“Protecting the public from the most pressing terrorist threat ‘has been our governing principle for many years now,’ said Lisa Monaco, who served as the top counterterrorism adviser to President Barack Obama. Given the surge in attacks linked to the far right, she said, ‘we need to prioritize our resources and focus on this threat.’

“…Nicholas Rasmussen, who served three years as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said that attacks linked to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State — including the Boston bombings and the night club shooting in Orlando — were invariably followed by ‘all-hands’ meetings at the White House. Among those assembled were often the heads of the Pentagon, the CIA, and the Treasury and State departments.

“‘But I suspect that didn’t happen this weekend at the White House,’ Rasmussen said. ‘If it had happened in the Obama or Bush White Houses, I’m not sure it would have either. Because as soon as you hear “domestic,” everybody reverts to “Well, the FBI has the ball.”’ He added: ‘The FBI is hands down the best investigative law enforcement agency in the world, but asking them to take on this problem on their own makes no sense…'”

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