratcliffe director [1:20:31] both of you uh were either of you in the room or your designees when the president was making the final [1:20:38] decision about uh taking this action against iran on february 27th 28th was there an intelligence committee [1:20:47] uh intelligence community present in that in those deliberations mr mr ratcliffe your response uh [1:20:57] senator king i'm probably in dozens and dozens uh of briefings with the president um i don't know [1:21:05] there was a single meeting where there was a single time where a decision uh were those were those dozens [1:21:11] of meetings right during the lead up to this uh to this uh war uh i know you've met many times but [1:21:18] i'm talking about it in the two weeks or so before the decision to go into iran again uh countless [1:21:25] meetings with with the president um during that period during that period director gabbard your were you [1:21:32] present in those discussions likewise yes the reason i'm asking the question is there seems to be a [1:21:38] discrepancy between what the intelligence committee has a community has reported over the years and [1:21:44] what the president has said in terms of his of this action for example senator wyden read the report [1:21:52] from a year ago that strikes against neighboring states and uh action to close the strait of hormuz [1:21:59] was predicted by the intelligence community and yet the president says nobody knew and my question is [1:22:04] did you tell him anybody want to answer that question uh senator i'll uh answer the question so [1:22:15] uh with regard to briefings um the the president gets briefings constantly about intelligence now the [1:22:23] comments that you talked about i had not heard but what i can tell you is that iran had specific [1:22:30] plans to hit u.s interests in energy sites across the region and that's why the department of war [1:22:37] and the department of state took measures for force protection and personnel protection [1:22:42] in advance of operation epic fury i think that's what's most important any any predictions to the [1:22:49] president about the strait of hormuz all you got to do is look at a map and you'll see that the [1:22:53] vulnerability of the strait of hormuz was that was that part of the briefing director gabbard i think [1:23:01] the director ratcliffe made the point here is that uh this has long been an assessment of the ic [1:23:08] uh that iran would likely hold the strait of hormuz as leverage my question is was that communicated to [1:23:14] the president in the lead-up to this act of that long-standing assessment that the ic has continued [1:23:20] to report that the department of war took the preemptive planning measures that it did well they've [1:23:27] stated that they did not plan for the strait of hormuz the president said who knew that was going to [1:23:32] happen anyway let's move on does the president take a daily brief from the intelligence community [1:23:42] this is a this is a yes or no question yeah the president um i would say senator in my estimation [1:23:48] on average i briefed the president of the united states on intelligence uh probably on average uh 10 [1:23:57] to 15 times a week where i have conversations with him about a specific discrete issues sometimes [1:24:03] uh there are dedicated sessions uh that last hours in length uh sometimes i'm briefing him on specific [1:24:10] issues sometimes three or four times a day but i would say on average uh my interactions where i'm [1:24:16] briefing the president on important national security matters uh happens probably on average 10 to 15 [1:24:22] times per week thank you could you update us on uh the intelligence on russian uh intelligence sharing [1:24:29] with iran in the current conflict what what do we know uh senator if if there is that sharing going [1:24:38] on um that would be a an answer that would be appropriate for a closed session well it's been in [1:24:44] in the public press this is open source that it's occurring uh is it occurring again uh if it is occurring [1:24:54] that would be an answer appropriate for a closed session uh what i can tell you is that according [1:25:00] um to the department of war any support that iran may be receiving is not inhibiting their operational [1:25:09] effects okay that's sort of the first cousin of a yes i guess uh according to intelligence analysis [1:25:19] can regime change or the elimination of the estimated 1 000 pounds of uh highly enriched uranium be [1:25:27] accomplished without boots on the ground uh senator the uh discussion about the iranian nuclear capability [1:25:40] we intend in the closed session to talk about that in great deal with regards to uh revealing any [1:25:47] information about the ability to do that um i i would have to defer that to a closed session okay i'll see [1:25:53] i'll see you in an hour uh finally there was very little if anything in the in the uh report in the [1:26:02] assessment about climate change and that's been in in past reports there is a lot of discussion [1:26:07] about migration the estimates are that climate migrants because of the changes in the the climate [1:26:15] and the and the atmosphere and particularly in the center equatorial area of the earth will range [1:26:21] from 200 million to a billion people by 2050. do you believe that is a national security threat [1:26:28] that should be addressed we the the syrian refugees were about six million and they upset the politics [1:26:35] of europe for several years we're talking about 200 million to a billion people on the move i believe [1:26:42] that's something we should be discussing and that the intelligence community should be assessing [1:26:47] director gabbard yes senator there are a number of drivers of things like migration uh it would be an [1:26:55] extensive and voluminous annual threat assessment if we included every single one this annual threat [1:27:01] assessment is focused again you don't think you don't think laid out by the president's national [1:27:07] security strategy and on the effects that we can take action um uh operational action uh to protect us [1:27:16] interests well i would suggest combating climate change is something we can take action on thank you [1:27:20] mr chairman on the matter of media reports about russian or chinese collaboration with iran i would [1:27:30] point out that the media is not a classification authority and that kind of story whether true or not [1:27:38] might be better suited for the fbi to investigate on whether there's been unlawful disclosures of [1:27:44] classified information i would also say it sounds like something russia and china would do communist russia [1:27:51] used to do it during the cold war and communist china has always done stuff like that on the patty [1:27:56] murray legislation uh not only would it have defunded ice and cbp it would have also defunded homeland [1:28:01] security investigations which do critical work on our streets to protect our communities from financial [1:28:06] crimes from predators from transnational gangs as well so while we would all like to see the tsa and [1:28:13] the coast guard and other critical parts of homeland security as well we do not want to defund the [1:28:17] police this time the immigration police senator moran chairman thank you um i i believe that it's in [1:28:24] the u.s as national interest our security interest for ukraine to be successful in defeating the [1:28:32] russian invasion i'm concerned with the consequences of operation epic fury on that ability of ukraine to [1:28:39] succeed in defending its borders and general adams in broad terms not necessarily not not classified [1:28:48] terms what are the consequences to the supply chain to the capability of the united states to supply nato [1:28:56] allies and ukraine um as a result of operation epic fury um my question is that usual problem of how do we do [1:29:07] both are we doing both is u.s support maintained or diminished for ukraine uh as a result of epic fury fury [1:29:18] uh senator uh thank you for the that question and and we do continue to uh beyond epic fury observe [1:29:26] what is happening um across the world in in crisis like uh russian ukraine uh unfortunately for um [1:29:36] the situation there now just based on the force composition and the delta between the russian forces [1:29:43] and the ukrainian forces the advantage uh is to to the russians um as we get into the classified [1:29:51] hearing we can talk a little more specifically about uh this the items with regards to supply chain and and [1:29:57] and and with regards to the the information that the defense intelligence agency collects we look at [1:30:04] the foreign threat and what their capabilities are from a multi-int perspective [1:30:10] um we look a little bit less at at friendly capabilities and i would defer questions with [1:30:16] regards to uh u.s supply chain uh limitations with regards to logistics and the effort that the [1:30:23] secretary of war is having with regards to trying to boost the u.s defense industrial base i would defer [1:30:28] those to um the department uh to to discuss well general please be prepared for the classified session for me to [1:30:37] uh continue to pursue this i mean i don't our supply chain issues are not classified in the sense that [1:30:44] every hearing i'm in as a defense appropriator has officials from the department of defense testifying [1:30:50] about the need for further assistance and uh really i'm asking for the the facts of what uh what has [1:30:57] happened as a result of operation fury epic fury uh in the last few weeks in our uh our supply to ukraine [1:31:07] on our nato allies who are supplying ukraine uh yes sir the the um the department is executing a [1:31:14] comprehensive uh in fact the sec war has gone around the nation to boost the defense industrial [1:31:21] base we know for a fact that that we have to increase our defense industrial base capability um its [1:31:29] impact based on the munitions expended during epic fury will be uh an impact but we we need to boost it [1:31:37] the efforts are underway to boost it and um well uh i'm interested in helping accomplish that goal [1:31:44] director ratcliffe uh perhaps along along the same line um i assume among let me first of all [1:31:52] compliment you on your public service i i appreciate you uh and that's not my usual town hall meeting when [1:31:59] i get a compliment from somebody who then follows it with a butt uh i am interested in being of help and [1:32:05] i in in regard to your um conversations in preparation for epic fury i'd be interested in [1:32:13] knowing if the consequences to our abilities to defend the united states uh against russia or china or [1:32:20] other adversaries was taken into account how is that diminished or increased by operation epic fury [1:32:29] and particularly in this instance about what it means uh was the conversation had about what it means [1:32:35] to our ability to help ukraine defend itself uh u.s support for ukraine uh includes military and other [1:32:46] assistance but also we've undertaken economic sanctions against russia uh for their invasion of ukraine [1:32:55] and epic fury has caused a significant increase in oil prices and the administration has waived [1:33:01] sanctions against russian oil companies um which are reported to to say that russia is receiving 150 [1:33:11] million dollars per day additional uh dollars as a result of the waiver what can you tell me about [1:33:20] our plans or uh your uh understanding of what's transpiring as a result of operation epic fury in regard to [1:33:29] those oil revenues that are now being generated in favor of russia and the lifting of this of the [1:33:35] sanctions at least for a temporary period of time senator thanks for the compliment i think [1:33:42] um uh i'll start with a couple things what i would i would tell you is um the same military and [1:33:50] intelligence professionals who delivered uh not just for the administration but for the american people [1:33:57] um a flawless intelligence picture and flawless military operations in operation midnight hammer [1:34:04] and operation absolute resolve are the same folks involved with operation epic fury and so i hope that [1:34:12] provides you some measure of comfort uh with regard to how detailed how thoughtful uh the approach was to [1:34:20] uh the current operation uh and that's why i think that to to mischaracterize it as it is being done in [1:34:28] the media is a disservice to to the folks involved in what is a a very specific campaign that is different than [1:34:36] the two that i mentioned before it's why the president came out and said this isn't over in a matter of [1:34:41] hours this is a four to six week campaign um and that it would come at some cost um because the the goal of [1:34:50] the president and the administration is to address a 47-year problem the most destabilizing force in [1:34:58] the middle east for the last 47 years one that has frankly um been uh watered fed and nurtured by [1:35:07] policies of prior administrations that has allowed them to become the threat that they have so i say all [1:35:13] of that sort of in context to understanding that uh we have to address that but at the same time to your [1:35:18] point on on the what's going on with regard to russia and ukraine and you mentioned the oil issue [1:35:26] sometimes policy makers um have to take steps that while they may benefit adversaries like russia or china [1:35:35] do so because they also think it will benefit um u.s citizens and in this case with respect to keeping [1:35:41] uh the economy uh on track and keeping oil prices low so what i can tell you is uh the intelligence [1:35:48] is thoughtfully considered and i think the policy makers have taken that um and uh are i'm confident [1:35:56] that we can walk and chew gum at the same time uh pursue objectives in the middle east and uh provide [1:36:03] support uh with regard to the conflict in russia and the russian aggression in ukraine [1:36:09] and i think that the campaign has been won in my view without a specific rationale for the american [1:36:33] people 19 days into president trump's unauthorized war with iran and by which i mean there has been no [1:36:41] congressional approval at least 13 american service members are dead and many others are injured [1:36:48] president trump has offered no credible justification for the an imminent threat no clear goals no [1:36:57] strategy or timeline his message keeps changing i think in really damaging ways president trump said [1:37:04] iran's nuclear facilities had been quote totally obliterated in june 2025 but when he launched [1:37:12] this latest war he said we need to eliminate the imminent nuclear threat of those totally obliterated [1:37:20] nuclear facilities president trump has threatened to seize iranian oil and demanded our allies reopen [1:37:27] the strait of hormuz he said that i'm demanding that these countries come in and protect their own [1:37:33] territory because it's their territory it's the place from which they get their energy by the way he [1:37:39] wasn't just asking for our allies to protect or to to bail them out in the in the straits of hormuz he was [1:37:46] asking china to bail them out in the straits of hormuz and then he said maybe we shouldn't even be here at [1:37:52] all because we don't need it we have a lot of oil and he said we do not need the help of anyone [1:38:00] president trump has declared we've won the war we won it in the first hour but then he said we're not leaving [1:38:07] until the job is finished he said that there is practically nothing left to bomb but then threatened [1:38:14] to bomb iran again quote just for fun i think words that probably have never come out of a military leader [1:38:22] in the history of the united states of america it shouldn't come out of the mouth of a civilian leader [1:38:29] president trump said he will end the war when i feel it feel it in my bones and anytime i want to end it [1:38:37] it will end but director the war is not ending it is escalating with thousands of u.s marines [1:38:45] reportedly sailing toward iran on an unclear mission a mission that's become less clear over days not [1:38:52] more clear our airstrikes wiped out iran's missiles and supreme leader nobody here and certainly me [1:39:01] is shedding a tear for him but the iranian people now live under martial law and the by the way no [1:39:09] surprise to our intelligence agencies that that's the case and the first and and the and the first of [1:39:15] a puppet leader who's chosen by the irgc no surprise that any on to anybody on the intelligence committee [1:39:23] iran closed the strait of hormuz and is holding the global economy hostage no surprise to anybody who knows [1:39:31] anything about u.s intelligence launching drones at our embassies and military bases no surprise the [1:39:39] president is surprised nobody who has looked at our intelligence is surprised iran's nuclear program [1:39:47] is damaged to be sure but it still has a uranium stockpile we heard today from the dni at the very [1:39:55] beginning of this conversation that the regime is in place and they are going to rebuild their military [1:40:01] capabilities the ones that we are destroying right now the question i think is raised director about [1:40:07] your specific engagement is whether it will become a perpetual war because what iran will do is [1:40:14] exactly what they have always done and which the dni is saying they will do again in its briefings to [1:40:22] the committee the intelligence committee has been clear-eyed about what would happen in the straits of [1:40:28] whore moves has been clear-eyed about uh whether or not our military bases our embassies and our and our [1:40:36] and our personnel in the region would be placed at risk and in harm's way even though the administration [1:40:42] did very little to protect them i know senator i know director radcliffe that i am that you warned [1:40:52] president trump that if that if israel assassinated the supreme leader the rrgc would replace him [1:41:00] with would potentially a harder line puppet in fact in fact i think what was clear is that the likelihood [1:41:06] was that it would be a hard line puppet do you disagree with that characterization of the intelligence [1:41:14] to that specific question um what we knew was uh first of all i guess i have to address up front [1:41:21] um so much of what you related in there the difference between political rhetoric versus [1:41:28] not political rhetoric i'm quoting the president of the united states political rhetoric versus [1:41:32] military between director i'll i'll i'll the difference between that military and intelligence [1:41:38] execution but here's the most important thing you mischaracterize this as saying there aren't [1:41:42] clearly defined goals the defined goals are very clear degrade and destroy the missile inventory [1:41:48] and drone inventory delay and and and degrade the military industrial base i and factories that [1:41:55] produce that just degrade and destroy the the i have no irgc navy that could control this thank you [1:42:01] these are all defined goals that director that were set out specifically the premise of the question [1:42:07] is my time back mr chairman i can't get a word in edgewise he won't answer the question and then [1:42:13] he's taking a minute of my time you're both big boys you can handle it yourself okay well [1:42:17] director i agree that you are and i appreciate what you're saying and and i would i'm not my my [1:42:26] point is not what your characterization of the war is my point is what the character is the demander [1:42:32] your commander about regime i'm not asking you anymore mr director i'm sorry because i'm out of time [1:42:37] because of how you use the time the complete lack of clarity should matter to everybody president trump [1:42:46] most of all he is the person that got elected on the criticism that we had we had fought two wars in [1:42:53] the middle east that had lasted for 20 years and now we're hearing the testimony is to get their [1:42:59] ballistic missiles to to not even get to the nuclear stuff we're gonna have to be in a perpetual war with [1:43:07] the ron and i don't think that's where the american people are on this this is a serious threat this is a [1:43:14] serious threat to us and to israel the question is how to handle it and president trump said we are [1:43:21] not the policeman of the world he ran on that and now he's turned us into the world's policeman into [1:43:28] its jury into its judge into its executioner and just because we have the most advanced military in the [1:43:38] world senator times says that we should be in a perpetual war your time all around the world thank [1:43:44] you mr chair senator rounds thank you mr mr chairman um and i'd like to maybe follow up a little bit [1:43:53] the same line of questioning but i want to do it a little bit different manner um i i've had the [1:43:58] opportunity like all of the other members on this committee to see the threats that we discuss [1:44:04] regularly in the classified settings i also sitting on the armed services committee have the opportunity [1:44:10] to see what our capabilities are and what we have to do in order to respond to those threats [1:44:18] director ratcliffe let me just begin i i think it's been very clear from the beginning that even though [1:44:25] there were supposedly diplomatic activities going on behind the scenes it was very clear and i just ask if [1:44:32] you would disagree or agree with me on this it was very clear that iran while they were talking they [1:44:38] had no intentions of following through diplomatically with eliminating any of their nuclear uh aspirations [1:44:45] correct uh senator that's uh that's correct and in the classified session we can go into detail [1:44:51] but you've characterized it right diplomatically they were saying one thing uh the intelligence was [1:44:56] reflecting quite the contrary okay second of all with regard to the capabilities [1:45:02] earlier in the 12-day war a lot of their defensive capabilities had been taken out their air defenses [1:45:08] had been cape had been taken out uh the use of our aircraft in that area was safer because those [1:45:15] defensive capabilities most of them had been significantly reduced meaning our young men and [1:45:21] women uh who are flying those aircraft uh were safer is it fair to say that they were rebuilding their [1:45:28] defensive capabilities as well at that time uh yes so uh i'll just comment on that that so much is being [1:45:36] made any characterization that uh operation midnight hammer was anything but a wild success is uh [1:45:44] wildly inaccurate um uh so uh as a result of operation midnight hammer uh at the time of that [1:45:53] uh in the in the preceding four years as is well documented uh and admitted to by the iranians they um [1:46:00] enriched uranium at least 440 kilograms at 60 percent uh for use that could be used uh for weapons grade [1:46:10] to deliver a nuclear weapon um as a result of operation midnight hammer uh we sit here today with uh iran [1:46:18] not having exactly the same amount of enriched uranium to 60 percent meaning they have been unwilling and [1:46:25] uncapable or incapable of enriching uranium to 60 percent as a result of operation midnight hammer [1:46:32] okay and let me go on because i think this is an important part of this [1:46:36] you also have to have a way of delivering a weapon it's fair to say that they have short-term and [1:46:42] intermediate range ballistic missile availability today were they building additional short-range [1:46:49] and mid-range uh ballistic missiles yes were they continuing to develop them continuing to develop [1:46:57] them and at rates that were uh alarming and what about our ability to respond to those we have very [1:47:06] good defensive capabilities but it takes time for us to build our defensive capabilities were they [1:47:11] building their offensive capabilities while they were negotiating with us at a faster rate than we [1:47:17] could build defensive capabilities yes were they continuing to work at and deliver additional [1:47:25] resources to terrorist organizations that were affiliated with them in the region yes so in other [1:47:31] words while they were supposedly diplomatically working with us during that entire time they were [1:47:37] continuing uh with regard to their nuclear intentions they were building additional missile systems to [1:47:45] deliver or conventional weapons systems to threaten their neighbors their defensive capabilities were [1:47:51] going to be increased making our young men and women at risk when at some point in the future we would [1:47:56] have to to basically go in and clean the mess up i think there was an opportunity here and i think the [1:48:03] president made the right choice when he decided at this time that simply for our advantage and for the young men and [1:48:11] women that have to go in and do this that this was a safer time if there ever is such a thing as a safer time [1:48:17] but the right time for our nation to respond to this threat is that an appropriate way of putting it sir [1:48:25] i agree with that thank you i think the president made the right choice it is never a good time for a war [1:48:32] but at some point you've got to look at what your best possibilities are for protecting those young men and [1:48:37] women who are in harm's way let me move on for just a minute um director ratcliffe let me just ask you [1:48:44] this because there's been a discussion uh and we've never been able to talk about this in an unclassified [1:48:49] setting and i recognize it's sensitive but 60 minutes there's been a report about havana syndrome [1:48:55] and about uh individuals who are within the agency and within state departments that have actually had [1:49:01] significant illnesses some attributed they believe to outside uh sources i don't think we have we have [1:49:11] been able to in an unclassified setting at least acknowledge that we take these issues seriously is [1:49:18] there anything you can share in this unclassified setting to assure the people of the state department [1:49:22] and your agency that this is not something which is being ignored uh thanks for the question i can i [1:49:30] appreciate the opportunity to uh to address that um yes we have to be careful about um uh what we can [1:49:37] say we go into further detail in the classified uh session but uh this is something that when when i [1:49:44] became the director uh as you're as you're aware senator there are disparate opinions across the ic [1:49:51] about what the cause of these ahis may or may not be otherwise known as havana syndrome well havana syndrome yeah [1:49:59] or uh and and the question of whether or not um they could be the result of a directed energy weapon [1:50:05] from a foreign adversary so when you having been the dni understanding the role of the dni is to [1:50:11] coordinate across the ic when there are disparate opinions among agencies director gabbard and i had a [1:50:17] conversation um where she agreed that she would undertake a comprehensive review uh of that issue across [1:50:25] across the ic to make sure that it is getting the attention that it deserves and i know that she [1:50:29] has undertaken that and we'll be able to to brief you in further detail in the classified session [1:50:35] thank you and one last thought this is only a comment but to general hartman um your time [1:50:40] in service has been very very special working with you on the cyber uh security subcommittee [1:50:46] the armed services committee i commend you for everything you have done you are truly a hero [1:50:51] and uh you have served your country very very well thank you for your service thank you thank you mr [1:50:57] chairman senator kelly thank you mr chairman and thank you for uh being here today to all of our [1:51:06] our witnesses so for more than a decade the united states has tried to make a pivot to asia [1:51:13] in its national defense strategy in order to confront significant threats from china [1:51:18] for years administrations of both parties have identified china as a top threat facing our [1:51:24] country and work to build relationships across asia and deter chinese aggression at the same time [1:51:33] we have bolstered our european allies and asked them to contribute more to their defense to deter russia [1:51:40] director directors gabbard and ratcliffe would you agree that china and russia are our primary geopolitical [1:51:48] rivals director gabbard yes they are our primary strategic thank you director ratcliffe i would [1:51:58] agree with that although i don't think they're equal in terms of the threats that they understand [1:52:02] thank you so that brings us to the war with iran so this has created one of the largest [1:52:08] ever supply shocks to the global oil supply which has sent gas prices skyrocketing for americans but not [1:52:17] everybody is losing directors gabbard and ratcliffe is it accurate that russia has gained billions of [1:52:23] dollars in additional oil revenue due to price spikes as a result of the war and loosens sanctions [1:52:32] director gabbard uh that is what has been reported i defer to the director of uh uh secretary of treasury [1:52:42] and energy on that front for details director ratcliffe yeah i'm not an economist not gonna uh try and do [1:52:49] those calculations but as i talked about earlier sometimes there are decisions made that will [1:52:54] benefit adversaries at the same time policymakers think that it will benefit the american people [1:52:59] clear i think we'd all agree that sanctions were loosened and that means more money into the coffers of [1:53:07] vladimir putin would you agree that if he has more funding he is likely to put that to his war effort [1:53:14] against ukraine director gabbard i would defer to an actual intelligence assessment on what they would [1:53:23] believe his intentions are director ratcliffe yeah i wouldn't speculate on that wouldn't speculate [1:53:30] okay okay and is it accurate that china is continuing to receive preferential oil flows from iran despite [1:53:37] the conflict as iran allows its own tankers to transit the strait director gabbard i'm gonna go back and [1:53:46] forth between the two of you there has been some reporting of uh china india and other countries [1:53:55] uh being able to move their tankers through the strait however uh it is on unclear the volume or the [1:54:02] measure of that okay so it sounds like it's accurate thank you i'm gonna move on director gabbard [1:54:06] you tweeted yesterday that president trump concluded there was an imminent threat and made a decision to [1:54:14] attack iran after carefully reviewing all of the information before him i think the country deserves [1:54:20] to know what the information was i'm going to ask a series of questions and just want a yes or no we don't [1:54:27] need any explanation just yes or no starting with uh were you asked i'm not asking if you did brief this [1:54:36] were you asked to brief on whether iran would close the strait of hormuz i'm not going to comment on [1:54:46] what the president did or didn't ask me on any topic i'm not even i'm not asking if you briefed it [1:54:51] i'm just asking if there was a request i i understand by the white house director ratcliffe [1:54:56] were you asked to brief on whether iran would close the strait of hormuz the the briefings to the [1:55:06] to the president of the white house typically don't come at the request of the white house so [1:55:10] typically when we get intelligence that we want the president to be aware of the intelligence community [1:55:15] brings that to to the president did you produce the analysis for the straits of hormuz there has [1:55:20] been and continues to be analysis with respect to that were you asked to brief on how our adversaries [1:55:27] and allies would respond to the war in iran i imagine i'll get the same answer so it's just to point [1:55:38] out here it's challenging to forget about actually what was in the brief for a second we're having a hard [1:55:43] time finding out not only if you briefed the president on something but even if the white house [1:55:50] asked if they could be briefed on something or if analysis was produced so i just want to point out [1:55:58] here this is about six days can i comment on that i go back to the point it's the same approach that we [1:56:05] took to the to the prior operations which to your credit senator you you have uh praised the intelligence [1:56:12] and military communities in operation midnight hammer and uh operation absolute resolve it's the [1:56:19] same approach and the same professionals in terms of how they approached this particular we're trying [1:56:23] to we're trying to figure out if the president knew what the downside was of the strait of hormuz being [1:56:30] closed and i'm having a hard time finding out whether the white house asked or whether there was a brief [1:56:36] whether the president knew did he know this was going to happen or did he just disregard it and [1:56:42] i just want to point out something that was released about six days ago this is a fundraising [1:56:48] email from the president from the president of the united states and in this email here [1:56:55] where there's multiple links to donate money it says as a national security briefing member you'll [1:57:02] receive my private national security briefings director gabbard or director radcliffe do you think the [1:57:14] public should be able to supporters of the president should be able to pay and receive his private [1:57:20] national security briefings i assume these are briefings director radcliffe that you provide to [1:57:26] the president that is now going to be provided to somebody who makes a regardless of what that that i [1:57:32] don't know that document is um but regardless of what it says it didn't happen oh no this is new [1:57:37] but what i'm telling you is that uh the hatch act would prevent me from an apolitical role from [1:57:44] engaging in that i'm not aware that anything like that happened yeah this says unfiltered updates so [1:57:51] director gabbard do you have any comment on whether unfiltered updates of private national security [1:57:57] briefings should be made to individuals that donate to the president i'm not i'm not familiar with that [1:58:04] document and uh it's it's been made very public six days ago we'll we'll get you a copy here because [1:58:12] i agree with you director director ratcliffe that the hatch act should prohibit this type of conduct [1:58:19] thank you senator lankford joins us from what i gather is a very exciting confirmation hearing for [1:58:24] senator mullen it is actually for all of you thank you thank you for the time that you give to the [1:58:30] country to be able to serve for your families and the sacrifice that you make to be able to do this [1:58:33] and all the professionals that work around you please pass on our gratitude to them because they [1:58:37] work incredibly hard and difficult tasks in this i want to talk about something that's a little closer [1:58:42] to home on this a lot of oklahomans i talked to and quite frankly folks even outside the state on it [1:58:48] when they think about threats they as strange as this may sound to those of us that deal with missiles [1:58:53] and and ballistics they think about the threat to their family and to their income and to who they are [1:59:00] and a lot of it is international scammers that are now reaching into the united states to be able to [1:59:06] gather data or to be able to steal money from them ai has accelerated this dramatically and i know the [1:59:13] worldwide threats has mentioned this and some of the challenges that we face on it but the challenge is [1:59:18] getting bigger fbi had noted that in 2024 it was almost 17 billion dollars that was assumed lost [1:59:26] uh to scammers a lot of those internationals some estimates are as high as 50 billion dollars on it [1:59:31] uh ai continues to be able to accelerate the capabilities on it open ai even noted uh now that [1:59:38] there is a they're putting online ads saying if you've been scammed here's a way to recover your [1:59:44] money and that is actually a scam it's taking them to a fake fbi page where they can then turn in [1:59:51] and to say if you've been scammed here's how the fbi is going to actually come help you to recover it [1:59:57] but even that page is fake and they're going to be able to steal their information this is accelerating [2:00:02] at a pace that's pretty dramatic with the use of ai on this uh director patel i i know that you guys [2:00:08] are on it i know that there's multiple entities on it but this is a big challenge and a lot of americans [2:00:13] are very very concerned about the threats of their families they may have their parents that are more [2:00:19] vulnerable at this time and being targeted how do we take some of this on to be able to confront [2:00:24] what's happening online to be able to attack people and to be able to scam them thank you senator and [2:00:29] it's with any other um high priority um operation that the fbi runs whether it's cict or we're talking [2:00:36] about scamming and scam centers here one you have to drown and get online with your online covert [2:00:41] employees and platforms and we've increased funding and we've also what we've done strategically is move [2:00:46] people out of washington dc on the intel analyst front and the support staff front to places like [2:00:51] oklahoma actually every single state across the country has received a plus up because of that [2:00:56] and what we've created is the internet crime complaint center of the ic3 which i know you're [2:01:01] familiar with and reference so what we're doing on the homeland is going out into the streets of [2:01:05] america on the online platforms in america and shutting down those networks and shutting down the [2:01:11] capability of ai to interfere but i think the bigger term project what we're doing overseas [2:01:15] that's the key to this the scam center compounds are largely located in cambodia and burma and on [2:01:21] the thai border i've already engaged with the premiers of each and every one of those countries [2:01:25] we've done so to switch off access to the internet with those governments to make sure that those [2:01:31] compounds they're literal compounds that are being built that we can get into that in the classified [2:01:35] center that are fleecing americans and senior citizens all the way from southeast asia because they [2:01:42] are backed by the ccp to build those compounds because they know it's going to hurt everyday [2:01:46] americans so us which we have successfully already eliminated and scuttled excuse me numerous compounds [2:01:53] in cambodia and burma and thailand is the big picture the big part of the lift overseas what what we're [2:01:58] going to do is go into those countries and shut down every single scam center compound which is very helpful [2:02:06] and every american is is thinking about this and talking about it uh director patel i'm going to [2:02:11] stay with you the counter narcotics work has been phenomenal uh in the past year and a half uh the amount [2:02:16] of methamphetamine and fentanyl uh that have been seized uh coming across our border has been dramatic [2:02:23] and that has a real effect to what's actually coming at families uh in my state on it uh what i'm [2:02:29] interested in is how are you partnering with local law enforcement to continue to accelerate this process [2:02:34] what does that look like for fbi absolutely senator the counter narcotic mission can't be complete [2:02:40] without state and local law enforcement so we are embedding more task force officers across the [2:02:44] country on the specific counter narcotics mission we've also stood up with our interagency partners [2:02:50] in tucson arizona the southern border intelligence center specifically on the counter narcotic mission [2:02:55] so that we can utilize the department of war and interagency capabilities on the law enforcement front [2:03:00] that's why we seized enough fentanyl in 2025 to kill 178 million americans that's a 31 percent increase [2:03:07] year over year and here's a statistic that everybody should be proud of opioid overdose deaths from last [2:03:13] year dropped 20 points 20 points from across the country and in oklahoma specifically senator we seized [2:03:21] enough kilograms of cocaine uh to include a 232 percent increase in the state of oklahoma alone and enough [2:03:28] fentanyl to kill 500 000 oklahomans we can't do that unless we have great police partnerships which has [2:03:35] been a priority of mine which is why i've embedded police officers here at headquarters from around the [2:03:41] country to make sure we have that connectivity and i've shortened the task force officer onboarding [2:03:46] pipeline from one to two years to 90 days we need them yeah we do director ratcliffe uh the annual [2:03:53] threat assessment highlights this year uh the muslim brotherhood in particular and calls out some of [2:04:00] their financial material supports on this uh that may be surprising to some folks here but it's not [2:04:06] surprising to folks all across the middle east uh in the threat that the muslim brotherhood continues [2:04:11] to pose uh to so many governments and entities across the world on that how is the muslim brotherhood [2:04:18] financing uh itself uh and its acts of terrorism uh and is there something that we need to do here [2:04:27] to be able to make sure that we're protecting americans in the threat um senator i think uh [2:04:36] with regard to the muslim brotherhood abroad um you know we view that just as we do other proxies [2:04:43] um across uh the middle east um the houthis and other uh other groups and i can relate to you that [2:04:51] the the cia is is very focused um on the counterterrorism front you weren't here before [2:04:58] um i said in the classified portion i would get into uh uh the cia's success with regard to groups like [2:05:06] the muslim brotherhood in a classified setting where i can um i can share with you the uh the impact that [2:05:13] we're having but what i and across the board with regard to uh uh terrorist groups and our counter [2:05:22] terrorism activities i can publicly characterize it as saying um we've had we've accomplished more in [2:05:28] the last year than in the four years of the prior administration combined um so hopefully it gives you [2:05:34] some measure of comfort about about how we're approaching things and the the effectiveness that [2:05:39] we've had in the in the last uh year in that regard and and i look forward to getting into detail in the [2:05:45] classified portion look forward to that thank you senator reid thanks very much mr chairman uh ladies and [2:05:52] gentlemen thank you uh the washington post reported earlier this week in their words the u.s intelligence [2:05:59] assessments say iran's regime likely to remain in place for now weakened but more hardline with the [2:06:06] powerful islamic revolutionary guard core security forces exerting greater control director gavitt uh [2:06:14] do you stand by that uh reported intelligence community assessment i don't stand by any uh leaked [2:06:21] so-called intelligence to the media uh i do stand by the intelligence communities assessment that was [2:06:27] included in the annual threat assessment that speaks directly to this issue that as of this moment [2:06:33] uh the regime maintains power uh within iran uh even though they are vastly degraded on almost every [2:06:41] front do you think that the uh killing of the ayatollah and his wife and other uh family members and key [2:06:50] people contributed to the picking of a hardline successor uh senator the the intelligence communities [2:07:01] assessment um has pointed to uh a number of different scenarios um that uh went into play with the selection of [2:07:12] the successor um the details of that we can discuss in a closed hearing with regard to the intelligence [2:07:18] reporting is the uh regime in uh iran now trying to uh promote the deceased ayatollah as a [2:07:32] martyr uh who should be followed and does that help them consolidate uh support uh senator the iranians [2:07:42] are certainly using that as a call to action uh the effects of that um from an intelligence standpoint [2:07:52] are remain to be seen there is a tradition in shia though to honor martyrs one of their greatest [2:07:59] celebrations is the the martyrdom of uh the grandson of muhammad is that correct that's right so we might [2:08:07] have played into their cultural biases erroneously uh general adams what conditions the uss would need [2:08:15] to be present to make the regime collapse when this is said necessitate excuse my voice unconditional [2:08:22] surrender and can it be done with air power alone senator we have at the defense intelligence agency put [2:08:31] together a number of um scenarios coordinated across the ic with regards to what we would forecast [2:08:38] uh the the future would be the one of the there are four specific goals that we've been [2:08:44] told to uh to track and analyze with regards to the the goals of the u.s uh effort um they've been [2:08:50] articulated uh earlier in the hearing so i won't hammer on those but with regards to the collapse of [2:08:56] the regime specific uh perpetuation like what what would precipitate that um we would like to i would [2:09:04] prefer to talk about that in the uh classified hearing well uh i understand but there's a very basic [2:09:12] question here will air power alone be able to destroy this regime giving the culture the politics the [2:09:21] the temperament of these people uh the iraq iran war lasted for eight years with a million casualties [2:09:30] um do you think air power alone will do it senator the capabilities that our joint force brings to bear [2:09:42] uh can accomplish many missions to forecast exactly what can and can't uh accomplish this goal [2:09:51] um i would prefer not to uh to to guess or uh prognosticate on that i'll recognize your professional [2:10:03] uh position um u.s special invoice steve whitkoff recently stated that russian leaders told trump on [2:10:10] a call that they were not sharing intelligence with iran wiko says quote we can take them at their word [2:10:18] uh director gabbett and rackets you take president putin at his word i'll go ahead and answer um no i [2:10:28] don't take uh vladimir putin uh at his word um uh are they providing intelligence to the iranians [2:10:38] well we talked about this before uh the the uh in the classified session what we'll go what we can go [2:10:44] into is that the iranians are requesting intelligence uh assistance from russia from china [2:10:52] uh and from other adversaries of the united states and whether and uh whether or not those countries [2:10:59] are are uh is something we can talk about in the classified portion but you've made an assessment [2:11:06] you've analyzed traffic communications and you can i know the answer and happy to to discuss that with [2:11:13] you in the classified portion uh yes sir go ahead go ahead thank you uh one of the aspects of this is the [2:11:24] collateral effects particularly in russia and ukraine uh we're just talking about russia probably or [2:11:31] possibly providing intelligence with maybe interfering or conflicting casualties on our forces [2:11:37] russia is also benefiting from the uh lifting of sanctions on their ability to sell oil throughout [2:11:44] the world i heard one estimate of a 20 billion dollar surge in their potential revenues uh ukraine on the [2:11:51] other hand uh is facing perhaps a uh disrupted supply chain of missiles and other equipment because [2:11:59] they're being devoted to this operation so general adams can you just give me a constant uh your [2:12:05] impression of the effect of the battle on russia and ukraine at the moment of this battle well from our [2:12:15] collections um the effect of the uh epic fury on um the the russian uh ukrainian uh battle um has been [2:12:29] indirect uh not not direct um we do uh track very carefully what uh what benefits or uh as you uh alluded to uh [2:12:41] the the collateral effects of what we're doing and how it impacts um there there is uh a lot of from [2:12:49] both the russians and the chinese observations of what we're doing and um figuring out uh what what they [2:12:56] can learn from that so i think that's a collateral effect um as as we expose what the joint force uh displays [2:13:03] on on the battlefield um and uh i think we can talk uh in a little more detail as we move to the [2:13:14] classified session some of the the things that we're collecting specifically about uh what those effects [2:13:21] are thank you very much sir thank you senator ossoff thank you mr chairman thank you all for being here [2:13:27] before i ask you a few questions i want to call everyone's attention again to this fundraising email [2:13:33] signed by the president that senator kelly mentioned earlier in which the president of the united states [2:13:41] invites his campaign donors to quote claim your spot claim your spot join now to receive private [2:13:51] national security briefings to his political donors featuring a photo of the president at a dignified [2:14:00] transfer ceremony with a flag draped coffin of an american service member killed in action returning [2:14:07] to their family and the american people need to know that the president of the united states [2:14:12] is fundraising for his political campaign and his pack using images of american service members [2:14:20] killed in action and it's a disgrace now director gabbard i'd like to reground this in your core [2:14:29] responsibilities under the law you are responsible for providing national intelligence to the president [2:14:37] correct yes and to the heads of executive branch departments and agencies yes yes and to the chairman of [2:14:44] the joint chiefs and senior military commanders across the ic yes and to the senate and the house and [2:14:51] relevant committees correct yes and the law states that the national intelligence you provide to congress [2:14:57] quote should be timely objective and independent of political considerations correct yes and you noted in your [2:15:03] opening statement you're here fulfilling a statutory responsibility and that your testimony quote [2:15:08] represents the ic's assessment of threats correct that opening statement as submitted to the committee [2:15:15] in advance of this hearing stated that as a result of last summer's airstrikes quote iran's nuclear [2:15:22] enrichment program was obliterated end quote correct that's right and is that in fact the assessment of the [2:15:28] intelligence community yes so the assessment of the intelligence community is that iran's nuclear [2:15:34] threat posed by the iranian regime end quote that's a statement from the white house [2:15:40] quote the nuclear enrichment program was obliterated by last summer's airstrikes [2:15:42] yes and the opening statement you submitted to the committee last night also stated quote [2:15:42] there has been no effort since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability [2:15:47] end quote correct that's right and that's the assessment of the intelligence community [2:15:51] yes the white house stated on march 1st of this year that this war was launched [2:15:57] and was quote a military campaign to eliminate the imminent nuclear threat posed by the iranian regime [2:16:03] end quote that's a statement from the white house quote the imminent nuclear threat posed by the iranian [2:16:10] regime was it the assessment of the intelligence community that there was an imminent nuclear threat [2:16:15] posed by the iranian regime the intelligence community assessed that iran maintained the intention [2:16:23] to rebuild and to continue to grow their nuclear enrichment was it the assessment of the intelligence [2:16:29] community that there was a quote imminent nuclear threat posed by the iranian regime yes or no [2:16:34] Senator, the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president. [2:16:39] False. This is the worldwide threats hearing where you present to Congress national intelligence, timely, objective, and independent of political considerations. [2:16:49] You've stated today that the intelligence community's assessment is that Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated and that, quote, there had been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability. [2:17:00] Was it the intelligence community's assessment that, nevertheless, despite this obliteration, there was a, quote, imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime? Yes or no? [2:17:12] It is not the intelligence community's responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat. [2:17:17] Okay. [2:17:17] That is up to the president based on a volume of information that he receives. [2:17:22] It is precisely your responsibility to determine what constitutes a threat to the United States. [2:17:28] This is the worldwide threats hearing where, as you noted in your opening testimony, quote, you represent the IC's assessment of threats. [2:17:39] You are here to represent the IC's assessment of threats. [2:17:44] That's a quote from your own opening statement. [2:17:48] And so my question is, as you're here to present the IC's assessment of threats, was it the assessment of the intelligence community that, as the White House claimed on March 1st, there was a, quote, imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime? [2:18:05] Yes or no? [2:18:06] Once again, Senator, the intelligence community has provided the inputs that make up this annual threat assessment. [2:18:13] You won't answer the question. [2:18:14] It is the nature of the imminent threat that the president has to make that determination based on a collection and volume of information and intelligence that he is provided with. [2:18:24] You're here to be timely, objective, and independent of political considerations. [2:18:29] That's exactly what I'm doing. [2:18:30] No, you're evading a question because to provide a candid response to the committee would contradict a statement from the White House. [2:18:39] Let me ask you about your presence in Fulton County on January 28th of this year. [2:18:47] You were present at the FBI's raid on the Fulton County Elections Office on January 28th, correct? [2:18:54] I was present for part of the FBI exercising a warrant approved by a municipal judge. [2:19:00] Yes, and the FBI was there executing the FBI was there executing that warrant to seize ballots and materials associated with the 2020 election, correct? [2:19:09] Yes. [2:19:10] And are you aware that members of this committee have already opened inquiries into your election-related activities? [2:19:17] Yes. [2:19:17] And are you aware that your general counsel and deputy general counsel have already provided testimony to this committee regarding those activities? [2:19:24] Yes. [2:19:25] On February 2nd, you sent a letter to Senator Warner regarding your presence at the raid. Was that letter accurate? [2:19:30] I don't recall the exact date, but if I sent a letter that had my signature, it was accurate. [2:19:37] You stated in the letter that your presence at the raid was, quote, requested by the president, correct? [2:19:41] Yes. [2:19:42] When did the president request your presence at the raid? [2:19:45] The day of the raid, the warrant execution commencing. [2:19:50] The day of the raid? [2:19:52] Yes. [2:19:52] He called you on the phone? [2:19:53] I'm not going to disclose how the message was delivered, but it was a request from the president and his administration to go and help oversee this warrant being executed, along with the deputy director of the FBI. [2:20:04] Is it your role to oversee? [2:20:05] And to thank the FBI agents who were conducting this warrant? [2:20:07] Is it your role to oversee the execution of criminal warrants? [2:20:10] It is my role, based on statute that Congress has passed, to have oversight over election security, to include counterintelligence. [2:20:19] But you said you oversaw the raid, correct? [2:20:22] You just testified you oversaw the raid? [2:20:24] Portions of it. [2:20:25] Okay. [2:20:25] Did you handle any ballots or election-related materials? [2:20:28] No. [2:20:29] You were inside an FBI evidence truck, correct? [2:20:31] You were photographed inside an FBI evidence truck. [2:20:34] It was an empty truck, yes. [2:20:37] The president stated, quote, you looked at votes that wanted to be checked out. [2:20:41] The senator's time is expired. [2:20:43] Did you look at votes as the president stated? [2:20:44] Senator Ossoff, your time has expired. [2:20:46] You respond for the record? [2:20:47] Senator Ossoff, your time has expired. [2:20:48] No, she cannot respond because… [2:20:49] Senator Ossoff, your time has expired. [2:20:50] No, for the record, will the director please respond for the record to that question is [2:20:54] my question. [2:20:55] I'm happy to respond to questions for the record. [2:20:56] Senator Ossoff, your time has expired. [2:20:57] Thank you, Director Gabbard. [2:20:58] Thank you. [2:21:00] Vice Chairman? [2:21:01] I just want to… [2:21:02] I'm not going to go back to this issue I'm sure we'll address in the closed setting, [2:21:07] but I am very disappointed. [2:21:11] This is the only one time a year the public gets to hear from you guys in this kind of setting, [2:21:17] and the fact that we have repeated public reporting, including a major story in the Wall Street [2:21:23] Journal today about China and Russia assisting Iran, which seems obvious and evident, and [2:21:33] none of you would confirm that publicly, I think doesn't give the American people the [2:21:38] full challenges of this war. [2:21:40] I would add what I said earlier that the media is not a classification authority, but certainly [2:21:51] sounds like something Russia and China would do and have done for decades in the past to [2:21:55] Americans. [2:21:56] To wrap up a little business here before we adjourn the open session, we will reconvene [2:22:02] in 30 minutes in our usual location for the closed session. [2:22:05] That's at 12.56 promptly. [2:22:08] I do want to note for the record that Senator Young cannot join us. [2:22:13] He is at Dover Air Force Base for the dignified transfer of remains for one of our fallen heroes, [2:22:19] a Hoosier, and I would invite everyone to join Senator Young in praying for the family and [2:22:24] friends of that soldier and all the soldiers who have given their life in the defense of [2:22:29] our freedom and security. [2:22:31] General Hartman, I want to again acknowledge you, given your impending retirement, since [2:22:35] this is your last appearance for the committee. [2:22:37] I'm sure you hope, and I'm sure that the thing you'll miss most about your long career [2:22:42] and uniform is testifying before Congress. [2:22:45] I remind members that questions for the record will be due by the close of business on Friday, [2:22:50] March 20, and the audience will remain seated for a moment so that our witnesses and members [2:22:55] may exit and proceed promptly to the closed session. [2:22:59] This open session is adjourned. [2:23:01] This open session is adjourned.