Thread by @BBuchman_CNS

TODAY: The Senate Intel Committee meets at 10 AM ET to weigh the state of worldwide threats and how the Biden administration is/will handle. Witnesses include top officials from ODNI, CIA, FBI, NSA etc. First of two hearings in Congress on this subject this week.
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Sen. Mark Warner kicks off today's hearing on worldwide threats and establishes that he wants to hear from senior IC officials on pandemic; China; closes remarks saying he supports drawdown in Afghanistan but there must be focus on supporting those who supported us in region

To note, Warner is chair of the Senate Intel Committee.
He also remarked today on his relief to have a willing director at ODNI; noting his requests last year for Trump's director to appear went ignored. But today, Avril Haines, dir of ODNI, is here and ready to testify.

The worldwide threat hearing held by this committee is a regular practice, happens at least once a year. After today's public hearing, they will hold a closed portion for lawmakers and officials.

Avril Haines, director of ODNI: The pace & complexity of threats are increasing. It requires the US intel community to evolve. The pandemic exposed the "high level of risk of interdependence."
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ODNI director Haines to Senate Intel Cmte: The world will face more intense and cascading global challenges... from disease to climate change to disruption in new technology and financial crises.
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As Biden talks drawdown, at intel hearing today Haines notes: China, North Korea, Iran remain priority issues for IC.
Iraq will be a "key battleground for Iranian influence in the coming years, Haines tells lawmakers.

The unclassified 2021 ODNI threat assessment report is available here: documentcloud.org/documents/2061…
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CIA dir William Burns says competition and tech is at the core of rivalry with an "increasingly adversarial China and Chinese partnership in coming years." We have strengthened our own capabilities on science and tech and cyber issues and nearly 1/3 CIA is focused on tech/cyber.

ODNI dir. Haines tells Senate Intel cmte it is "absolutely accurate" that the U.S. does not know exactly when where or how Covid-19 was transmitted initially. ODNI accepts 2 main theories: emerged naturally by infected animal-to-human contact or it emerged from a lab by accident.

CIA dir Burns agrees with this assessment on Covid-19 by Haines. "One thing that is clear is that Chinese leadership has not been fully forthcoming or transparent working with WHO to help" answer those questions on origins, Burns adds.
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You can watch today's hearing here: intelligence.senate.gov/hearings/open-….

FBI director Chris Wray says that he has always felt China was one the greatest threats facing American nat sec, esp. the threats the nation poses re: its "economic espionage" operations

To combat this threat, Wray says the FBI has opened over 2k investigations that tie back to the Chinese government. With economic espionage alone, FBI notes there has been a 1300% increase in illicit activity.

"We’re opening a new investigation into China every 10 hours and I can ensure the committee that is not because our folks don’t have anything to do with their time." - FBI dir Wray
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Covering multiple hearings today so I will pull back from posting more frequent updates here. I will, however, have a report on today's worldwide threats hearing with the Senate Intel Committee later for @CourthouseNews

WASHINGTON (CN) — For the 1st time since '19, senior IC officials appeared before the U.S. Senate to offer an open assessment on threats facing America after a year of pandemic, upticks in domestic violent extremism and sweeping cybersecurity breaches.
courthousenews.com/national-secur…