Former Trump impeachment manager Jamie Raskin demands FBI brief Congress on ‘infiltration’ of law enforcement by white supremacists
- Raskin pressed FBI Director Christopher Wray about ‘infiltration’ by white supremacists
- He rapped the FBI for failing to participate in a hearing on the subject last year
Rep. Jamie Raskin, who led the effort to impeach President Donald Trump after the Capitol riot, wrote FBI Director Chris Wray Wednesday demanding a briefing on white supremacist ‘infiltration’ of law enforcement – after the bureau refused to provide one last year.
Raskin rapped the bureau for failing to testify at a hearing on the topic last year – which would have addressed the topic in advance of the riot that has the Capitol being protected by thousands of National Guard troops.
‘The Bureau also rejected my invitation to testify at a hearing on the matter and effectively disavowed the warnings of an earlier FBI threat assessment, which had asserted that infiltration by white supremacists can “lead to investigative breaches and can jeopardize the safety of law enforcement sources and personnel,'” he wrote.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) wrote the head of the FBI Christopher Wray Wednesday to press him about white supremacist ‘infiltration’ of law enforcement
The Maryland Democrat cited documentation on the more than 300 arrests since the Jan. 6th riot, where at least 18 have been identified as current or former members of police forces, firefighters, or retired military.
Video of the riot shows some displaying police insignia and urging U.S. Capitol Police to let them into the building.
The Capitol Police said last month 35 of its officers were under investigation following the riot. The Capitol Police union called it a ‘witch hunt.’
Raskin pointed to a 2006 FBI assessment that white supremacists can “lead to investigative breaches and can jeopardize the safety of law enforcement sources and personnel.”
In this file photo taken on January 6, 2021 Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol in Washington DC
Protesters clash with Capitol police during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021
Two Rocky Mount, VA officers placed on administrative leave after photo surfaces of them posing the Capitol statuary – Thomas Robertson, Jacob Fracker
In Senate testimony last week, Wray pointed to racially motivated extremism among some of the rioters.
Among those arrested in the wake of the riot are members of far right groups including the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.
Raskin continued: ‘This assessment further warned that infiltration could give white supremacists increased access to “restricted areas vulnerable to sabotage and to elected officials or protected persons, whom they could see as potential targets for violence.”‘
Wray in testimony before the Senate this month called the riot an act of ‘domestic terrorism.’
He blasted the bureau for turning down his invitation last year. ‘I invited the FBI to testify at that hearing, but the Bureau refused to participate,’ he said.
‘The Bureau instead told Subcommittee staff that it did not believe that this threat was supported by evidence and that there would not be any utility in the Bureau offering testimony. In a briefing with staff, the FBI again claimed that the infiltration of law enforcement departments by white supremacists was not a substantiated threat.’
In his testimony, Wray pointed to racially motivated extremism among some of the rioters.
‘One of the things that is happening as part of this is that as we build out the cases on the individuals when we arrest them for the violence, we’re getting a richer and richer understanding of the different people’s motivations,’ he testified. ‘But certainly as I said, militia violent extremism and some instances of racially motivated violent extremism, especially advocating for the superior of the white race.’