Dept. of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, following orders of the White House, directed U.S. Intelligence officials to not report on the threat of Russian interference or white supremacists in the U.S., a whistleblower alleges.
The Washington Post notes the order to “stop providing intelligence analysis on the threat of Russian interference in the 2020 election,” came “in part because it ‘made the President look bad,'” and was “an instruction he believed would jeopardize national security.”
The New York Times adds to the reporting, revealing the Dept. of Homeland Security’s “second highest ranked official, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, also ordered him to modify intelligence assessments to make the threat of white supremacy ‘appear less severe’ and include information on violent ‘left-wing’ groups, according to the complaint, which was released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee.”
Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff released that information in the form of a whistleblower reprisal complaint and press release, which “outlines grave and disturbing allegations that senior White House and Department of Homeland Security officials improperly sought to politicize, manipulate, and censor intelligence,” as Yahoo News reports.
The whistleblower’s name is included in the documents, including the 22-page complaint Chairman Schiff released. Brian Murphy was the Principal Deputy Under Secretary at the Dept. of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis.
Murphy said DHS chief Chad Wolf “told him ‘that these instructions specifically originated from White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien,'” according to The Post.
One of the more disturbing allegations reads:
“In mid-May 2020, Mr. Wolf instructed Mr. Murphy to cease providing intelligence assessments on the threat of Russian interference in the United States, and instead start reporting on interference activities by China and Iran. Mr. Wolf stated that these instructions specifically originated from White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien. Mr. Murphy informed Mr. Wolf he would not comply with these instructions, as doing so would put the country in substantial and specific danger.”
The Daily Beast’s Sam Stein calls it “a red siren revelation.”
The complaint alleges Murphy “was retaliatorily demoted to the role of Assistant to the Deputy Under Secretary for the DHS Management Division.” His responsibilities included “Counterterrorism, Cyber, Transnational Organized Crime, Counterintelligence, Economic Security, Support to State and Local Officials, and Training.”
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