Wray pleads ignorance on domestic surveillance used by FBI after Capitol riot

FBI Director Christopher Wray said Tuesday he wasn’t aware of whether his subordinates are pursuing controversial domestic surveillance steps to track down participants in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Wray told senators during a Judiciary Committee hearing that he didn’t know if FBI agents acquired large quantities of transaction records from Bank of America, as reported by Fox News, or if the FBI used geolocation data from cellphone tower dumps to ID attendees, as reported by the Intercept.

Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) pressed Wray for information on cellphone geolocation data, which raises legal concerns especially because members of Congress and journalists were in the Capitol at the same time as rioters.

Lee asked: “Is the FBI accessing cellphone tower metadata from telecommunications companies, is that where it’s coming from?”

Wray replied, “Without knowing the specifics, without being able to drill into the specifics, it’s hard for me to answer your question.”

Lee pressed, “Are there instances in which you’re interviewing people based solely on information derived from a telecommunications provider providing geolocation information indicating that they were on or near the National Mall on Jan. 6?”

Wray said that because the investigation is so large, “it’s very hard for me to speak with any absolute confidence as to whethe... (Read more)

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