Department of Justice (DOJ) Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen recently shed light on how various subdivisions of the department are tackling terrorism and violent extremism during a July 28 House Judiciary Committee hearing.
“The Department of Justice uses all of its authorities to take a Department-wide approach to combatting terrorism,” Olsen said in a statement to the Committee. “The National Security Division, which was created in 2006 in part to lead and integrate the Department of Justice’s core mission of combatting terrorism, is at the forefront of that effort, in partnership with the FBI, other DOJ components, and federal prosecutors around the country.”
The hearing provided an oversight of the role the National Security Division (NSD) has within the DOJ and featured testimony from Olsen on three main points. He discussed the domestic and international terrorist threats facing the U.S., how the DOJ is structured to work through the FBI and NSD to respond to these threats, and the legal authorities used by the DOJ to uncover and prosecute terrorism.
Discussing the domestic and international threats that the DOJ faces, Olsen specifically highlighted domestic violent extremists, homegrown violent extremists, school shooters, protesters from Jan. 6, ISIS and Al Qaeda.
“Keeping the country safe from all terrorism threats, foreign or domestic, is a top priority of the Department of Justice, even as the nature of those threats continues to evolve,” he said in the statement. “There is no question that we continue to face the threat of foreign-origin terrorist attacks on the homeland. At the same time, over the last few years, our country has seen the threat posed by domestic terrorism and domestic violent extremists increase – and that must be addressed.”
in outlining the DOJ’s response to security threats, Olsen said the FBI has a Joint Terrorism Task Force and a National Security Branch, noting also that the U.S. Attorney’s Offices coordinate Anti-Terrorism Advisory Councils. Additionally, he said the DOJ created the National Security Division to “integrate, coordinate, and advance the Department’s counterterrorism and other national security work nationwide.”
