The U.S. Senate voted for a 2-year term extension for FBI director Robert Mueller after Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) dropped his opposition. The measure now heads for the House. Paul stalled the move until Mueller answered questions on how two Iraqi nationals — one with a history of terrorism — gained refugee status and lived for several years in Bowling Green, Ky., McClatchy Newspapers report.
Paul had a private session with Mueller, who told him that “the FBI is going to be looking at those being admitted, and the ones coming in will be screened more thoroughly than before,” Paul told the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader. Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23, were arrested in May, several years after they were granted refugee status. The men pleaded not guilty on charges of plotting to send arms to their home country to be used against U.S. troops. Yesterday, Paul asked Mueller how many agency databases the FBI has access to and whether Alwan and Hammadi’s fingerprints were run through the FBI terrorist screening database at any point before or after they were granted refugee status. He said Mueller offered assurances that the problems that led to a delay in entering information about the suspect into the FBI database were corrected.