Top US Intel Officials to Testify      03/18 06:32

   Top Trump administration national security officials facing back-to-back 
congressional hearings starting Wednesday are expected to be pressed on the war 
in Iran, including a deadly strike on a school, as well as the FBI's capacity 
to prevent terror attacks inside the United States.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Top Trump administration national security officials 
facing back-to-back congressional hearings starting Wednesday are expected to 
be pressed on the war in Iran, including a deadly strike on a school, as well 
as the FBI's capacity to prevent terror attacks inside the United States.

   The annual worldwide threats hearings involving the government's senior-most 
intelligence officials are taking place at a time of scrutiny over the U.S. 
military campaign in the Middle East and heightened concerns about terrorism in 
the homeland following recent attacks at a Michigan synagogue and Virginia 
university.

   The testimony before the House and Senate intelligence committees is 
expected to center on the war and in particular the revelation that outdated 
intelligence likely led to the U.S. firing a missile that hit an elementary 
school in Iran and killed over 165 people. The outdated targeting data was 
reported to have come from the Defense Intelligence Agency, whose director, Lt. 
Gen. James H. Adams, is among those set to testify. The White House says the 
strike is still under investigation.

   The hearings, which begin Wednesday in the Senate and continue Thursday in 
the House, are also likely to delve into internal administration debate over 
the war given the resignation this week of Joe Kent as director of the National 
Counterterrorism Center. Kent said Tuesday that he could not "in good 
conscience" back the Trump administration's war and that he did not agree that 
Iran posed an imminent threat to the U.S.

   Hours later, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, whose office 
oversaw Kent's work and who is expected at the hearings this week, wrote in a 
carefully worded social media post that it was up to Trump to decide whether 
Iran posed a threat. She did not mention her own views of the strikes.

   Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe may also be questioned over recent 
intelligence assessments about Iran, including one that showed U.S. strikes are 
unlikely to result in a regime change in Tehran, and another that cast doubt on 
claims Iran was preparing to strike first.

   The hearings are also likely to focus on Kash Patel's leadership of the FBI. 
It will be his first public appearance on Capitol Hill since video surfaced 
last month showing him partying with members of the U.S. men's hockey team 
following their gold medal win at the Winter Olympics.

   He has fired dozens of agents in his first year on the job, raising concerns 
about an exodus of national security experience at a time when the U.S. is 
confronting an elevated terrorism threat.

   This month alone, a gunman wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and 
the words "Property of Allah" killed two people at a Texas bar; two men who 
authorities say were inspired by the Islamic State were arrested on charges of 
bringing homemade powerful explosives to a protest outside the New York City 
mayoral mansion; a man with a past terrorism conviction opened fire inside an 
Old Dominion University classroom in Virginia; and a Lebanese-born man in 
Michigan drove his car into a synagogue.

   The FBI has said that it is working around the clock to protect the country.