House Republicans have launched an inquiry into the Department of Homeland Security’s undercover domestic intelligence collecting operation.
The lawmakers said in their March 13 letter that they are conducting oversight of the DHS’s Overt Human Intelligence Collection Program (OHIC) operated by the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (OIA).
According to the lawmakers, the program “raises serious concerns about the Department’s overreach of its statutory mandate and potential violations of Americans’ fundamental civil liberties.”
“There appears a pattern of mission creep and overreach by the Department emerging at the expense of Americans more than foreign actors who threaten the homeland,” the three GOP lawmakers wrote in a letter to Mayorkas.
The OHIC program is used to gather information on threats to the United States, such as transnational drug trafficking and organized crime.
These reports are even more concerning when viewed in the context of the Department’s now-scuttled, Disinformation Governance Board,” the lawmakers said, referencing the now-defunct program put together near the start of the Joe Biden administration.
“The Board was terminated, and its charter rescinded, but only after significant public scrutiny about the serious threat to curtail Americans’ constitutionally protected free speech. Similarly, the Department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) modified its webpage last week to remove its previous public declaration that it classified domestic opinions deemed ”misinformation“ as an attack on ”democratic institutions,” now only referencing foreign actors.
The letter continued: “Meanwhile, whether upon public backlash, significant employee discountenance, or through subtle communications changes, the Department continues to alter its public facing tones.”
The lawmakers asked for a number of documents, including “An unredacted copy of the ‘document from 2016,’ as reported in the March 6, 2023 article published by Politico explaining how the Department’s Overt Human Intelligence Collection Program operated.”
They also asked for all documents and communications regarding the establishment of the OHIC and the Department’s records regarding the legality of the same program.
The DHS did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’s request for comment on the letter and demands from committee Republicans.
