FBI Director James Comey has a message for Americans: be suspicious of the federal government.

Mr. Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that in the wake of the Edward Snowden scandal he could understand why Americans would be worried about government overreach.

“I believe people should be suspicious of government power. I am,” Mr. Comey said, The Hill reported.fbi-chief-people-should-be-suspicious-of-government-power”>



“I think this country was founded by people who were worried about government power so they divided it among three branches,” he added.

The FBI director also gave citizens a reminder that there is an “enormous” security risk that need to be dealt with: cybersecurity.

“There are two kinds of big companies in the United States: those who’ve been hacked by the Chinese and those who don’t yet know that they’ve been hacked by the Chinese,” Mr. Comey told lawmakers, the Associated Press reported.

The testimony comes just two days after the Justice Department announced a 31-count indictment against Chinese hackers accused of penetrating computer networks of steel and solar companies, as well as those that specialize in nuclear technology.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.