FY 2027 Budget Hearing for FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, and ATF

This hearing will consider the President's FY twenty twenty-seven budget request for the Department of Justice's law enforcement components, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States, Marshal Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives. First, this hearing takes place during National Police Week, and this is a time for our country to recognize the men and women in law enforcement. who work every day to keep our communities and country safe. Director Patel, Saralta, Sa- uh, Sa- I know you well, sir. Uh, and Administrator Cole, please express my gratitude to the agents and deputies, duty officers, professional staff, and families who, uh, support your agencies. I appreciate their service in Kansas. Kansans appreciate their service at home and in our country. and our country is safer because of what they do. Traditionally, this subcommittee has only received a budget defense from the Attorney General on behalf of the entire Department of Justice and the Director of the FBI. As the Chairman of this subcommittee, I've had the opportunity to meet with many dedicated professional law enforcement officers and staff at ATF the DEA, FBI, and United States Marshal Service. I've long believed that these agencies, they also deserve, in addition to the in addition to the Department of Justice, the opportunity to explain to this committee the resources they need to execute their missions. Each of you, all these agencies are important, and I want this subcommittee to be able to hear from you and to ask you questions uh regarding your budget requests. Our witnesses will discuss their budget requests in greater detail today, so I'll only note that each component has requested an increase above the FY twenty twenty-six enacted levels. We've had several years of relatively flat budgets, and in the case of ATF, significant reductions. These agencies need additional resources to carry out their responsibilities effectively. I've seen firsthand the important work these agencies are doing at in my home state, whether it's ATF expanding crime gun intelligence through its partnership at Wichita State University DEA's effort to combat fentanyl trafficking and support law enforcement in rural communities across Kansas, the FBI's coordination with state and local partners as Kansas City prepares to host soccer matches during the FY uh the during the uh FIFA twenty twenty-six World Cup or the Marshals working alongside local law enforcement through fugitive task forces across the District of Kansas. Today's hearing is an opportunity for this committee to better understand the challenges facing each of your agencies, the resources you believe are necessary to ca- carry out your missions and how Congress can best support the men and women serving in the federal law enforcement. I appreciate each of you being here today and I look forward to your testimony. Senator Van Hollen, uh you're recognized.

Uh thank you, Mister Chairman, I look forward to working with you again to write a bill that provides the resources the FBI, DEA, ATF and the US Marshal Service need to protect their core missions, ensuring the safety, security and rights of the American people. I also look forward to continuing to work with you to ensure oversight and accountability regarding the new FBI headquarters and making sure that it meets the mission and security requirements of the FBI. And I welcome all the witnesses today as we recognize key members of our American law enforcement family during National Police Week. I look forward to hearing about the various budget requests, but we should acknowledge that we are not gathered here at this hearing at a normal time because what we are learning about what's happening at the FBI is anything but normal. Director Patel, as you ask for more taxpayer resources, we cannot look away from the credible, extremely troubling reports about your misconduct at the FBI. All four of you hold positions of great public trust. The American people trust that each of you will responsibly exercise your powers to protect them. You're expected to be on call night and day. able to make quick decisions to guard our nation's security. You must always be prepared to answer that call, whether it comes at three p m or three a m. That is your duty. Director Patel, I don't care one bit about your private life, and I don't give a damn about what you do on your own time and your own dime unless and until it interferes with your public responsibilities. Being the director of the FBI is an awesome responsibility. And when your private actions make it impossible for you to perform your public duties, we have a big problem. You cannot perform those public duties if you're incapacitated. And Director Patel, these reports about your conduct, including reports of your being so drunk and hung over that your staff had to force entry into your home, are extremely alarming. If true, they demonstrate a gross dereliction of your duty and a betrayal a public trust. I cannot imagine ever having to worry about former FBI Directors Ray or Mueller spending multiple weekends drinking heavily at the Poodle Room in Las Vegas. Now, I understand that you've denied these reports and you will have a chance today here to challenge them. But the problem with your leadership is does not end there. We're also witnessing a litany of other abuses, political firings of trusted career agents only fault was following the facts and the law. That includes the firing of agents and staff from a special counterintelligence unit that monitored threats from Iran. Weaponizing the FBI to seek political revenge on former FBI Director James Comey and others. Using FBI investigative resources to go after journalists who write stories that you don't like. And just this morning, we learned more details about your firing of Brian Driscoll, a decorated FBI special agent with too late nearly two decades of experience. He claims in an interview that you made clear that his failure at the FBI was tied to pol- that his future at the FBI was tied to his political allegiance to Donald Trump. So you're asking for more resources at a time that you're misspending valuable resources on political revenge instead of focusing on defending our national security. I'm pleased as the chairman said that all of your agencies noticed our bipartisan opposition to the deep cuts from last year and have provi- presented more robust plans this year. There are still major gaps to be addressed. One notable example among the DOJ programs is the elimination of the organized crime drug enforcement task forces. As I understand it, DEA was oddly sidelined in this process. I'm also concerned about diverting resources away from core missions of each of your agencies to fuel President Trump's mass deportation agenda. Trump told us he was going after the quote "worst of the worst" who posed a danger to our communities. That would be fine. But if you look at the Department of Homeland Security's own data, overwhelmingly the people being targeted and locked up pose no risk to public safety. So when you divert resources away from fighting serious violent crime to locking people up who mostly don't pose a risk to public safety, you're making us less, not more safe. Let me close by thanking the thousands of law enforcement personnel, both local, state, and federal, who work tirelessly each day to keep us all safe. And I look forward to the hearing and discussion today. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

You're welcome.

You're welcome, ranking member. Uh, I look forward to working with you as we work our way through these, uh, budget requests and our appropriations process. Uh, I now, uh, recognize our witnesses for their testimony and I recognize the director of the FBI Uh, Kash Patel.

Good afternoon, Chairman Moran, Ranking Member Van Hollen, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me to represent the FBI's fiscal year, twenty twenty seven. It's an honor to represent the thirty six thousand men and women of the of the FBI that serve around the country and around the world, especially during Police Week.

Director, would you pull the mike closer, please?

Of course.

Thank you.

Um, this week, especially for Police Week, we pause to commemorate the incredible dedication and bravery of our law enforcement communities across the country, who stand on the front lines and shield our citizens from dangers and threaten. our everyday way of life. Every day the FBI safeguards our nation's safety and security with our law enforcement partners. To achieve our no-fail mission, we fully support the President's budget proposal for the FBI of p- twelve point five three billion, um to um to get us right sides. Before getting into specifics, I'd like to highlight that the importance of the FBI mission is never more important than at this critical time, especially during the recent violent attacks during the White House Correspondents' dinner which all too many of us were there. I was proud that the FBI within moments immediately jumped into action, launched a bi-coastal investigation, launched fixed wing and rotary assets in men and women, in evidence response teams, bond technicians and interviews. And within twenty-four hours we had that evidence from California to Boston, back in Washington DC, and the individual was charged. That is truly exemplary work by the inter-agency and our state and local partners and the men and women of the FBI. Thanks to the brilliant personnel at the FBI, this year has been truly historic in the reduction of crime. It has been a record-breaking year. We have seen in twenty twenty five alone a historic twenty point decline in the nation's murder rate. We also saw forty four thousand violent offenders arrested by this FBI last year alone. To put that in perspective, that's twice as many violent offenders offenders arrested in all of twenty twenty four. The FBI seized more than twenty two hundred kilograms of fentanyl uh last year. That's a thirty one percent increase from twenty twenty four. That's enough to kill a hundred and eighty million Americans across this country. The FBI arrested eight of our top ten most wanted fugitives, um, in just fourteen months. To put that in perspective, that's double the mu- number of the entirety of the prior administration. We've made over three thousand arrests and seized over a thousand firearms at the border including ninety high value targets from Mexico brought here for prosecution and through our leadership in the Homeland Security Task Force and the inter-agency a six week effort led by the um HST S contributed to four hundred operations uh thirty-two federal agents working it and ninety-one metric. tons of drugs were seized. We've also seen unprecedented progress in protecting our most vulnerable our children. In twenty twenty five we located more than sixty three hundred missing uh kids. That's a thirty percent increase from twenty twenty four. And we arrested more than two thousand child predators and human traffickers in twenty twenty five. That's a seventeen percent increase from twenty twenty four.

Sure.

We also wiped out four million pedophile accounts off the dark web entirely.

Well.

And we also focused in on the seven six four network, those who especially target our youth and are vulnerable online. And we saw a five hundred percent increase in the arrests of the NVE community. Um, and s- in terms of national uh security, we've been equally aggressive on that front as well, on the counterterrorism side, on the domestic, and homegrown violent extremist side. And there's no overstating that our work, the men and women at the FBI, proudly stopped four terrorist attacks in the month of December last year alone, in California, Pennsylvania, Texas and New York. We also stood up the NSPM joint s- mission center, integrating intelligence and operational expertise across our agencies to disrupt political violence and domestic terrorism. We finally empowered our capabilities at the FBI with an AI advancement um that the FBI workforce has not seen. This FBI is up using AI two hundred and thirty percent across our enterprise. Uh the bureau is fully engaged in defending against cyber attacks from nation-state adversaries criminals and everything in between. Last year, our Internet Crime Complaint Center fielded more than one million complaints. That near totaled nearly twenty-one billion dollars in losses based on cyber theft. Uh, we've also seen an increase in complex financial crime arrest, included four hundred indictments, and seized over one point six billion dollars in funds related to those crimes, a sixty-five percent increase. Maybe most impactful in terms of scams, the FBI has led the overseas operations in Cambodia, Thailand and Burma, crippling the scam center compound stood up by the CCP. um including the arrest of an individual uh responsible fourteen billion dollars in scams alone and we're scuttling these compounds one by one just last week in Dubai thanks to the cooperation of the FBI and the Dubai National Police and MPS we arrested three hundred individuals freed two thousand people who were forced into traffic labor and shut down a four billion dollar scam center that was operating to fleece Americans and seniors of their hard-earned dollars. The FBI's unique authorities on these front lines show that we're defending the homeland Just last month we extradited Gigi Wei, one of the top two cyber hackers from Italy. They say we couldn't get him. They thought the CCP was gonna get him, but now he's here in prison. Our work collectively on the counter-intelligence mission speaks for itself. Forty-three percent more counter-intelligence arrest in twenty twenty-five than all of twenty twenty-four from China, DPRK, Russia, and um elsewhere. And as you know, to Mister Chairman, we are busy getting ready for protecting Americans from every event, the Olympics, the World Cup, the F one, the Super Bowl. Um, as we drive into twenty twenty eight, but this summer all eyes are focused on the World Cup and the FEI and DHS stand ready, uh, learning from our valuable experiences and focusing on a fourteen month lift to ensure everybody is taken care of um when they visit our country for this, World Cup event. Uh lastly, we have secured record breaking achievements to um include task force officers from around the country, including deputizing our own officers, reducing the task force officer pipeline from fourteen months to sixty days, allowing men and women in law enforcement to work together at speeds that have never been delivered before. With your continued support, this FBI stands ready to continue this great work, and I stand ready to answer any and all questions from you. And categorically, Mister Vice Chairman, when you say there's credible reporting, just because you say it's credible doesn't make it so. This FBI is doing a historic level of crime reduction across the country. I'm proud to lead it. And if you wanna cite media reporting to discredit the men and women of the FBI go right ahead. The target's right here. the mission has never been more successful.

Administrator uh Terence Cole, Drug Enforcement Agency.

Chairman Moran, Ranking Member Van Hollen and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. It's an honor to be here during National Police Week when we recognize the men and women of law enforcement who have given their lives in a line of duty. I appreciate your continued support of the Drug Enforcement Administration and nearly nine thousand professionals who carry out the mission across the United States and around the world. As a law enforcement veteran of more than thirty years, I come before you with a straightforward message. The threat we face today is unlike anything we've seen before. The DEA's mission has never been more urgent. Fentanyl continues to kill Americans at alarming rates. It's not just another drug threat, it's a weapon of mass destruction. Measured in American lives, lost every day. It's produced and distributed by transnational criminal organizations that have industrialized death for profit. The Sinaloa and Jalisco new generation cartels, now designated foreign terrorist organizations, are driving this crisis. They operate as a global enterprise. They use sophisticated supply chains, financial networks, and technology to move poison into our communities. They are well-funded, highly adapted, and relentless. We have to be just as relentless in our response. And DEA is leading the fight. We're taking the fight directly to these organizations with aggressive intelligence-driven enforcement. Our focus is clear. Target leadership. Break their command and control. Disrupt supply chains. Hold accountable those who profit from the addiction and death, including the global networks that supply precursor chemicals to make fentanyl production possible, and we are delivering results. In one recent coordinated search, DEA and our partners made more than six hundred arrests. We seized hundreds of kilograms of fentanyl, multi-ton quantities of cocaine and meth, hundreds of firearms, and more than eleven million dollars in U. S. currency. Across our fentanyl operations, we've made thousands of arrests, tied to trafficking networks, seized millions, of fentanyl pills, removed hundreds of kilograms of fentanyl powder from circulation. Those numbers translate directly into lives saved. We're also seeing an impact at our community level. In one city alone, targeted operations with our partners led to the reduction in violent crime of more than one third, and a significant amount of drugs and firearms taken off the streets. Drug trafficking drives violence. When we dismantle these networks, we're not just removing drugs, We're making communities safer. We're also focused on the financial side of this fight. We're going after the money, including the use of cryptocurrency and other tools that these organizations rely on to move and hide profits. Our reach is both global and local. DEA operates in eighty-two offices across sixty-two countries and maintains a presence of twenty-six field divisions with more than two hundred offices here at home. This allows us to attack the problem from source to the street. We do this work with discipline and accountability. DEA's workforce is a driven agency. We have nearly nine thousand employees on board against an authorized level of nearly ninety-seven hundred employees. That includes just over four thousand special agents on board, compared to nearly forty-eight hundred authorized. We prioritize putting people where they have the greatest impact on the front lines. We're also careful stewards of the taxpayers' resources. More than eighty percent of our budget supports mandatory costs like salaries. Only a small portion is available for operational work. That means every operational dollar has to count. And it does. We prioritize keeping agents in the field, focus our resources on action that dismantles organizations, and removes drugs from our community. We measure success by impact, networks disrupted, communities protected, lives saved. The president's budget reflects confidence in that approach. It supports DEA's mission, our results, and our stewardship of resources entrusted to us. At the same time, the threat continues to evolve. These organizations move fast. They exploit global supply chains, digital platforms, and financial systems to keep the pace DEA has to strengthen its capacity in intelligence, data, and technology. This means giving our agents and analysts the tools to connect information, identify networks, and act quickly. It means improving how we share intelligence with federal, state, local, tribal, and international partners. And it means making sure our workforce has what it needs to do the job. This is about enabling investigators to get out from behind the desk and onto the streets, where they have the greatest impact. Our mission is simple, protect Americans and save American lives. We do this by enforcing the law, dismantling organizations driving this crisis, and working with our partners across the country and around the world. The men and women of DEA understand what is at stake. They see it every day. They carry out this mission with professionalism and purpose. With your continued support, we will stay on the offensive. We will keep pressure on the cartels. We will continue to disrupt networks driving the fentanyl crisis. And we will continue to protect Americans with the resources you entrust to us. Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

Uh, thank you, Administrator. Uh, now, Director Seralta of the United States Marshal Service. Director?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, South Committee members. Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the United States Marshal Service fiscal year twenty twenty seven, President's budget request. The United States Marshal Service occupies a uniquely central position in the federal justice system. While perf- protecting the judiciary, we're also the enforcement arm of the federal courts, involved in virtually every federal law enforcement initiative. Further, we are the federal government's primary agency for fugitive ap- investigations and have the broadest arrest authority among federal law enforcement agencies. The US Marshal Service has been at the apex of federal judicial protection, investigation and enforcement with vast mission responsibilities such as witness protection and prisoner management as well. The United States Marshal Service is unique from all other agencies and has no control over the workload for our primary mission, protecting, defending and enforcing the American justice system. For example, we cannot control the number of threats to our protectees and the subsequent required protection details. Prisoners that enter our custody cannot be controlled. How many federal witnesses we protect. or how many judicial proceedings are held each year. We're excited to work with you in advancing the United States Marshal Service forward in fiscal year twenty twenty seven. This will require increases in personal equipment and equipment for critical safety needs. Our total budget request for nearly five point two billion includes, God bless you, two point two billion for salaries and expenses, fifteen million for construction, and three billion for federal prisoner detention. Our workforce is one of the smallest in the federal law enforcement, at about thirty eight hundred deputy US Marshals. However, in fiscal year twenty twenty five, we arrested over seventy three thousand fugitives, conducted over three hundred and eight thousand prisoner movements, housed over fifty-five thousand prisoners, managed thirty-seven thousand assets worth ten point four billion dollars, provided security details for eighteen protectees, in addition to securing the residences of the US Supreme Court justices. Our continued success depends on our ability to provide the appropriate funding and personnel to support our missions. The fiscal year twenty twenty-seven President's budget request maintains and advances funding for core activities. The US Marshal Service requests program increases of four hundred and seventy-eight million for salaries and expenses appropriation to to support the addition of nine hundred and eighteen positions of which six hundred and forty-five positions are for much needed Deputy United States Marshals. The budget request increases funding for judicial security and protective operations, establishes a protective equipment program, provides permanent resources for safe task forces, expands immigration enforcement, right-sizes fugitive task forces, and institutes a cyclical replacement of vehicles. One highlight of the US Marshal Service budget request is one that is always at the forefront of my heart, and this committee's concern, and that's the safety and security of our law enforcement officers. This morning at the Marshal Service Headquarters, we honored our fallen as part of our National Police Week ceremonies, recognizing officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. We read the names of more than three hundred of them. It is imperative that we provide the best equipment and training to aid in protecting our deputies while accomplishing our operational missions safely and successfully. I would like to discuss a matter of utmost importance, courthouse security and our construction appropriation. Unfortunately, the backlog of renovation projects to fix critical facility and security deficiency currently exceeds four hundred and eighty-four million. Additional funding is necessary to maintain the infrastructure for the safety of the judicial officials. courtroom participants, the public, and our personnel. Lastly, the Marshal's service is required to house all detainees remanded to the custody of the Attorney General, and must ensure sufficient resources are available for their housing and care. We have had some funding challenges in the last few years and appreciate the President's budget request of three billion dollars. In closing, our continued success depends on our ability to provide the appropriate funding, and personnel to support these vital functions. And so on behalf of the brave m- w- men and women of the United States Marshal Service, I thank you.

Thank you. And now, Robert Sacata, the uh Director of the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and for and I appreciate your attendance. Thank you.

Good afternoon, sir. Good afternoon, Chairman Moran, Ranking Member Van Hollen, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the President's fiscal year twenty twenty-seven budget request for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. I am truly honored to be here. ATF is the only federal law enforcement agency whose primary mission is combating violent crime. We arrest violent criminals, disrupt firearms trafficking networks that arm gangs and cartels, investigate bombings and arsons, and deliver world-class forensic and intelligence services to state and local partners. all while protecting the second amendment rights of law abiding Americans. We are a small federal agency with roughly forty six hundred employees, but we are mighty. Our actions speak for themselves, since January twenty of twenty twenty five, ATF has arrested over eight thousand seven hundred criminals and seized nearly forty four thousand firearms. Approximately fifty one hundred were interdicted before they were trafficked into Mexico. Just over two point seven million rounds of ammunition and more than twenty thousand three hundred illegal explosives were also interdicted and seized as evidence. ATF also investigated more than three thousand five hundred arsenic explosives incidents and deployed the national response team to twenty-two callouts, including the Palisades wildfire in California. We completed more than eleven thousand FFL inspections and processed nearly eight hundred fifty-six thousand firearm trace requests for our state and local partners. We've also been very busy making operational improvements to our E form's processing times. Between January one, twenty twenty six and April fourteenth, twenty twenty six, ATF received more than one million eform applications and finalized nearly nine hundred and twenty four thousand of those applications. Today we are on track to hit a new record. By the end of May, we will have processed as many eform one and four applications in twenty twenty six as we did in the entirety of twenty twenty three. We have done all of this while cutting forms one processing times from forty-two to forty-seven days to forty-two days, and cutting E form four processing times from two hundred and thirty days in twenty twenty-three to just twelve days today. The funds Congress has appropriated to date have allowed ATF to make a tangible difference in communities throughout the country every single day. ATF provides critical services to state and local law enforcement at no cost, including firearms tracing, ballistic intelligence and forensic laboratory examinations, involving firearms, arson, and explosives. These capabilities are central to identifying shooters, disrupting trafficking networks, and solving violent crime. ATF is grateful for this funding and has achieved a tremendous result, but without adequate investments by Congress, these results are not further sustainable. That is what makes the President's FI twenty-seven budget request for ATF so important. It totals one point six five two billion for salaries and expenses, with four thousand seven hundred forty-nine full-time equivalents. It is what ATF requires to sustain our mission. Notably, the administration's budget includes two program enhancements, seven point eight million for NIBIN and twenty-five point eight million for combat and gun violence. The NIBIN enhancement will enable ATF to replace aging ballistics imaging equipment and expand correlation services to additional sites. This would ensure timely investigative lead generation, allowing law enforcement to identify and apprehend violent offenders more effectively. The combating gun violence enhancement will enable ATF to add eighty-six positions, including sixty special agents, to support the expansion of firearms trafficking task forces along the southwest border and increase ATF's ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle cross-border smuggling operations. If enacted, the administration's budget will enable ATF to sustain core capabilities, modernize critical infrastructure, and continue providing and expanding access to services for law enforcement partners allowing us to continue focusing on our unique mission of combating violent crime. The Senate has been a strong supporter of ATF's mission. I'm deeply grateful for that. I look forward to continuing to work together. I thank you all again. I look forward to your questions.

Director Sakata, thank you very much. Uh, let me, we'll now begin with a round of questions, uh, and I'll begin, uh, with you, Administrator Cole. I just, I just returned from a visit to China, where in conversations with Chinese leaders we again pushed the issue of, uh, precursor chemicals and their import to Mexico, and ultimately the drugs to the United States. Uh, I've also been to Mexico and met with a leadership there to encourage them to discourage China from continuing to import those precursors. What uh what's the DEA, what what's you uh what are you doing as the administrator to engage those foreign partners in China as well as other places India for example to break down this supply chain?

Senator, thank you, and DEA is laser focused on targeting and disrupting uh the supply chain out of China as well as in India. We've held uh two bilaterals this year uh with Chinese officials, one at DEA headquarters and the other one at our Rocky Mountain field division. Uh we continue to work on the ground in Beijing, China with NCB, the National Control Board in China, as well as MPS, the Ministry of Public Safety. We continue to stay engaged. We continue to target uh the Chinese organizations that are sending this precursor chemicals into Mexico for the manufacturing of fentanyl to come across our border. We will continue to stay on our front foot. We'll continue to target. We'll continue to work with US Ambassador David Perdue on the ground in China, who's been a tremendous advocate on the ground, not only for all federal law enforcement, but for protecting American citizens in our country from this danger of the precursor chemicals that continue to flow into Mexico and into Columbia.

Trader, how do you evaluate the interest, the willingness of the Chinese officials and other other foreign countries, their leadership in actually assisting in keeping the precursors out?

And at the ground level, we're working extremely well. I think there are still barriers that are in place. I hope that I know the president's visit this week will be fruitful as we continue to stay on the offense when it comes to protecting Americans. uh to this precursor chemicals that continue to flow into Mexico and and China. The Mexican authorities have stepped up their game um with bilateral cooperation. I think everybody at this table has seen an increase in the cooperation with Mexico, uh but we need more. Uh we can only determine the effect when we start to see the decrease in Americans that are dying at the hands of this poison that is coming out of Mexico, but is being fueled by China and India.

Uh, thank you for your efforts, uh, and I look forward to results. Um, Director Seralta, uh, you are the second US Marshal I ever met, uh, in a visit to Florida when you were the in the District of Florida. And I appreciate the hospitality you extended to me, I don't know, three years ago or so, uh, as I tried to learn about the Marshal's service in this capacity I hold on this committee. Um, You mentioned infrastructure at courthouses. Uh, I've taken an interest uh over the years in in the Commerce Justice Science subcommittee working to provide additional resources for judiciary security. Uh, and that has included uh security operations, courthouse security, protective details, uh, and threat response uh capabilities. We've also worked to provide legislation so that information can be removed from web sites uh regarding uh members of the judiciary and their families. You mentioned another aspect of this in your testimony, and that's about infrastructure. I leaned back to my staff to ask if this subcommittee has jurisdiction over infrastructure at courthouses, which I didn't necessarily think we did, but we do because it comes out of your budget. So I wanted to give you the chance to to highlight, for me at least, what's the current circumstances that our judges and court officials face in regard to threats And uh if it if you wanna re-highlight for us the things that we might do to be helpful, to make their uh persons more secure.

Thank you, Senator Moran. Uh it was a pleasure to have you in Florida. Hope to do that again sometime.

You did that never knowing that you were going to be the Director of the US Marketing Service,

I did not know that.

I assume.

Correct. Um so so our judicial security p- uh protective operations is is due to to with the President's budget to have an increase of thirty f- thirty four point six million dollars and that's gonna strengthen and expand the protective operations mission by adding more dedicated teams and allow the USMS to surge resources when

Mm-hmm.

threats necessitate enhanced judicial security but you bring about the question about uh uh the the construction backlog which I mentioned in my opening Um the construction backlog is four hundred and eighty four million dollars. And that uh includes thirty million of it for uh prisoner elevators. So any time we have to take a prisoner through a different elevator up the steps, uh we risk the the prisoner injuring himself or someone uh uh being injured uh by having the prisoner walking in in unsecured locations. So it it is a serious concern. It is something that I believe goes to the judicial security as a whole. Um the Marshal Service mitigates uh and and we triage what areas we work on, uh work with first uh with the input of the judiciary.

What do you think?

It would take just one more minute before I turn to to Senator Van Hollen. What threats, how what's the significance of the threats, members of the judiciary and their their uh court officers face today. Is it is it changing?

So so for the last for the last several years uh there's been an increase in threats um any threat that is a viable threat to a judge to us is serious business, it's something that we will uh uh investigate uh and arrest individuals and seek prosecution on. So uh there has been an increase in in threats it's it's been over the past several years. Um, and it's fueled uh uh primarily by social media, uh where folks can be uh uh brave on the internet, uh yet uh when we go meet up with them they're not so brave.

Thank you. Senator Van Hollen.

Uh thank you. Uh Director Sacata, you hold a position of public trust. You agree that you should lead by example and be held to at least the same standard of conduct as you expect of ATF agents.

Yes, sir.

And would you agree that if one of your agents was unable to perform his or her duties because of excessive drinking you would need to take corrective action or disciplinary measures?

Yes, sir.

Director Siralta, same question for you with respect to the US Marshal service. Do you agree with the responses from Director Sakata?

Reckon member Van Hollen, that would be uh correct. I would do that after a thorough investigation uh by our internal affairs.

Administrator Cole, I would Same question to you with respect to the DEA.

Yes, sir, I would echo what uh Rob and Gaddy have said after a thorough review by our OPR officer professional responsibility. Yes, sir.

Director Patel, do you agree with these three gentlemen as they're the FBI?

Yes, sir.

So you agree, Director Patel, that if one of your agents was unable to perform his or her duties because of excessive drinking you would need to take corrective or disciplinary action. You agree with that statement?

We would implement the inspection review process, just like these other agencies have their own internal investigations and complete that review.

As I said in my opening remarks, I I really don't care about your personal life so long as you are able to perform your public and official responsibilities, which are awesome responsibilities. Multiple reports, including reporting by the Atlantic, have alleged episodes of excessive drinking, unexplained absences, and behavior that concern current and former FBI and DOJ officials. You have publicly denied those allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit. So today as you testify before Congress, is it your testimony that those allegations are categorically false?

Unequivocally categorically false.

So there have been no occasions during your tenure when FBI personnel were unable to promptly reach you?

Absolutely not. You can ask my entire workforce. They hear from me at every single hour of the day, as do these great gentlemen here, as do the men and women of the inter-agencies state and local law enforcement and the White House.

And so there have been no occasions when your security detail had difficulty waking or locating you. Is that right?

Nope, it's a total force. I don't even know where you get this stuff, but it doesn't make it credible because you say so.

I'm not saying it uh Director Patel I I it's been written and documented I think.

You are literally saying it.

No I'm saying that these are reports uh Director Patel and I will say

No.

No unlike unlike your baseless reports the only person that was slinging

Director Patel

margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gang-banging rapist was you the only person that ran up a seven thousand dollar bar tab in

You know the fact Director Patel

Washington DC at the lobby door was you so the only individual in this room

This suggests to me this suggests to me that the allegations are true. Are you polygraphing, Dir- Director Patel, come on. These are serious allegations that were made against you. They're in a lawsuit that you filed.

The allegations are false. You drinking margaritas with a gang guy,

Uh, you're actually,

you're true and on video.

it just goes to show you don't This goes

You running a seven thousand dollar bar tab at the lobby bar has been filed by your own office

Director Patel, this goes to show

to drink during the day. That's you.

Chair- Mister Chairman,

This is the ultimate example of hypocrisy.

Mister Chairman

I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations from fraudulent statements from the media.

Uh, let me ask the questions. The fact that you mention that indicates you don't know what you are talking about.

Absolutely.

Now here, director, no,

The only thing I know is you're the one drinking margaritas with Felicia.

you're Actually, that's a false statement, and I'm asking you about your statements,

I've answered that.

and I'm asking you about a particular report. And it, your testimonial is, so let me ask you this.

It's not a report.

Um Are you willing to take the the the test, the It's it's called the audit test that members of our activity military and others take to determine whether they have a drinking problem.

I'll take any test you're willing to take.

I will take it, Doc- Director Pitelli. I'll take it. You ready to take it?

Let's go.

Yes or no?

Let's go. Side by side.

I'll take it. I'll take it. All right. I think that, uh, the fact that you're so d- Have you have you ordered, uh, polygraph tests of members of your team to determine how that story came about?

The FBI conducts polygraph tests all the time.

No, have you have you ordered polygraph tests for members of your team to determine who was the source of the stories that I'm asking you about?

I don't order any polygraph tests. There's an internal inspection review process for any and all leaks, especially of baseless information at the FBI that's been in place for the last thirty years. Those processes are followed by career intelligence and agents on the ground.

So I'll I'll take that as a a yes, since you said that these were these were unauthorized disclosures. Uh, I have another round of questioning regarding your firing people who were important to in t- gathering intelligence with respect to Iran, but I'll wait for my second round.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Sure thing.

Senator Collins, uh, we're pleased to have the ch- the chairwoman of the full committee with us.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Director Patel, the proliferation of illegal marijuana grow houses connected to transnational criminal organizations originating in China, is an ongoing problem in the state of Maine. A DHS memo in twenty twenty three estimated that Maine had as many as two hundred seventy Chinese-backed illegal marijuana operations producing up to an estimated four point three billion dollars in illicit revenues.

Mm-hmm.

Since then, thousands of pounds of illegal marijuana have been seized, primarily because of the tireless work of our main sheriffs and local law enforcement in Maine. One other side effect of these illegal grow operations is they usually destroy the houses in which they're located. which exacerbates the housing shortage in my state. Last year you testified that the FBI would be sending more resources to the field, specifically to Maine, to combat these dangerous operations. I speak with Maine sheriffs frequently about this problem, and they have reported some improvement in federal interest and participation. For example, federal support has been critical to track money laundering, which is often linked to these operations and in providing interpreter services to question individuals who are arrested, who often appear to have been trafficked and forced to work and live at these sites, under hazardous conditions and don't speak English. bring me up to date on how the FBI is working to address these dangerous grow houses that are operating not just in Maine although we're a particular target, but Oklahoma, California, and other states as well. It's essential that we have support from FBI, from DEA, from Treasury. This has to be an all of government effort. to close these operations down.