'How Much Did Your Trip Cost?': Chris Coons Confronts FBI's Patel Over Trip To Winter Olympics

[0:00] Senator Coons. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Chair Moran, Ranking Member Van [0:09] Holland, Senator Murkowski, and I appreciate each of our witnesses for being here today. During [0:14] National Police Week, I just wanted to express my particular appreciation for the men and women of [0:19] each of your agencies. When I was county executive, I was responsible for the second largest law [0:24] enforcement agency in our state and our partnerships with Marshall's ATF, DEA, FBI, and many other [0:33] elements of federal law enforcement were really critical to our investigations and working to [0:38] advance security in my home community. In just the last few months, the Newcastle County Police have [0:44] worked with the FBI to arrest a suspect who had both plans and weapons to carry out a mass shooting at [0:49] the University of Delaware, worked with DEA to investigate methamphetamine distributors, worked [0:54] with the Marshall's Service to arrest a suspect with a warrant out for attempted murder. These [0:59] are just a few brief examples. I have other topics to get to, but if each of you could just briefly tell [1:04] me what are your plans for strengthening your partnerships with local law enforcement, and [1:09] what more do you need from Congress to execute on those plans? Director Patel. Thank you, Senator. [1:14] One thing we need, always need more of, is data from state and local. Anything we can do from a [1:19] legislative perspective at the federal or state level to get us that data so we can ingest the [1:24] data and get it back out to our partners, that's critical. What we're doing to expand at specifically [1:30] at the FBI, for the first time ever, we stood up our LEPIC, our Law Enforcement Partner Engagement [1:33] Council, so I didn't want to just hear from police officers from around the country by email and phone [1:39] call. I embedded 10 officers and sheriffs and tribal officers permanently at the FBI because they're [1:45] the best connected, and so for us, that's the best way forward, along with getting out into the field [1:49] and making sure our field partners see and feel us and touch us and tell us what their problems are. [1:55] Thank you, Director. Senator, more connectivity to our state, local, and tribal partners is the utmost [2:00] support at DEA. Due with the significant change in the landscape with synthetic opioids, with more [2:08] methamphetamine pills coming in, more cocaine coming in, it's important that those state and local [2:13] counterparts, the men and women that are on the front lines, every single day have the same intelligence [2:17] and the same information that the DEA does. Part of this is coming from our capacity to build [2:23] foreign partnerships. The amount of foreign partnerships and people we have downrange in [2:27] Mexico and Colombia, that intel is critical to the BEAT officer that's working in rural areas. [2:33] So we have to continue to be better partners, continue to be more engaged, and respond when [2:39] they call for help to address violent criminal activity. Director Seralta, I'm going to interrupt [2:43] myself. I appreciate the work that you and the Marshal Service do to keep federal judges safe, [2:47] but there's thousands of state and local judges who don't have the same intelligence network, [2:52] the same resources. I'm proud to co-sponsor a bill with Senator John Cornyn that would create a new [2:59] state judicial threat intelligence and resource center. It would provide security assessments for [3:04] local courts and help local law enforcement make assessments about how to keep judges' homes safe [3:09] and how to keep court personnel safe. It's passed the Senate unanimously. Do you have any opinion [3:16] about whether or not the House should take it up and whether or not partnering with state and local [3:20] court systems would help advance judicial security in this country? Senator, thank you. Thank you for [3:27] your work on that. My opinion will be is that any judge that we can keep safe, whether they be in state [3:35] or the federal bench, we should keep safe. To that end, I'll tell you, judges make decisions that are [3:45] life-changing, sometimes to themselves. So 50 percent of the time, someone is upset with the judge's [3:53] decision, right, whether they win or lose. And that's something that we need to keep in mind. [3:57] The justices, judges, the judiciary are the pillars of our country. [4:03] I look forward to working with you and protecting and promoting judicial security. [4:07] Director Patel, reauthorization of Section 702 is something I've previously grappled with, [4:13] but we've not heard at all from officials from the FBI or the other intelligence agencies [4:19] testifying about the proposed 18-month clean extension. Were you invited by Chairman Grassley [4:26] to testify before our committee about Section 702? [4:29] What I recall, Senator, is that we and the FBI team have been providing briefings pursuant [4:35] to the chairman's request. So we've done at least a dozen in the Senate and at least half [4:39] a dozen or more in the House, including myself and Director Ratcliffe, personally. [4:43] Okay. I have not participated in or benefited from any of those briefings. And doing oversight [4:49] on the reforms that were put in place and how closely they're being followed is critical [4:54] to my concluding whether or not I'll vote for an extension. Director, I have to ask you [4:59] one last question. You attended the Olympics in Milan. How much did your trip cost? And [5:07] to what extent did that help you carry out your mission as Director of the FBI? [5:12] I greatly appreciate the question, Senator. As you know, the FBI and DHS are responsible for [5:17] the security of the Olympics, the World Cup, the F1, the Super Bowl, and everything else. We [5:21] had 250,000 Americans travel to Milan. We're proud that we stood up our jock there and had [5:26] zero major security incidents involving American citizens. And what we did was we purposely planned [5:32] that trip around the Olympics because, as I mentioned in my opening, the top cyber criminal [5:36] from the CCP was housed in Italian custody. While there, we were able to work an agreement, [5:43] an arrangement to have that individual expelled from Italy instead of going back to China, like [5:47] has so often happened in places like Serbia. And so we accomplished that mission and we [5:52] kept it quiet and that individual was returned to America two weeks ago. [5:55] I was concerned that just before we went to war with Iran, a whole group of FBI agents were [6:02] terminated. About 10 who were reportedly analysts with expertise in handling Iranian counterterrorism. [6:08] Fluent in Farsi, long experienced. I know there's ongoing litigation, but have you replaced [6:15] them? Was there a reason for their dismissal? Do we have the capabilities we need to protect [6:20] the United States while there's an ongoing war in Iran? The public reporting as to the [6:25] reasons for their dismissal I found deeply troubling. [6:28] Well, as I've addressed earlier, I don't believe the public reporting is accurate. [6:32] What we did do for the first time in FBI history is stand up the Iran threats mission center. [6:36] That is housed inside the FBI with our Iran experts, including intelligence and analysts and agents. [6:42] And we have seen a 47% increase in the arrest of Iranian spies. [6:46] Do you disagree that there were 10 Iran specialists dismissed right before the war began? [6:52] Yes. Senator Hegarty. [6:53] Senator Hegarty. [6:55] Senator Hegarty. [6:57] Senator Hegarty. [6:59] Senator Hegarty. [7:01] Senator Hegarty. [7:02] Senator Hegarty. [7:05] Senator Hegarty. [7:06] Senator Hegarty.