Shooter’s social media posts on jihad were obscured

She added, “Additionally, we call on every Republican presidential candidate to publicly commit, during tonight’s debate in Las Vegas, that if elected they will reject this absurd policy and do everything in their power under the Constitution to ensure the safety and security of the people of the United States”.

The Obama administration has directed the Homeland Security and State departments to review the process for screening visa applicants and recommend ways to close security gaps in the system.

Over the a year ago, under Secretary Johnson’s leadership, the Department initiated three pilot programs to specifically incorporate appropriate social media review into its vetting of applicants for certain immigration benefits.

Tashfeen Malik, a 27-year-old Pakistani, and her husband Syed Farook, a 28-year-old US citizen, gunned down 14 people and injured 21 more at a holiday party held at a southern California social services center on December 2.

(CNN) – Tashfeen Malik advocated jihad in messages on social media, but her comments were made under a pseudonym and with strict privacy settings that did not allow people outside a small group to see them, US law enforcement officials told CNN on Monday.

Hold on a second – The New York Times thinks it might be okay to not review social media posts because it might be hard to distinguish between anti-American rhetoric opposed to our special ops forces killing Osama bin Laden and jihadists who want to murder all Americans?

Cohen cited leaks from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who revealed extensive surveillance by the agency, as contributing to fears that reviewing the social media accounts of visa applicants could hurt the country’s standing with civil rights groups and European allies.

State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters that department officials, who help screen visa applicants along with DHS, occasionally reviews applicants’ social media accounts.

Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah) and Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.), both members of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, wrote the letter in response to what DeSantis called the Department of Homeland Security’s “failure to address potential national security threats”.

One problem with this policy is the sheer number posts officials would have to trawl through; the USA government approved more than 9.9 million visa applications during the 2014 budget year, which makes for a lot of social media content.

Tashfeen Malik passed three background checks when she moved from Pakistan but none looked at her social media.

It is unclear, however, whether even an SAO investigation of Malik would have turned up information that might have raised questions about whether Malik should have been awarded a USA visa.

Johnson’s reasoning was that proponents of civil liberties would denounce checking social media and that the practice would cause “bad public relations”.

Nevertheless, it’s clear that the Islamic State and other terror organizations – foreign and domestic – use social media to recruit and energize followers.