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WATCH: FBI director goes silent when asked if country

'safer' under Biden
Christopher Wray tells Senate committee that threats against Americans have risen to 'whole other level'
By Brandon Gillespie Fox News

Published October 31, 2023 7:13pm EDT

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5 hours ago
WATCH: FBI director
goes silent when
asked if country
'safer' under Biden

Wray: Middle East conflict raised terror threat to 'whole other level'
FBI Director Christopher Wray says the conflict in the Middle East has raised the terror threat to a "whole another level."

FBI Director Christopher Wray went silent Tuesday when questioned over whether the
country is safer since President Biden took office.

"Isthe United States safer from foreign terror threats today? Are we safer than when Joe
Biden took office — from the day he took office?" Sen. Rick Scott R-Fla., asked Wray during ,

a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.

Wray took an extended pause, sitting silently and appearing to be in deep thought before
finally answering.

WHITE HOUSE INDICATES PEOPLE MAKING ‘VIOLENT ANTISEMITIC THREATS’ NOT

CLASSIFIED AS ‘DOMESTIC TERRORISTS’

"What I would say to you is that the terror threats have elevated. But I also think there are a
lot of things the country has done throughout law enforcement to be better prepared to
deal with them," he said, not directly saying whether the country has become safer under
Biden's watch.

"Iasked FBI Director Wray a simple question: is the U.S. safer today than it was before
[Joe Biden] took office? After nearly 10 seconds of silence, he finally admitted what we all
know… '…the terror threats have elevated…'" Scott wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after the
hearing.

During the hearing, Wray warned that the threat of a terror attack against Americans has
been raised to a "whole other level" due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East .

WHITE HOUSE ‘COULDN’T POSSIBLY ANSWER' WHETHER TERRORISTS HAVE ALREADY

CROSSED OVER SOUTHERN BORDER

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., left, and FBI Director Christopher Wray (Getty Images)

"The reality is that the terrorism threat has been elevated throughout 2023, but the
ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the
United States to a whole other level," Wray said.

Hamas launched a deadly terrorist attack against Israel on Oct. 7, leading to a military
response from the U.S. ally. The conflict has renewed concern in the U.S. that there could
be similar terror attacks inspired by Hamas and other terrorist groups, including by
domestic and homegrown terrorists.

Following the hearing, the White House said it "couldn't possibly answer" whether
terrorists have already crossed over the southern border amid the ongoing crisis there and
the increased security threats in the Middle East when pressed by Fox News.

Fox News' Adam Shaw and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_cg.

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