WASHINGTON

US Rep. Bennie Thompson pressed senior FBI official Michael Glasheen on Thursday to substantiate his assertion that Antifa constitutes the nation’s top domestic terror threat.

Glasheen was asked to identify the leading domestic organizations posing threats to the homeland at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing.

"Mr. Glasheen, will you tell me organizations that pose on a domestic side, to the organization, number one, number two, threat to the homeland,” asked Thompson. “Can you please clarify like organizations, any domestic terrorist organization that poses a threat to the homeland as we speak?"

Glasheen, who oversees the FBI’s National Security divisions, responded by citing Antifa, referencing a declaration he attributed to President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order in September designating the Antifa movement as a domestic terror organization.

"The first one President Trump had just announced executive terrorist organization, Antifa. That's our primary concern right now," Glasheen replied.

Thompson challenged the basis for the answer. “All right, that’s what President Trump did. What did the FBI say?”

"We share the same view," Glasheen replied. "When you look at the data right now, you look at the domestic terrorist threat that we're facing right now, what I see from my position is that's the most immediate violent threat that we're facing on the domestic side," he said.

Trump’s executive order designates the movement as "a militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and our system of law." It describes Antifa as an "organized effort designed to achieve policy objectives by coercion and intimidation is domestic terrorism."

It is unclear what legal framework the president used to make the declaration, as there is no statute under US law for designating domestic terror groups.

Antifa, short for anti-fascist, is a left-wing political culture more than an organization with a fixed leadership and members.

Thompson pressed. "Where in the United States does Antifa exist if it's a terrorist organization, and you've identified it as number one?"

Glasheen answered, “We are building out the infrastructure right now.”

The response prompted additional scrutiny with Thompson asking, "So, what does that mean? I'm just we're trying to get information. You say Antifa is a terrorist organization. Tell us ... how did you come to that? ... How many members do they have in the United States as of right now?... Just how many people have you identified with the FBI that Antifa is made of?"

Glasheen declined to provide numbers. “Well, the investigations are active."

Thompson pushed back sharply: “So, you would come to this committee and say something you can’t prove?”

The congressman also criticized FBI Director Kash Patel for failing to appear before lawmakers during what he described as one of the panel’s most important annual oversight sessions.

"Today's hearing is supposed to be one of the most important exercises of this committee's oversight jurisdiction. Each year, we hear from the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Counterterrorism Center and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who is nowhere to be seen today," Thompson said in opening remarks.

He questioned the reasons for Patel’s absence, offering several pointed and unverified accusations.

"Maybe director Patel is too busy spending taxpayer dollars flying to his girlfriend's concert on the FBI jet to answer questions from Congress. Maybe the FBI director isn't here because he's afraid of scrutiny from Democrats who want to know what the FBI is doing to keep America safe. Or maybe director Patel knows that the Trump administration itself is a threat to Homeland Security and wants to hide from public accountability," he added.