FBI: No public jihad call by Calif. killers

WASHINGTON — The San Bernardino killers did not publicly post their commitment to jihad and martyrdom on social media, but did exchange private, direct messages embracing those radical views up to two years before the deadly assault earlier this month, FBI Director James Comey said Wednesday.

The director's remarks indicate that U.S. authorities who were considering the fiancé visa application of Tashfeen Malik would not have discovered evidence of suspected radicalization even if they had reviewed her social media history before she was allowed to join Sayed Farook in the United States in 2014, a year before the couple launched their attack which left 14 dead and 22 others wounded.

New scrutiny has been focused on the visa process and how carefully Malik was vetted since authorities announced last week that there was evidence of her radicalization before she was granted the visa.

"So far in this investigation we have found no evidence of the posting on social media by either of them at that period (before Malik's arrival in the U.S.) and thereafter reflecting their commitment to jihad or to martyrdom,'' Comey said. "These communications are private, direct messages, not social media messages.''