GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas questioned FBI Director Christopher Wray over a leaked document published last week which instructs bureau officials to look for patriotic symbols to identify potential “militia violent extremists.”
Project Veritas reported an FBI whistleblower provided the document labeled for “FBI Internal Use Only.”
Among the symbols featured in the document are the Betsy Ross flag, the Gadsden flag and the Gonzales battle flag.
BREAKING Via Project Veritas: FBI Whistleblower LEAKS Bureau’s Domestic Terrorism Symbols Guide on ‘Militia Violent Extremists’ Citing Ashli Babbitt
Document references The Second Amendment, Gadsden Flag, Revolutionary War Imagery, & The Betsy Ross Flag pic.twitter.com/tsIYLuvrhf
— MAGA Warlord Poso ⚔️ (@JackPosobiec) August 2, 2022
“I am deeply concerned that the FBI and the Department of Justice have become thoroughly politicized,” Cruz said to Wray, who was appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Aug. 4.
“I think this is a problem that began during the Obama administration. I think it metastasized … during the Trump administration, and I think it continues, and is even worse today, under the Biden administration,” he continued.
The senator offered his assessment that Wray himself does not personally reflect the politicization of the agency, but he’s not been willing to root it out either.
Do you think the FBI has become partisan?
With that preface, Cruz cited the Project Veritas story as indicative of how slanted against conservatives the FBI has become.
The Texan noted the list of patriotic symbols that are being taught are indicative of “militia violent extremism.”
“These symbols weren’t things like the Ku Klux Klan or the Nazi Party, which naturally would be symbols of that,” Cruz said.
“Instead they included, rather astonishingly, patriotic symbols of our nation and our history,” like the Betsy Ross flag, the Gadsden flag and the Gonzales battle flag, he recounted.
The FBI and DOJ became politicized under Obama and this has continued under Biden.
The FBI has become an attack dog to help the Democrats achieve their own political ambitions and silence dissenters. pic.twitter.com/lMj1D468t0
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) August 11, 2022
The Continental Congress adopted the Betsy Ross flag — with 13 stars and 13 stripes — as the national flag during the Revolutionary War in 1777.
Cruz had an aide place pictures of former President Barack Obama and current President Joe Biden being sworn in on their inauguration days under Betsy Ross flags.
The Gadsden flag was created by South Carolina lawmaker Christopher Gadsden, who was a member of the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention.
It was the first flag of the U.S. Marines.
The senator noted that states like Virginia and Florida allow citizens to choose the Gadsden flag as the background for their license plates.
Finally, the Gonzales flag dates back to the Texas Revolution against Mexico in 1835. The flag says “Come and Take It” with a cannon depicted on it.
This was the message Texans sent to Mexican soldiers who wanted their cannon back, which had been placed by their government in the town of Gonzales — east of San Antonio — originally to fend off Native attacks, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Regarding the Gonzales flag, Cruz said that he would like to self report because the boots he wears in the Senate include it. He then proceeded to place one on the table in front of him.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) slams his boot on the table in opposition to FBI guidelines on symbols that indicate violent extremist groups:
“I will self-report right now that everyday in the Senate I wear my boots that have the Gonzales battle flag on the back.” pic.twitter.com/HxsqbEXaqJ
— The Recount (@therecount) August 4, 2022
“Director Wray, what are y’all doing? This makes no sense,” Cruz said.
He asked Wray if he agreed with FBI guidance that these flags are signs of “militia violent extremism.”
The director said he was not aware of the document in question.
“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,” Wray said.
Cruz interjected saying, “But you don’t include things like Antifa. You don’t include things like Black Lives Matter. Instead, you identify patriotic Americans as suspect.”
He further argued that there seems to be a pattern of targeting people who do not toe the government line, such as parents who speak out at school board meetings regarding critical race theory or mask mandates.
Wray responded saying the FBI was focused on investigating those making threats against school officials, but not those who merely exercise their right to free speech.
Cruz questioned how many parents had been investigated. Wray answered that he did not know the answer, but it was a small number.
? SMOKING GUN: Whistleblowers reveal the FBI has labeled dozens of investigations into parents with a threat tag created by the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division pic.twitter.com/uDMd7x1no3
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) May 11, 2022
Cruz countered that House Republicans had reported dozens of their constituents had received knocks on their door by the FBI.
