A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advisory board suggested that supporters of former President Donald Trump – as well as those who served in the military or are religious – have a greater possibility of posing domestic terrorism risks, according to internal files obtained by America First Legal (AFL).
Named the “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group,” the now-disbanded board was created in September 2023 to provide DHS with “expert” analysis on subjects like terrorism and the trafficking of certain controlled substances like fentanyl.
The panel, according to the conservative legal nonprofit’s findings, included former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan, both of whom signed onto an October 2020 letter falsely dismissing Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop as Russian disinformation.
The documents revealed that the board suggested “supporters of the former president” accounted for “most of the Domestic Terrorism threat” in the U.S.
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From left to right: former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, President Biden, and former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan. (Getty Images)
“There is a political backdrop to all of this. It seems that most of the Domestic Terrorism threat now comes from supporters of the former president. It is not like you want a political advantage, but people have attacked the government and its institutions for the last six years,” meeting notes from the board stated.
Citing unnamed “researchers,” the board also claimed that specific traits – like those who served “in the military” or are “religious” – are “indicators of extremists and terrorism” that the U.S. should be “more worried” about.
“If you ask researchers to dive into indicators of extremists and terrorism, they might indicate being in the military or religious,” the board said. “This being identified as an indicator suggests we should be more worried about those. We need the space to talk about it honestly.”
The files were released Friday as the second installment of AFL’s “#DeepStateDiaries,” which was described by the organization as a “multi-part series of releases including newly obtained documents.”
“These shocking records reveal apparent unabashed partisanship on this Deep State committee,” AFL Executive Director Gene Hamilton told Fox News Digital. “All efforts to weaponize the federal government against political opponents of the ruling regime should be stopped. We look forward to exposing more records in the coming days.”
Echoing Hamilton in a statement shared on social media, AFL President Stephen Miller said the documents “reveal a shocking Biden plan to mobilize government power against Trump supporters ahead of the election.”
On Thursday, AFL released documents pertaining to how the board discussed efforts to “get into local communities in a non-threatening way.”
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Certain efforts outlined in the files released Thursday showed how the board hoped to enhance its ability to collect information about Americans.
The group of “experts” said the “See Something, Say Something” campaign following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City fell short because “Americans have an ambivalent feeling of telling on each other.”
Stephen Miller, president of America First Legal, said the documents “reveal a shocking Biden plan to mobilize government power against Trump supporters ahead of the election.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc )
“We see people who go off the rails. We need people to say something. We need a nationwide campaign to push it to the locals,” the meeting notes stated.
“To get a mother or teacher to come forward, it needs to be a public health catcher’s mitt,” one board member noted.
Following its successful lawsuit on behalf of former Acting Director of the United States National Intelligence Ric Grenell, AFL announced last month that the Biden administration had decided to “disband” the group.
The Homeland Intelligence Experts Group was announced by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last year. The group was a collection of figures from the private sector to provide perspectives on the government’s intelligence and national security efforts.
The Homeland Intelligence Experts Group was announced by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last year. (REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger)
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“The security of the American people depends on our capacity to collect, generate, and disseminate actionable intelligence to our federal, state, local, territorial, tribal, campus, and private sector partners,” Mayorkas said in a statement at the time.
DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.