Lawmaker demands FBI give briefing on extremist infiltration of police, military

“I am deeply concerned that the bureau dismissed this threat last year and instead characterized the threat of white supremacist infiltration of law enforcement as a hypothetical problem that has not materialized,” said Raskin, who conducted a hearing on the topic last year. “For the above reasons, I am requesting a member briefing on this topic no later than March 26, 2021.”

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Raskin’s urgent request comes as ABC News revealed an FBI intelligence assessment from last month that found white supremacists and other domestic extremists were seeking to permeate police agencies and the nation’s armed forces.

Raskin told ABC that recent arrests in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol have caused him to believe that rogue extremist elements posed an increasing risk to the nation’s security.

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One in five defendants has served in the U.S. military, according to a recent report by National Public Radio. Several individuals on the national terrorism watch list were also part of the crowd that day, according to the Justice Department investigation.

At least 30 people with law enforcement training have been tied to the insurrection, which left five dead, including a Capitol Hill police officer.

Prosecutors are focusing closely on the role played by antigovernment militias and extremist groups, whose members have been caught in the dragnet.

Several have been tied to violent right-wing extremists including the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and Three Percenters, among several others.

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“The bureau failed to level with the American people,” Raskin said, according to ABC. “This is an emergency.”

The confidential FBI report, obtained exclusively by ABC, resulted from investigations in San Antonio between 2016 and 2020 that concluded far right-wing groups would “very likely seek affiliation with military and law enforcement entities in furtherance of” extremist activities across the country, the network reported.

The FBI probe focused primarily on a white supremacist publication called “Siege,” which was known to have inspired numerous neo-Nazi groups, including the Atomwaffen Division, ABC reported.

“As the world now knows, on Jan. 6, 2021, irrefutable proof of this threat materialized on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, when off-duty law enforcement officers participated in the violent insurrection against Congress,” Raskin wrote in the letter to Wray. “Given the FBI’s refusal just last year to admit that extremist police officers posed a serious threat to our Nation’s security, I am now concerned that the Bureau lacks an adequate strategy to respond to this clear and present danger to public safety.”

The FBI has acknowledged receiving Raskin’s letter but so far has not commented on the lawmaker’s eyebrow-raising assessment or whether it would comply.

Last week, Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the bureau was actively investigating 2,000 domestic terrorism cases, double the amount it was when he took over in 2017.

“Whenever we’ve had the chance we’ve tried to emphasize that this is a top concern and remained so for the FBI,” Wray said during his testimony. “The FBI will not tolerate agitators and extremists who plan or committed violence. Period. And that goes for violent extremists, of any stripe.”