Capitol riot a case of domestic terrorism, claims FBI director
FBI director Chris Wray on Thursday suggested “serious charges” are still coming in the criminal investigation of the deadly January 6 attack on the US Capitol by supporters of former president Donald Trump.
“This is a very ongoing investigation and there’s a lot more to come,” Wray said during an oversight hearing held by the House of Representatives judiciary committee.
Wray testified that the FBI considered the attack an act of
“domestic terrorism”.
He said he understands why Democratic lawmakers have called the attack an “insurrection” but said it would not be appropriate for him to use that word because of the effect it could have on pending criminal cases.
Democratic lawmakers repeatedly grilled Wray, appointed by Trump in 2017, over what they said were intelligence failures that left law enforcement ill-prepared for the deadly attack.
Wray responded that on January 5 an FBI field office in Virginia
issued an explicit warning, sent to US Capitol police, that extremists were preparing to travel to Washington to commit violence.
He added that “almost none” of the 500 people charged so far with participating in the attack had been under FBI investigation previously, suggesting it would have been difficult for the agency to have monitored them in advance.
Asked whether the FBI was investigating Trump or his associate Roger Stone, Wray said he could neither confirm nor deny any FBI investigation.