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The FBI was aware for about two years that Rahami was a terrorist.
Comey, who was possibly lying to the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, claimed that when the FBI makes a mistake, they are open about it. No less than ten senators had to bite their inner cheeks to keep themselves from laughing.
Comey noted that the FBI is looking into their most recent screw-ups. Specifically, the Orlando nightclub shooter jihad case and the Manhattan bomber case. No mention was made about the Hillary Clinton case as it was not considered to be related to terrorism.
"We're going to go back and look very carefully about the way we encountered him," Comey said, referring to Rahami. "Just because his father told us he suspected his son of being a terrorist, is no reason to get our skivvies tied up in a knot. And he had a nice smile and a great sense of humor, so we weren't very concerned at the time, but this is a valuable lesson for the Bureau and we've learned from it."
Dozens were injured in the Manhattan bombings but thankfully, nobody was killed.
Rahami's dad said he told the FBI about Ahmad two years ago, but recanted his story. Still, the father complained about the way the FBI handled it. "I said Ahmad went to meet with jihadists overseas and Comey just laughed at me and told me to try selling that story to the CIA. I left with my tail between my legs."
Kentucky ophthalmologist and Republic Senator Rand Paul pressed Comey during Tuesday's hearing concerning allegations that no matter how many people were known as jihadists to the FBI, they didn't want any trouble and refused to get involved. Paul asked Comey whether mistakes have been made in those investigations.
Comey pushed back and told Paul that his facts were screwed up and that he ought to stick to his medical practice because he'd be better at it than he is at politics.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R- NH) also went after Comey on the country's readiness in dealing with future jihad attacks on home soil. "What more do we need to do?" she asked. "What are the lessons learned, and if you need additional support, we need to know about it very quickly."
Comey testified with Jeh [sic] Johnson the Homeland Security Secretary director and Nicholas ("Old Nick") Rasmussen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center. The purpose of the testimony was to explore threats 15 years after the 9/11 attacks. Why they waited so long remains a mystery.
Comey showed concern that violent extremists (aka Muslim jihadists) will eventually flow out of Syria and Iraq and infiltrate other countries with plans of committing terrorist attacks. He did not, however, show concern about the record flow of immigrants from terrorist nations coming to the United States as he has round-the-clock armed protection.
"There will be a terrorist diaspora sometime in the next two to five years like we've never seen before," Comey said, using words to throw off GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The hearing was held a little more than a week since the bombings in New York and New Jersey and a stabbing attack at a Minnesota mall (aka gun-free zone).
Johnson, who apparently is clueless about what inspires "lone wolves" admitted these threats have evolved, moving from terrorist-directed attacks "to a world that also includes the threat of terrorist-inspired attacks" in which individuals living in the U.S. are "self-radicalized" to attack in their own country.
The notion of "lone wolf" is misleading. It implies that internal influences are the cause for terrorists to kill in the name of Islam. What inspires these people with no external connection to these groups is Islam itself in conjunction with the internet. This is what ties them together and until we can make a better case not to follow the claptrap of Islamic terrorism, nothing will change.
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