‘Wow!’: FBI Official Stuns Hawley When He Claims The Bureau ‘Unintentionally’ Spied On ‘278,000’ AmericansBrianna Lyman
News and Commentary Writer
June 13, 2023 2:05 PM ET
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FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate visibly stunned Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley on Tuesday with his estimate of how many Americans the Bureau has “unintentionally” spied on.
Abbate testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Hawley grilled him as to why the FBI would not commit to publicly releasing the 1023 form relating to President Joe Biden and his alleged foreign business dealings. Abbate said doing so would endanger the life of the document’s source, prompting Hawley to argue the source’s name could be redacted.
Abbate then said Hawley should take the source’s safety “seriously.”
“I also take seriously the fact that your institution has repeatedly abused its authority, has repeatedly targeted political opponents … Your institution is the one that, according to the court, the FISA court, ran 278,000 unwarranted — probably illegal — queries on Americans, right? That was your institution, correct?” Hawley asked.
“With respect to the compliance incident, yes,” Abbate said.
“Compliance. You characterized the unlawful querying, 278,000 times, of American citizens as ‘compliance issues’?” Hawley pressed.
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https://dailycaller.com/2023/06/13/hawley-fbi-official-abate-unintentionally-spy-americans/
