Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Deputy Director Paul Abbate surprised Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) by claiming the agency “unintentionally” spied on thousands of Americans.
The statement was made before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Abbate was questioned as to why the FBI would not release the 1023 form pertaining to the Biden business dealings.
When discussing the FBI spying on Americans, Hawley asked, “Who’s been fired for it?”
Deputy Directory Abbate said, “In the case of the unintentional instance, where something similar happened, we have fired people in the past,” causing Hawley to respond in shock and press for more details.
Hawley asked, “Wait, you’re saying that the 278,000 queries were unintentional?”
Abbate responded that believed that to be “correct.”
Reporting from Daily Caller:
“Wow,” Hawley said, visibly shocked. “278,000 times, American citizens’ information was queried by your agency unintentionally? That’s your testimony?” “I would want to go back and check that, Senator, but yes, my understanding is that the vast majority of the–” “Wait, but that’s different. You just said it was, you just said it was unintentional, now it’s the vast majority?” Hawley asked. “Which is it? Do you know?”
