Sen. Ted Cruz Cites Project Veritas’ FBI Leak When Questioning Director Christopher Wray

[Washington D.C.] – Aug 4, 2022] Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) questioned FBI Director, Christopher Wray, about a recent Project Veritas Report regarding a document provided by a whistleblower which revealed FBI guidelines for identifying “Militia Violent Extremists.”

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In the leaked document, the Betsy Ross Flag, Gadsden Flag, and other common American symbols were portrayed as potential materials used by these alleged “extremists.”

References to US Constitution’s Second Amendment, using the abbreviation "2A" is also included on the list.

Before Cruz asked Wray to respond, he gave a lengthy statement about the Project Veritas Report:

I hear regularly from FBI agents and from professionals at the Department of Justice who are dismayed that our law enforcement has been weaponized and politicized, rather than remaining apolitical, as it has been for the history of our country. Yesterday, it was reported that Project Veritas had obtained a copy of an FBI training material, which listed various symbols and themes, which in the FBI’s estimation, were indicative of, quote, ‘Militia Violent Extremism.’ Now, these symbols weren’t things like the Ku Klux Klan or the Nazi Party, which naturally would be symbols of that, but instead they include rather astonishingly, patriotic symbols of our nation and our history. Included on this list is the Betsy Ross flag. Now, that is fairly remarkable that the Betsy Ross flag, in the FBI’s indication, is indicative of Militia Violent Extremism because, among other people who have been publicly alongside the Betsy Ross flag, we have President Barack Obama, who was sworn-in directly underneath the Betsy Ross flags. But, it’s not just President Obama, we also have President Biden, who was sworn-in under Betsy Ross flags. It’s not just the Betsy Ross flag. Also on this list is the Gadsden flag as a symbol of violent extremism. Now, the State of Virginia has a license plate for the Gadsden flag, as do many other states. I think people would be astonished to find that having that license plate, the FBI indicates that you’re a violent extremist.

FBI Director Wray indicated that he wasn’t aware of that “specific document.”

Well Senator, I’m not familiar with the particular document that you have behind you and I’m not in the practice of trying to comment on documents I haven’t recognized, but I will tell you that when we put out intelligence products, including ones that reference symbols, which we do across a wide variety of contexts, we usually make great pains- take great pains to put caveats and warnings in the document that make clear that a symbol alone is not considered evidence of violent extremism