The Senate Intelligence Committee held a hearing on Monday that focused on the greatest threats facing the United States. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released its latest annual report. The report states that the United States is “facing a fragile world order.”
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) asked Director Wray if he has concerns about potential terrorists coming across the open southern border to do harm and Wray responded, “I do.” There is a potential for another 9/11/01 type of terror attack.
Pro-Hamas protesters interrupted the hearing several times. They shouted ‘ceasefire now’ as members of the intelligence community delivered remarks to the committee.
The United States faces a fragile world order due to “accelerating strategic competition with major authoritarian powers” that work to disrupt order. One concern is Russia’s growing desire for an arsenal of nuclear space weapons. Another concern is China’s efforts to meddle in the 2024 election through TikTok.
A top concern is the open southern border and the Biden border crisis. There is no denying that an open border that has allowed 8M or more illegal aliens to enter the United States since President Biden entered office is a national security threat. The potential that the open border is being used by our adversaries, and terrorists in particular, is strong.
Senator Cornyn pressed Wray on the possibility that the 1.8M gotaways who ran from border officials and disappeared into the interior of our country include terrorists. Wray said that it is possible. He used a saying that was often used by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld – “We don’t know what we don’t know.”
‘And I think there are many ways the national security ramifications of the issues at the border are better reflected in some ways more by what we don’t know about the people who snuck in, provided fake documents or in some other way, got in when there wasn’t sufficient information about the time they came in to connect the dots,’ said Wray.
‘It is almost more significant in our view,’ he continued ‘because those people, for the most part, are stopped detained and processed.’
Cornyn noted that it only took 26 co-conspirators to do the 9/11 terror attacks that killed over 3,000 people. Wray agreed with Cornyn’s point.
‘I worry that among the people that are coming across the border that are evading law enforcement, that there are some people among those that mean to do us harm. Do you share that concern?’ asked Cornyn.
Wray replied ‘I do.’
The FBI director spoke about the risk of ISIS terrorist cells infiltrating the United States. He said that the report includes the fact that over the summer individuals from Uzbekistan were smuggled into the United States by an ISIS terrorist after being screened by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). That case is said to be how the FBI became aware that ISIS terror cells are using human trafficking operations to infiltrate the United States.
‘So that’s a threat stream that we’re very concerned about,’ Wray confirmed Monday.
‘We’re very actively investigating working with DHS on both people whose travel was facilitated but also members of the facilitation network in some other way overseas.’
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) asked about threats from Venezuelan gangs. Wray wouldn’t name a specific gang but said dangerous gang members are entering through the southern border.
“From an FBI perspective, we are seeing a wide array of very dangerous threats that emanate from the border. And that includes everything from drug trafficking — the FBI alone seized enough fentanyl in the last two years to kill 270 million people — that’s just on the fentanyl side,” he said.
Wray said he would go into greater detail during a closed classified session with the senators.
Wray’s testimony makes sense. He has been warning for months that all kinds of red lights are going off about national security concerns. The gotaways are not vetted at all. They just run and disappear. A record number of names of illegal aliens apprehended at the border match names on the terror watch list. It is not a matter of if but when something horrible happens. That is a fact that we should all be concerned about. Terror cells are already here.