FBI director makes trip to Seattle, talks terrorism and privacy

FBI Director James B. Comey made a trip to Seattle Tuesday as part of a nationwide tour to visit each of the agency’s 56 domestic field offices.

Comey, who has led the FBI since September 2013, fielded questions from a group of local reporters, on topics ranging from terrorism to privacy concerns.

In his opening remarks, Comey said counterterrorism remains the agency’s top priority, citing changes in the terrorism threat and the emergence of homegrown extremism.

“That is people who don’t need to go meet someone from al-Qaeda or ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), but who through the wonders of the Internet can get all the propaganda that they need to get jacked up, and the training they need to engage in their own misguided effort and hurt innocent people,” Comey said, before taking questions.

Reporter: Can we talk about the Syria travelers? I’ve heard a lot of different numbers thrown around. Some say as few as a dozen people who have trained with ISIS or al-Qaeda are in the United States. Others say hundreds. Is there any number the FBI is comfortable talking about?

Comey: We have tracked more than 100 folks who have either gone to Syria and stayed, gone to Syria and come back, or we locked up as they were trying to get to Syria. There’s about a dozen Americans who are fighting with ISIL in Syria/Iraq, the border has sort of been erased at this point. And they run the gamut, ages young to quite senior. There’s no particular demographic, no particular national origin within this country, no particular geography. They are attracted, unfortunately, from all parts of this great country of ours.”

Reporter: Is there any particular Northwest focus to the anti-terrorist effort? Is the Northwest a nexus of anything that you know of?

Comey: Yes and No. No in the sense that I don’t see this wonderful region as any different from any other highly populated area of the country. As I said, this phenomenon is not a New York or Washington (DC) phenomenon, especially the attraction to (Syria) travelers and the people who we call homegrown violent extremists. It’s an everywhere deal. So, in that sense, yes the Northwest is a focus, but I wouldn’t distinguish it from any other place. We have a number of cases open here. We’re focused on people that have expressed interest in doing the kinds of things I’m talking about, but I don’t distinguish this area from the Southwest or Southeast, for example.

Reporter: (Are you referring to the) number of cases open here that have to do with people traveling to Syria?

Comey: Both. People who are interested in traveling to Syria, or people who we are concerned might be homegrown violent extremists. We have those cases open – like I said, I don’t focus on the Northwest when I say that. I know we have some here and elsewhere in the country.

Reporter: What does the FBI consider a greater threat to American soil: Homegrown terrorists or a terrorist threat from overseas?

Comey: That’s sort of hard to sort. I worry about both of them in my job and I wouldn’t prioritize one over the other. They’re both worrisome.

Reporter: It’s been reported that the FBI has assisted the NSA (National Security Agency) with domestic intelligence gathering. I’m wondering what kinds of intelligence the NSA shared with the FBI.

Comey: I guess I can’t answer that, except to say whenever the FBI receives intelligence from any other federal agency – or frankly, from anyone – we do it pursuant to the laws and procedures that govern the conduct of the FBI in the United States, which are pretty extensive. Sometimes folks express concern that we’re listening to their phone calls or reading their emails. If we are, we first went to a federal judge and made a showing of probable cause that you are a spy, a terrorist, or a serious criminal, which gives us the authority for a very short period of time to read your emails or listen to your phone calls, then we have to go back to the federal judge and tell them what happened. So it is very hard for us to do, and I like it that way.

Reporter: How closely is the FBI still monitoring the weed situation here?

Comey: Weed meaning marijuana (laughter). Not very. I mean, it’s not something that we focus on. I once made a wise crack about hiring and marijuana, which I will not repeat (laughter).

Reporter: October 11 will mark the 13th anniversary of the killing of (Assistant U.S. Attorney) Tom Wales. Can you give us an assessment of where that investigation stands, and realistically, what the chances of solving it are?

Comey: Probably the best thing I can say is it’s still open and active. I discussed it while I was here, read about it before I came. And not just because I was an assistant U.S. attorney for most of my career and I remember vividly when AUSA Wales was killed, but because these are the kinds of things that all of us who care about the justice system take very, very seriously. So, I guess I can’t handicap it for you, except to tell you it’s open and active. We’re human beings in the FBI, so we have all the normal flaws of human beings, but one of our great strengths is that we’re dogged people. We never, ever forget.