US official says pressure to downplay intelligence reports

A senior intelligence official with the US Department of Homeland Security has said that agency leaders pressured him to downplay the threat of interference in the Russian elections, as it “made the president look bad.”

In a whistleblower complaint, Brian Murphy said he was demoted for refusing to alter reports on this and other issues, including white supremacy.

The directives were illegal, he claims.

The White House and the Department of Homeland Security denied the claims.

The complaint was published by the House Intelligence Committee, led by Democrats, which asked Murphy to testify before Congress at the end of the month.

What are the accusations involving Russia?

The whistleblower retaliation complaint, filed Tuesday, establishes a series of allegations against former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, current Acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his deputy Ken Cuccinelli.

Murphy says that between March 2018 and August 2020, there was a “repeated pattern of abuse of authority, attempted censorship of intelligence analysis, and improper administration of an intelligence program related to Russian efforts to influence and undermine the interests of U.S”.

In mid-May 2020, Wolf ordered him to “stop providing intelligence assessments on the threat of Russian interference … and instead start reporting on the interference activities of China and Iran.” These instructions came directly from the White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, the complaint says.

• Everything you need to know about the Trump Russia story

Murphy refused to comply “as doing so would put the country in substantial and specific danger” but was told in July that the intelligence report should be “withheld” because it “made the president look bad.”

The complaint says that Mr. Murphy was removed from future meetings and, in July, was effectively demoted from acting secretary and deputy chief deputy secretary to assistant deputy deputy secretary in the management division. He wants to be reinstated.

President Trump has rejected claims that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections, despite US intelligence findings about Russian meddling, and has called the allegations “politically motivated” hoax.

What other accusations are made?

Murphy says he came under pressure from the White House to exaggerate the number of migrants with ties to terrorism at a time when the administration was implementing stricter measures to stem the flow of undocumented migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. , and defending a wall.

“[Mr Murphy] he refused to censor or manipulate intelligence information, “says the complaint.

The complaint also alleges that former Secretary Nielsen knowingly provided “material false information” about known or suspected terrorists detained at the border during his testimony before two House committees, in December 2018 and March 2019.

It said Ms. Nielsen’s testimony in March 2019 included an inflated number and “constituted a knowing and deliberate presentation of materially false information.” Nielsen resigned from office a month later, following complaints from Trump that he was not tough enough on immigration.

The complaint also details a confrontation with Cuccinelli over a report in May on the threat posed by white supremacist groups, alleging that Cuccinelli ordered changes “in a way that made the threat appear less severe.”

Both Wolf and Cuccinelli ordered Murphy to “modify intelligence assessments” on left-wing groups such as antifa “to make sure they match President Trump’s public comments.”

Trump has frequently blamed antifa, short for “antifascist,” a loosely affiliated network of primarily far-left activists, for much of the violence that erupted in the United States during protests following George Floyd’s death in police custody.

What has been the reaction?

White House spokeswoman Sarah Matthews said: “Ambassador O’Brien has never attempted to impose the intelligence community’s approach on threats to the integrity of our elections or on any other issue; any suggestion to the contrary from a former disgruntled employee, whom you have never met or heard of, is false and defamatory. “

The Department of Homeland Security also rejected the claims, with spokesman Alexei Woltornist saying: “We strongly deny that there is any truth to the merits of Mr. Murphy’s claim.”

But Adam Schiff, Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said, “We will get to the bottom of this, expose any and all misconduct or corruption to the American people, and end the politicization of intelligence.”