Domestic terrorism jump prompts U.S. to form special unit

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is forming a new domestic terrorism unit to help combat a threat that has intensified dramatically in recent years, a top national security official said Tuesday.

Matthew Olsen, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, announced the unit in his opening remarks before the Senate Judiciary Committee, noting that the number of FBI investigations of suspected domestic violent extremists — those accused of planning or committing crimes in the name of domestic political goals — had more than doubled since the spring of 2020.

Olsen said the Justice Department previously had counterterrorism attorneys who worked both domestic and international cases, and that the new unit would “augment our existing approach.”

His testimony came just a few days after the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, an event that some lawmakers say showed the FBI underestimated the threat posed by domestic extremists and violence-prone members of far-right groups.

“This group of dedicated attorneys will focus on the domestic terrorism threat, helping to ensure that these cases are handled properly and effectively coordinated across the Department of Justice and across the country,” Olsen said.

The hearing was convened to assess the threat of domestic terrorism a year after the Jan. 6 attack. It often devolved into partisan bickering over the riot that day, which involved hundreds of Trump supporters who marched to the Capitol after a rally outside the White House, and the violence and looting that erupted at some racial justice protests in 2020.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., opened the hearing with a video showing footage and news coverage from the Jan. 6 riot, taking aim at Republicans for not being fully supportive of congressional efforts to investigate the attacks on police officers, threats against lawmakers and attempts to undo President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

“They are normalizing the use of violence to achieve political goals,” Durbin said.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, countered with a video showing unrest in Portland, Ore., and elsewhere. “These anti-police riots rocked our nation for seven full months, just like the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol rocked the nation,” he said.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, lambasted Olsen and Jill Sanborn, head of the FBI’s national security branch, for failing to answer certain questions about Jan. 6-related criminal charges, and whether any FBI informants encouraged or participated in the violence.

“Your answer to every damn question is, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know,’” Cruz told Olsen. To Sanborn, he suggested that undercover FBI agents or informants may have spurred on the rioters — an assertion for which there is no known evidence but which Sanborn would not categorically rule out.

“Ms. Sanborn, a lot of Americans are concerned that the federal government deliberately encouraged illegal violent conduct on Jan. 6,” Cruz said, asking her if that was true.

“Not to my knowledge, sir,” she replied.

She and Olson sought to assure lawmakers that the Justice Department is investigating and prosecuting all those who committed crimes, no matter what motivated them. Olsen said authorities had arrested and charged more than 725 people, including more than 325 facing felony counts, for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack.

The FBI is seeking to identify and arrest more than 200 additional suspects.