IC Needs Serious Reform After 'Trump-Russia Collusion Fiasco' And COVID-19 Origin Claims: Rich Crawford

3/31/2025

At Wednesday's House Intel Committee hearing, Rep. Rich Crawford (R-AR) spoke about reforms needed for the intelligence community.

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Transcript

00:00during today's event.

00:01I'm confident all members can treat

00:02each of our witnesses today with due respect,

00:04consistent with past practice.

00:08This Worldwide Threats Hearing provides American people

00:10the opportunity to hear directly

00:11from our intelligence community leadership

00:12on the threats that face our nation.

00:14It's my pleasure to welcome our witnesses

00:16to today's hearing, Director of National Intelligence,

00:18the Honorable Tulsi Gabbard,

00:20Director of Central Intelligence Agency,

00:22the Honorable John Ratcliffe,

00:24Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,

00:26the Honorable Kash Patel,

00:28Director of National Security Agency,

00:30General Tim Hawk,

00:32Director of Defense Intelligence Agency,

00:34Lieutenant General Jeffrey Cruz.

00:36Thank you all for being here.

00:37First, I want to address an issue

00:38that was made public earlier this week

00:40regarding a group text message exchange

00:41that included several members of President Trump's

00:43National Security Leadership Team and a journalist.

00:46Yesterday, our colleagues on the Senate Select Committee

00:48on Intelligence held their hearing

00:49on the Annual Threat Assessment,

00:50and unfortunately, instead of exploring

00:52the real and existential threats that face our nation,

00:55which is the purpose of this hearing,

00:57this issue consumed most of their time.

00:59While I will address this topic further in my questions,

01:02it's my sincere hope that we use this hearing

01:03to discuss the many foreign threats facing our nation.

01:07I have deep concerns about the state

01:08of our national security.

01:10The war between Russia and Ukraine

01:11has just surpassed three years

01:13and now includes North Korean troops on the battlefield.

01:16Iran remains the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism,

01:19supporting terrorist organizations

01:21throughout the Middle East,

01:22like Hezbollah and Hamas,

01:23fueling the latter's war with Israel and Gaza.

01:25The threat of the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP,

01:29has metastasized worldwide,

01:31expanding a robust military and espionage capability

01:33well beyond the Pacific,

01:35including here within the Western Hemisphere.

01:37The CCP's aggressiveness in operations

01:40below the level of armed conflict continues to grow.

01:43For example, they have sponsored cyber attacks

01:45against United States critical infrastructure

01:46and even recruited a New York State Governor's Office

01:49employee into being an undisclosed agent of the CCP.

01:54And after four years of a catastrophic open border policy

01:56and limited, and in many cases, no vetting,

01:59we have seen an explosion of illegal migrants

02:01crossing our border since 2021.

02:04In fiscal year 2024,

02:05516 were identified to be known or suspected terrorists,

02:09106 of whom tried to sneak into our country

02:11between ports of entry.

02:13And these are just the ones we caught

02:15of the nearly three million encounters

02:17recorded by Customs and Border Protection.

02:20We've also seen an ISIS-affiliated human smuggling network

02:22bringing more than 400 migrants into the United States.

02:25And this occurs through networks associated with cartels

02:28and gangs from Sinaloa to CJNG,

02:30who present an unacceptable risk

02:32to the security of the American people.

02:34In the midst of such threats,

02:35many have understandably lost trust

02:38in the intelligence community.

02:39One reason I'm particularly concerned about

02:41is the pattern of lapses I've seen in analytic integrity

02:44and objectivity in some of the assessments

02:45provided by the IC in the last few years.

02:48From President Trump, Russia collusion fiasco,

02:51to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic,

02:53to anomalous health incidents,

02:55there have been numerous instances of the IC

02:57suppressing certain reporting,

02:58using substandard reporting to support a pre-decided thesis

03:02and failure or refusal to consider

03:04plausible alternative analyses.

03:06That combined with many other examples

03:07of weaponized government results

03:09in a situation where the United States

03:10is facing very real threats,

03:12while many of our citizens lack trust

03:15in those they empower to inform on or counter these threats.

03:19Look, I've been honored to serve our country

03:21for many years now,

03:22first as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician

03:24in the Army, now as a representative

03:26for the First District of Arkansas

03:27and chairman of this committee.

03:29In my time here, I've traveled the world

03:30and met with countless IC employees

03:32from everyday Americans doing challenging

03:34and often dangerous work of intelligence

03:37to agency directors like yourselves.

03:39The vast majority of those people

03:41are honest, hardworking, patriotic Americans

03:44that silently and without accolades

03:46do difficult jobs, often in austere places,

03:50sacrificing time with their families

03:52and in some cases, putting themselves in danger,

03:54all in order to serve the United States.

03:57These silent warriors deserve our gratitude

03:59and our respect.

04:00They do not deserve to have their reputations

04:03besmirched by poor leadership.

04:06Unfortunately, in recent years,

04:07we've seen instances of politicized,

04:09self-serving, dishonest leaders

04:10sustaining the reputation of our institutions

04:13and patriots by abusing the powers

04:15and sacred trust given to them by the American people.

04:18We have some real work to do.

04:21You and your roles as leaders

04:21of prestigious organizations and us,

04:23as members of this committee,

04:24charged with conducting honest and rigorous oversight

04:27must ensure that our institutions

04:28work for the American people.

04:30Those that don't uphold the stringent standards

04:32of integrity that the American people expect

04:34and deserve must be held accountable.

04:36In the instances where trust is breached,

04:38those involved must be held accountable.

04:40This will help rebuild the trust

04:43between the American people and those

04:44that serve them in the intelligence community.

04:46Today, we need you to be candid

04:47about the threats facing the United States.

04:50I have deep concerns that many threats

04:51have been downplayed or not taken seriously enough

04:53for some time, particularly in the homeland

04:55and the Western Hemisphere.

04:57I look forward to hearing your assessment.

04:58Thank you again to our witnesses for being here today.

05:00And with that, I want to thank you for your time.

IC Needs Serious Reform After 'Trump-Russia Collusion Fiasco' And COVID-19 Origin Claims: Rich Crawford

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