FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday painted a picture of a massive threat facing America. But at the center of that picture was a force so dark and scary that apparently no one on either side of the political aisle dared to speak his name.
Wray, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the first time in two years, and taking questions from lawmakers for the first time since the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, could not have been more clear about the scope or nature of the threat that the FBI now says is its top priority. It is domestic terrorism.
But while Republicans tried to change the subject and Democrats tried to focus on it, no one said much about Donald J. Trump. It would have been like having a hearing after 9/11 and discussing airline security procedures without ever getting around to Osama bin Laden or al Qaeda.
Wray reported that the number of open domestic terror-related cases has more than doubled to approximately 2,000 since he took over as FBI director from James Comey in 2017. He described the Capitol Hill attack as an act of domestic terrorism. He noted that nearly 300 cases against participants in that one day’s events were being pursued—almost three times the total number of domestic terrorism arrests in fiscal 2019. And he was clear that the groups involved on Jan. 6 were right-wing militia, affiliated violent extremists, and white supremacists. There was no evidence, he said, of any involvement from antifa or “fake” Trump supporters.
That might be seen as a clue. This worst attack on our Capitol since the War of 1812 came from right-wing groups. They had just come from a Trump rally. Many were carrying Trump flags. Some of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leading the insurrection had documented ties to Roger Stone and other people close to Trump. The permit for the rally that was the gathering point for many of those who stormed the Capitol was applied for by individuals who had been part of the Trump campaign. Some of the funding to get people to the rally came from groups of prominent Trump supporters, including the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Another clue: According to video obtained by every news organization on the planet Earth, then-President Trump actually appeared at the Jan. 6 rally and urged the participants to march up to Capitol Hill and fight for the Congress to reject the results of the November elections and to illegally re-install him as president. He even promoted the event for weeks beforehand on social media.
So, given that the largest number of domestic terror-related arrests in American history have already taken place in regard to what the FBI regards as a domestic terror attack on the legislative branch of the U.S. government, you would assume that some of the discussion at this so-called “oversight” hearing would have touched upon the evidence that exists or new evidence the FBI may have uncovered regarding who was behind these crimes. Who was the mastermind? What possibly could have changed in 2017 that led to the rise of domestic extremist groups? What might have riled them up or led them to believe they had greater license to wreak havoc than they may have in the past?
But nope. The only real oversight that took place during this hearing was that it overlooked the elephant in the room. (And yes, it was an old-fashioned Republican elephant that was being overlooked.)
Republicans worked hard to deflect. Most, like ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-The 19th Century), sought to create false equivalencies between the threat posed by right-wing groups and others they allege are associated with the left in a transparent effort to create a false equivalency.
One Republican, Sen Josh Hawley (R-Proud Boys), went further, seemingly seeking to probe what techniques the FBI was using to track down wrong-doers. His tone suggested he was concerned they might go too far and, for example, end up sweeping up a Republican senator or two in their probe.
Democrats repeatedly underscored that the January events were the fault of the right, but strangely stopped there. While the FBI director noted that the bureau was investigating the planning behind the attack, they did not ask the obvious questions.
No one asked, “Director Wray, you have indicated you are looking at the planning behind the insurrection. Are you looking at whether any of that planning involved coordination or communications with the former president, the White House, Republican members of Congress or others close to them?”
No one asked, “Have you looked at coordination involving the former president’s campaign, its donors, supporters like Roger Stone or members of the former president’s family? At the role played by members of Congress in inciting the attack or providing information to rioters? Would the FBI pursue such issues if evidence points to them?”
While there was a brief discussion led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal about whether Trump’s “Big Lie” about the election was an incitement to riot, Wray wriggled away from it, seeming to half imply that the incitement of the attack was beyond their interest.
No one asked, “If the domestic terror threat has exploded during the four years of a presidency that involved amplifying and embracing the message of extremists, defending them, asking them to “stand by,” welcoming them to the White House, is it in the national interest to determine whether that president was actually to some degree responsible for the fomenting this risk?”
It is easy to understand why Republicans sought to avoid such a discussion, especially since so many of the members of the committee had actively supported Trump, rejected holding him accountable, and spread the Big Lie themselves. Two of them, Hawley and Ted Cruz (R-Cancun), were at the rally that sparked the insurrection themselves.) But why were the Democrats so timid or narrow in their focus? Personally, I yearned for the tough questioning of former committee member, and now vice president, Kamala Harris.
Because even as the senators mostly avoided asking—let alone answering—the question, it is clear who is behind the rise of America’s exploding right-wing domestic terror threat. It is Donald J. Trump. And until someone in our government has the courage to speak those words, make that case clearly to the American people, and hold him and those close to him accountable, this threat is only going to grow.
