mr. wiener's laptop to someone else? you asked to look into it. >> the first reason i did it because the director told me to. it's a top priority, and the second thing was, yes, when you look at the allocation of resources based on threats to national security, the russia investigation was a much greater impact than a mishandling of classified information investigation. >> the first reason is the director told you to? >> yes, sir. >> thank you. how frequently does the fbi engage in counterintelligence operations against foreign powers? >> every day, all the time. >> yes, sir. >> how frequently does the fbi investigate a possible conspiracy between a possible president and a campaign and a hostile power? >> first time i could remember in my lifetime. >> is it fair to say we're in unprecedented territory? >> speaking from my experience, it's fair. >> speaking from your experience. >> from my experience in the fbi. >> yes. >> yes, sir. >> and is it fair to say that our country faced and is still possibly facing a grave thre

mr. wiener. next speaker, please. >> seeing no further speakers, staff members? >> i just want to thank you to get this to us so quickly. thank you inform the transit union for bringing up the two hour single trip. really appreciate it, and i'm happy to support it. i would move the item. >> i'll second it. i'll just ask the city attorney, is there any issue with us approving this item separate from the budget process? does it have to be an amendment to the budget? is it well within our power to approve this separately? >> it is well within your jurisdiction to approve this this afternoon. >> this is great. i think it really will help gape us some transit riders when people know that they've got that two hours on that single fare. i've got a motion and a second. all in favor, aye? all oppose? approved. thank you very much. all right. >> >> clerk: mofs onto 14, presentation and discussion -- moving onto 14, presentation and discussion -- [inaudible] >> thank you for having me today. i'm annette williams, the manager of accessible services here at m.t.a. i know it's

mr. wiener was handled out of the new york office. >> so the people to whom you're referring included people in the new york field office? >> that's correct. >> you had concerns about their actions if director comey did not inform congress about this wiener laptop? >> i did not have concerns about new york. my concerns were just general. that the more people who are aware of something the greatest chance that it leaks out somehow. those concerns were not specific to new york. >> okay. let me ask you about this. in a report -- in that same report, attorney general loretta lynch recall as conversation with director comey in the final days of the election. he said "there's people that have a visceral hatred of secretary clinton." he said "it's deep." were you aware of this concern? >> i was aware of the press recording and people expressing that concern, yes. >> was one of those people director comey? >> a person having that >> yes. >> yes. >> could you explain to me about that and how that in your view affected the revelation of the warrant for wiener's laptop? >> you have to ask director come

mr. wiener's laptop to someone else. >> the first reason i did it is the director told me to. he said it was a top priority. the second thing was yes clearly when you look at allocation of resources the russian investigations are much greater impact than a mishandling of classified information investigation. >> the first reason the director told you to? >> yes, sir. >> thank you. how frequently does the fbi engaging counter intelligence investigation of foreign powers. >> all the time. >> so it is fair, is it fair to say we're in unprecedented territory? >> from my experience in the fbi, yes, sir. >> and, is it fair to say that our country faced and is possibly still phasing a grave threat from a hostile foreign power. >> it is. >> thank you. i think that is correct, mr. strzok. we know russia after successfully interfering with our last election is working to obstruct the upcoming elections in detroit. we've been told this the russia government waegd a complex campaign to influence the 2016 election to the benefit of president trump. last week the senate intelligence committe

mr. wiener's laptop to somebody else you asked to look into it? >> the first reason is because the director told me to. it was a top priority relayed from him and the second thing was clearly when you're looking at allocation of resources based on the threat to national security, it was a much greater impact than a mishandling of classified information investigation. >> but the director told you to? >> yes, sir. >> thank you. how frequently does the fbi engage in countertrician operations against foreign powers? >> every day. >> how pfrequently does do they investigate a connection between the foreign gft -- >> this is the first time. >> are we in unprecedented territory? >> that's fair. >> speaking from your experience? >> in my experience in the fbi, yes, sir. >> and is it fair to say that our country faced and is possibly still facing a grave threat from a hostile foreign power? >> it is. >> thank you. i think that is correct, mr. strzok. we know russia after successfully interfering with our last elections is actively working to disrupt the up

mr. wiener's laptop to somebody else you asked to look into it? >> the first reason is because the director told me to. it was a top priority relayed from him and the second thing was clearly when you're looking at allocation of resources based on the threat to national security, it was a much greater impact than a mishandling of classified information investigation. >> but the director told you to? >> yes, sir. >> thank you. how frequently does the fbi engage in countertrician operations against foreign powers? >> every day. >> how pfrequently does do they investigate a connection between the foreign gft -- >> this is the first time. >> are we in unprecedented territory? >> that's fair. >> speaking from your experience? >> in my experience in the fbi, yes, sir. >> and is it fair to say that our country faced and is possibly still facing a grave threat from a hostile foreign power? >> it is. >> thank you. i think that is correct, mr. strzok. we know russia after successfully interfering with our last elections is actively working to disrupt the up

mr. wiener was handled out of the new york field office out of the southern district of new york, or maybe the eastern district. >> the people you're referring included people in the new york field office, correct? >> that's correct. >> you had concerned about their actions if director comey did not inform congress about this wiener laptop. >> i did not have concerns about new york. my concerns were just general. that the more people who are aware of something, the greater chance that it leaks out somehow. but those concerns were not specific in my mind to new york. >> okay. let me ask you about this. in a report in that same report, attorney general loretta lynch recalls a conversation with then director comey in the final days of the 2016 election. quote/unquote, he, referring to comey, said it's clear to me that there's a cadre of senior people in new york who have a deep and visceral hatred of secretary clinton. he said it is, quote/unquote deep. were you aware of this, of this concern? >> i was aware of the certainly some of the press reporting and some people expressing that concern.

mr. chairman. i'd like to discuss a little bits of the wiener laptop discovery. you have explained there was a significant delay from the time that information was discovered in which obviously hundreds of thousands by your own words, hundreds of thousands of e-mails were discovered potentially pertinent to the hillary clinton e-mail investigation. there was a delay there. you have explained in the past that the delay was caused because you were too busy. what were you doing during october 2016 that caused you to be so busy? >> sir, i wouldn't call it a significant delay. i don't think it was because i was too busy. the answer to your question in the fall of 2016, i was the deputy director of the counter intelligence -- >> what were you doing? >> i was busy overseeing thousands of cases. every espionage case in the fbi, every -- >> were you involved -- >> and you ask a question oh. >> i'm going to reclaim my time. were you involved in the russia investigation? >> that was one of the many -- >> so you were involved. >> so the clinton investigation was assigned to

mr. horowitz stated in strzoks decision to prioritize over following up. discovered on the wiener lap lop. we did not have confidence that it was free from bias. they would be noted and stopped. the justice department ethical guidelines state the following, quote, superiors may never send to subordinate bloiys an e-mail directed at the success or failure of the political party end quote. another one, quote, express opinions about the candidates and issues if the expression of political activities directed at the success or failure of political party, candidates or partisan political group, the expression is not permitted while the employee is on duty, end quote. the fbi domestic investigation and operation guide in section 3.1, because we had heard about the adherence of policy and what these things do, and i quote them, we who enforce the law must not merely obey it, we have an obligation to set a moral example that those whom we protect can follow. because the fbi's success in accomplishing its mission is directly related to the support and cooperation of those we protect, these

checking into the hilary clinton e-mails on the wiener laptop until after the election or as close there have. and it is just corruption through and through. mr. chairman, i yield back. >> mr. chairman, may i respond? >> briefly, since it wasn't posed to you as a question. >> sir, briefly, nothing was compromised in those investigations. there were a team of folks above and below me that were involved. i was the number two in the counterintelligence division. if it was important, i had a role in the oversight of that. there were people below me. senior executive servicemembers, unit chiefs, supervisory agents, in the field office, supervisors case agents all working on this. to the aspect and there are many things you said about the ig's report that were absolutely misrepresentations, the response and the facts if you look at them, in the report is that within hours of hearing from new york that there was a potential material that was relevant i had assigned subordinates, supervisors attorneys and others to look into it which they in turn did within hours. as a result, less than a day after finding out about it, i had set into motion a team w

wiener's laptop? >> you would have to ask director comey that. some of itiscussion, was in the context of reporting from mr. giuliani, talking about connections to your. new york. a lot of people were aware of it and their concerns were about the number of folks. my recollection is that mr. comey was aware of those concerns. i was not privy to discussions he had with the attorney general. with regard to mr. giuliani, on october 25, rudy giuliani promised a pretty big surprise coming up in the campaign. 28, giuliani claimed to be in contact with former agents and a few active agents who don't want to identify themselves. let me make sure i have this right. therewas a concern that was a hatred toward secretary clinton in the new york field office. at the same time mr. giuliani says he is having contact with agents, active agents. can you give us your take on this and your comments? >> i recall that comment. i recall it caused me a lot of concern. >> why did it cause you concern? >> while it is certainly possible that mr. giuliani is exaggerating or engaging in some puffery, the reality is that given the thin

mr. hurwitz we did not have confidence that strozk's decision to follow up on the midyear investigations about what was discovered on the wiener laptop was free from bias, it's pretty clear to most of us that by as did affect that decision. chair: the time of the gentleman has expired. the deputy attorney general may respond. yourosenstein: i thought raskin me questions, i apologize. i understand the concern. process is being reviewed by the inspector general. it he finds some probably -- if he finds some problem with it, i will respect that. it is illegal for us to talk about fisa. certain information was amlassified and i uncomfortable talking about that. you have to understanding context that the department made the decision to disclose the existence of the fisa to the house and senate before i got there, before i got there. when i signed was a renewal application that had already been approved three different times by a federal judge and was signed under oath by the fbi agent who approved it. if he was wrong, let's hold them accountable. but let's go to the process before we jump to conclusions because i will be just as of

wiener's laptop. >> you'd have to ask director comey that. i think the -- there was discussion i remember and particularly some of it was in the context of reporting from mr. giuliani and others talking about connections to new york, but again, i don't want to scapegoat new york because a lot of people were aware of it and there were concerns about the number of folks. with regard to mr. comey, my recollection is he was aware of those concerns, but i was not privy to discussions he had with the attorney general or other concerns he may have had outside of my presence or conversation. >> with regard to mr. giuliani, on october 25th, then trump campaign advisor rudy giuliani promised a quote unquote pretty big surprise coming up in the campaign. on october 28th, giuliani claimed to be in contact with former agents and a quote unquote few active agents who obviously don't want to identify themselves. let me make sure i have this right. there was a concern that there was a deep and visceral hatred toward secretary clinton in the new york field office. at the same time, mr. giuliani says that he's having contacts with agents, active agents. can you give us you