Internal documents acquired by America First Legal (AFL) reveal that a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advisory board has identified supporters of President Trump, military personnel, and religious individuals as potential domestic terrorism threats.
The “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group,” established in September 2023, was tasked with providing DHS with ‘expert’ insights on topics such as terrorism and fentanyl trafficking. This panel included notable figures such as James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence; John Brennan, former CIA Director; and Paul Kolbe, former CIA Operations Officer. All three had previously signed the infamous October 2020 letter suggesting that the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian disinformation.
The internal documents, unveiled by AFL, indicate that the board considers “supporters of the former president” as representing the majority of the domestic terrorism threat within the United States. They also associate military service and religious affiliation with potential extremism, referencing unnamed studies to support these claims.
A 2023 study by the RAND Corporation found that military personnel are generally less inclined towards radical political beliefs compared to the general American population. Despite this, concerns about extremism in the military gained traction among Democrats after January 6 2021, leading 15 Democratic lawmakers to urge Inspector General Sean O'Donnell in 2021 to address extremism within the military ranks.
On Thursday, AFL published a series of documents detailing the advisory committee’s push to expand surveillance on American citizens, which included proposals for “mothers” and “teachers” to monitor and report signs of extremism in children, framed as a public health measure. They referenced the post-9/11 “See Something, Say Something” campaign initiated by DHS, which encouraged public vigilance against terror threats.
The DHS advisory panel was subsequently disbanded following a lawsuit by AFL, in collaboration with former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell. The lawsuit claimed that the panel had violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which regulates the functioning of federal advisory groups.
