Senate Intelligence chair says US domestic threats are greater than terrorism

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Sunday marked the 21-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by warning of domestic threats the U.S. is currently facing. 

“I remember, as most Americans do, where they were on 9/11. I was in the middle of a political campaign and suddenly, the differences with my opponent seem very small in comparison and our country came together,” Warner said on CBS “Face the Nation” with host Margaret Brennan. 

“The stunning thing to me is here we are 20 years later, and the attack on the symbol of our democracy was not coming from terrorists, but it came from literally insurgents attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6.”

Warner lauded the nation’s unity and progress in the face of international terror threats, and said he hopes the country can similarly rally in the face of domestic challenges.

“I believe our intelligence community has performed remarkably. I think the threat of terror has diminished … But I do worry about some of the activity in this country where the election deniers, the insurgency that took place on Jan. 6, that is something I hope we could see that same kind of unity of spirit.”

Warner leads what he called “the last functioning bipartisan committee,” the Intelligence Committee, along with vice chairman Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). The panel is now looking into the classified documents found when the FBI executed a search warrant at former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence last month.