A senator had a simple question for the FBI’s counterterrorism chief at a hearing last week about the Capitol riot.
Didn’t the FBI see all those postings by extremists on social media before the event, she asked Wednesday, including promises to “occupy the Capitol” and bring “revolution” to Washington?
“To my knowledge, no, ma’am,” the counterterrorism chief, Jill Sanborn, responded, going on to explain that the FBI can’t monitor “First Amendment-protected activities” without a tip or an open investigation that directs agents to a specific post.
The senator, Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., kept pressing. “So the FBI does not monitor publicly available social media conversations?”
“Correct, ma’am,” Sanborn replied. “It’s not within our authorities.”
Fact check: false. FBI agents have said in court records that they monitor public social media, and the bureau recently signed a $14 million contract with a “threat intelligence” company called ZeroFox “to proactively identify threats to the United States and its interests” on the internet. For years, the FBI has had a similar arrangement with DataMinr, which can flag social media postings of interest to its clients.
Oh thank God! I thought they meant Denny Terrio! 
