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DHS Has a Secret Domestic-Intelligence Program

For years, the Department of Homeland Security has run a virtually unknown program gathering domestic intelligence, Politico reported.

The program allows officials to conduct interviews with just about anyone in the United States without their lawyers present.

That specific element of the program, was paused last year after a number of employees expressed concerns about its legality and potential violations of civil liberties.

Details of the program

The program, called the “Overt Human Intelligence Collection Program,” is run by DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis to gather information about threats to the US, including transnational drug trafficking and organized crime.

Officials are required to say they’re conducting intelligence interviews and inform the individuals they seek to interview that participation is voluntary.

However, the fact that officials are allowed to go directly to incarcerated people, bypassing their lawyers, raises civil liberties concerns.

Concerns from employees

Many employees in DHS’s intelligence office have raised concerns that the work they’re doing could be illegal.

Some have reported feeling pressured to engage in questionable tactics and fear punishment if they speak out about mismanagement and abuses.

One unnamed employee — quoted in an April 2021 document — said leadership of I&A’s Office of Regional Intelligence “is ‘shady’ and ‘runs like a corrupt government.’”

Another document said some employees worried so much about the legality of their activities that they wanted their employer to cover legal liability insurance.

Criticisms from legal experts

Legal experts have criticized the program, particularly the element of interviewing incarcerated individuals without their lawyers present, as immoral and legally questionable.

Carrie Bachner, formerly the career senior legislative adviser to the DHS under secretary for intelligence, said the agency’s direct questioning of Americans in a domestic-intelligence program is deeply concerning, given past scandals related to domestic-intelligence programs by the FBI.

“I don’t know any counsel in their right mind that would sign off on that, and any member of Congress that would say, ‘That’s OK,’” said Bachner, who currently runs a consulting firm. “If these people are out there interviewing folks that still have constitutional privileges, without their lawyer present, that’s immoral.”

DHS’s response

DHS Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis Kenneth Wainstein said his office is addressing employee concerns and has taken steps to address internal complaints, including conducting a number of new trainings and hiring two full-time ombudsmen.

In its statement, I&A did not address the domestic-intelligence program. But POLITICO reviewed an email, sent last August, saying that the portion of the program involving interviews with prisoners who had received their Miranda rights was “temporarily halted” because of internal concerns.

“The true measure of a government organization is its ability to persevere through challenging times, openly acknowledge and learn from those challenges, and move forward in service of the American people,” Wainstein said.

“The Office of Intelligence and Analysis has done just that over the past few years … Together, we will ensure that our work is completely free from politicization, that our workforce feels free to raise all views and concerns, and that we continue to deliver the quality, objective intelligence that is so vital to our homeland security partners.”

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