FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the events of the January 6, 2021 Capitol breach. Predictably, each of the actors in this melodrama played their part as expected.

Two concepts were immediately reinforced. The first concept is that Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) should have retired a long, and I mean loooonnngg, time ago. At ages 87 and 80, they are not good examples of aging. My neighbor is in her late 80’s and she is an Energizer bunny compared to these two. The second concept is Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are utter twatwaffles. Not news, just reinforcement.

In his opening statement on the January 6 breach, Christopher Wray bragged about the 270,000 tips that have been called into the FBI since the riot and the American people who have turned in relatives.

“Thanks for bringing Ayn Rand’s worst fears to life.”

— Adam Lane Smith (@TheBrometheus) March 2, 2021

Much of the Democrat talking points were about the white supremacists and militia groups and trying to tie them to Donald Trump. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Leahy were particularly pointed in their speeches/questions. Director Wray made clear that Capitol Hill police and D.C. Metropolitan Police were emailed and briefed and that information about those on the watch list was put into the Law Enforcement Portal to alert local authorities. The information about the white supremacists was reported in the Washington Post:

The majority of the watch-listed individuals in Washington that day are suspected white supremacists whose past conduct so alarmed investigators that their names had been previously entered into the national Terrorist Screening Database, or TSDB, a massive set of names flagged as potential security risks, these people said. The watch list is larger and separate from the “no-fly” list the government maintains to prevent terrorism suspects from boarding airplanes, and those listed are not automatically barred from any public or commercial spaces, current and former officials said.

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) picked up on an interesting,teeny tiny mention and ran with it. The FBI has been using geolocation to identify suspects. As I said, it was a very small mention, but Lee has been worried about the abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) courts by the FBI for years. Lee questioned Christopher Wray on his authority to use geolocation and whether he had warrants to use this digital method. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) focused his questions on why the FBI was so focused on white supremacists, while cities across the United States have been burned by Antifa and Black Lives Matter. Christopher Wray’s response was that the FBI DOES NOT consider Antifa a domestic terrorist group. Read that sentence again. Here is Ted Cruz pressing Wray on violent domestic extremism:

Worst of all, just about every Democrat on the Judiciary Committee asked Christopher Wray if there was any evidence that BLM or Antifa were involved in the January 6 Capitol breach. Wray said there was none at all. Now, I didn’t go to Yale or the FBI Academy, but I am 100% positive that Black Lives Matter was at the Capitol Breach. John Sullivan aka Jayden X was at the riot as an “agent provocateur” and dressed in a Trump 2020 ball cap. Sullivan was arrested and released on his own recognizance. I think even Inspector Clouseau could put those clues together.

To be fair, Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) did not distinguish himself today. He didn’t let Director Wray speak and he complained that he was “tired”, although it sounded more like “tard” with his accent. He apparently doesn’t know that D.C. Mayor Bowser cannot call out the National Guard. Nancy Pelosi could have accepted Donald Trump’s offer of the Guard.

Could someone on the Judiciary committee please correct Senator Kennedy and FBI Director from continuing to propagate the false idea that @MayorBowser had the power to call for the National Guard on Jan 6? She does not. Only Governors do. Presidents have the power over DC

— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) March 2, 2021

There were other subjects brought up. They were important subjects. They were also like watching paint dry.

The net net of the Judiciary Committee hearing today is that Leahy and Grassley need to retire, and that Christopher Wray and the entire FBI couldn’t find their backside with both hands tied behind their back.

Featured Image: Wikimedia Commons/cropped/Public Domain