WASHINGTON, D.C. – America First Legal (AFL) has released the fifth tranche of internal meeting notes from the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group.” These documents were obtained through litigation and form part of AFL's #DeepStateDiaries series.
From the onset of President Biden's administration, there has been a mobilization of national security resources to support censorship initiatives. In June 2021, the National Security Council published its first-ever "National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism," a 32-page document outlining efforts to collaborate with Big Tech, state and local governments, non-profits, and other entities to censor political speech and monitor political dissent.
AFL has been investigating this strategy since 2021, including filing a lawsuit against DHS to obtain records on how intelligence capabilities are used to target conservative Americans. The latest documents reveal that alongside the public-facing 2021 Domestic Surveillance Strategy, a classified implementation plan was also developed by the Biden Administration. Details about this classified plan have not been disclosed until now.
According to AFL, "No one in the general public knows what’s in it, what it directs departments and agencies to do, or the scope of agencies involved with it." This follows previous discoveries by AFL regarding the use of classified systems by the Biden Administration to target political dissent.
In January 2023, AFL uncovered through litigation that the CDC partnered with various federal agencies on an NSC classified call discussing ways to address so-called "disinformation."
The first installment of #DeepStateDiaries revealed proposals for expanding DHS's influence in local communities subtly and encouraging teachers and mothers to report their children. The second installment showed plans by the Biden Administration to use affiliations such as military or religious connections to identify individuals prone to violent actions. The third installment discussed how allies within the Brennan-Clapper committee considered using events like January 6 and the Mar-a-Lago raid as justifications for increased surveillance.
Further releases in this series are anticipated.