AND THE PLOT THICKENS – AT 1:18 P.M. ET:   It turns out that the alleged perpetrator of yesterday's terror attack in New York was known to federal authorities.  Some "lone wolf."  From ABC News: 

The suspected New York City attacker, Sayfullo Saipov, was interviewed in 2015 by federal agents about possible ties to suspected terrorists, but the agents did not have enough evidence to open a case on him, laws enforcement officials tell ABC News.

Saipov was listed as a “point of contact” for two men whose were listed in a Department of Homeland Security counterterrorism database and later overstayed their tourist visas, one federal official told ABC News. One was merely flagged after arriving from a so-called “threat country,” while the other vanished and was being actively sought by federal agents as a “suspected terrorist.”

An official told ABC News that the FBI has since located him and he is not believed to have been involved in Tuesday’s attack.

Speaking on Wednesday, President Donald Trump noted that Saipov had served as the “point of contact” for 23 people. A source confirmed that number to ABC News but said it is unclear if those people are "immediate family members, distant family members, or friends.” Only those two men, however, were listed in the database.

Saipov, 29, came to the United States from Uzbekistan through a Diversity Visa Program lottery in 2010, making him a legal permanent resident of the United States upon arrival. He has lived in Ohio, Florida and, most recently, Paterson, N.J., where federal agents interviewed Saipov in 2015.

COMMENT:  We see this pattern regularly.  The Boston bombers were also on the FBI radar screen for a time.

We've got to do better.  Maybe more personnel are simply needed.  Or maybe political correctness has intruded into the surveillance process.

November 1,  2017