Tag Archive for: america first legal foundation

Biden DHS Board Painted Trump Supporters, Military And Religious People As Terror Threats, Docs Show

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advisory board characterized supporters of former President Donald Trump, as well as those who are in the military and religious people, as posing potential domestic terrorism risks, according to internal documents obtained by America First Legal (AFL).

The board, called the “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group,” was created in September 2023 to provide DHS with “expert” analysis on subjects such as terrorism and fentanyl trafficking. The panel included former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan and former CIA Operations Officer Paul Kolbe, all of whom signed an October 2020 letter casting doubt on the legitimacy of the Hunter Biden laptop and suggesting its release was a Russian disinformation ploy.

Internal documents obtained by AFL show the board characterizing “supporters of the former president” as constituting “most of the Domestic Terrorism threat” in the United States. The documents also classified traits such as having served “in the military” and being “religious” as “indicators of extremists and terrorism,” citing unnamed research.

Military personnel are less likely to be supporters of radical political causes than other Americans, according to a 2023 RAND Corporation study. Nevertheless, suspicions of extremism in the military were popular among Democrats in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots, as 15 Democrat lawmakers signed a letter in 2021 urging Inspector General Sean O’Donnell to “take action on this wave of violent extremism” in the military.

AFL on Thursday released the first collection of documents that detailed the committee’s desire to increase information collection on Americans, including getting “mothers” and “teachers” to report on children suspected of extremism under the pretext of “public health.” The committee cited the model of the “See Something, Say Something” campaign after 9/11, which was an initiative by the DHS to encourage American citizens to report potential terror threats.

The DHS panel was shut down following a lawsuit from AFL in conjunction with former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell. The lawsuit alleged the group violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which governs how federal advisory committees can legally operate.

“These inflammatory records reveal the interworkings of the illegal partisan committee that we proudly stopped,” AFL Executive Director Gene Hamilton told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “All Americans should be alarmed about the contents of these records. All efforts to weaponize the federal government against political opponents of the ruling regime should be stopped.”

Brennan and Clapper were also signatories of the 2020 letter that alleged the Hunter Biden laptop contents may have been part of a Russian disinformation campaign. The contents of the laptop were verified by the Daily Caller News Foundation along with other media outlets.

The DHS did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

WALLACE WHITE

Contributor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Legal Group Sues Biden Admin For Allegedly Concealing FBI Background Investigation Into Mayorkas

America First Legal Foundation sued the Biden administration Wednesday for allegedly concealing information regarding an FBI investigation into Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, according to a copy of the complaint first obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The lawsuit against both the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) asks that the agencies release the documents related to the Mayorkas probe, according to the complaint. The conservative group was previously denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the records regarding the FBI’s investigation into Mayorkas’ background.

“The American people deserve to have access to the files we requested to understand the extent to which Secretary Mayorkas disclosed his foreign ties and contacts, among other things. Disclosing these records is consistent with what the FBI did during the Trump Administration when it released portions of the SF-86 for then Attorney General Jeff Sessions, so there is simply no reason why they should not provide the same information for Secretary Mayorkas,” Gene Hamilton, America First Legal Vice President and General Counsel, said in a statement to the DCNF.

The lawsuit’s timing coincides with increasing calls from Republicans in Congress to impeach Mayorkas, mainly for his handling of the security of the southern border.

One of the issues the group cites is an inspector general’s report from 2015 that found that Mayorkas, while serving as the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), had personally intervened “outside the normal adjudicatory process” to help foreign investors in the EB-5 visa program who were connected to top Democrats.

“Secretary Mayorkas’s abysmal performance has led to the introduction of several impeachment resolutions in Congress,” America First Legal said in a statement shared with the DCNF. The Secretary’s dereliction of duty regarding our immigration system has turned America into a borderless nation, and every state is feeling the consequences of allowing millions of illegal immigrants to flood into the United States. While Americans are dying at the hands of illegal aliens that should never have been allowed to enter America, the Biden Administration and Secretary Mayorkas have turned a blind eye.”

America First Legal submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the FBI on January 6 for “the FBI background investigation, Form SF-86, and any supporting security clearance documentation, including waiver forms [completed] by Alejandro Mayorkas or his designees for the purpose of allowing the FBI to conduct a background investigation as part of his nomination[s].”

The FBI responded on January 13, denying it the request. America First Legal appealed the denial for the reason that the records were submitted to Congress, but the FBI reiterated its denial.

AUTHOR

JENNIE TAER

Investigative reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.