DHS Official Claims Pressure to Alter Homeland Security Intel
What Happened:
In a Whistleblower complaint, a Department of Homeland Security official, Brian Murphy, claimed that he was pressured by senior officials to modify intelligence reports that did not align with President Trump's narratives.
Specifically, Murphy says that acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf instructed officials to "cease providing intelligence assessments on the threat of Russian interference" in the upcoming election and to focus instead on intel involving China and Iran.
Murphy says that when he refused to alter reports to align with administration policy goals and filed internal complaints, he was demoted.
Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D), released the complaint on Wednesday saying it contained "grave and disturbing allegations."
Murphy has been asked to give a deposition to Congress as part of an investigation into the intelligence collection methods of the DHS.
Homeland Security spokesman Alexei Woltornist denied the allegations saying “DHS looks forward to the results of any resulting investigation and we expect it will conclude that no retaliatory action was taken against Mr. Murphy.”
Image Credit: Gerd Altmann