Three open source intelligence reports that were sent to federal law enforcement agencies and obtained by the Post summarize the tweets sent by two journalists, New York Times journalist Mike Baker and Benjamin Wittes, the editor-in-chief of the blog. Lawfare, and note that both had released leaked DHS documents.
The department told the Post in a statement that the reports “were produced under pre-established classified intelligence reporting requirements that are developed through a rigorous process to include intelligence oversight and legal guidelines.”
When asked for comment, DHS condemned the actions of its intelligence division, saying acting Secretary Chad Wolf had ordered the office to “immediately discontinue” the collection of information on journalists. Wolf also ordered an investigation, according to a spokesman.
“The Acting Secretary in no way condones this practice, and immediately ordered an investigation into the matter,” the DHS spokesman said in a statement.
A collection of current and former officials told the newspaper that they were alarmed by the inclusion of reporters in a government system designed to spread information about suspected terrorists.
John Sandweg, who previously served as the department’s interim general counsel, told the Post: “This has no operational value.”
“This will only damage the reputation of the intelligence office,” he said.
That message was echoed by Steve Bunnell, who served as the department’s general counsel for years under President Barack Obama.
“Broadly disseminating an intelligence report, including to numerous state and local law enforcement agencies, about a DHS leak to a journalist seems strange to me,” he told the Post.
Wittes said, in a series of tweets that responded to the Post’s story: “I will have more to say about this story after considering my legal options.”
“I am not concerned that DHS officials shared my tweets internally. That is certainly appropriate given that the tweets contained disclosures of DHS I&A information. The content of these intelligence reports is harmless enough,” he said.
“The worrying thing about this story is that I&A shared my tweets * as intelligence reports, * that is, a government intelligence arm submitted a report on a citizen for activities at the heart of journalism: revealing newsworthy information about the government. to the public “.
The presence of federal agents, who arrived earlier this month, intensified tensions in the city, which has seen prolonged and sometimes violent protests for the past two months over demands for racial justice and police accountability.
“I think we have had enough DC political rights,” Brown tweeted Thursday morning.
“The president’s plan to ‘dominate’ the streets of American cities has failed. And today, federal troops are preparing to leave downtown Portland. We will protect freedom of expression and the right to protest peacefully.”
This story has been updated with comments from the Department of Homeland Security.
CNN’s Theresa Waldrop, Geneva Sands and Gregory Lemos contributed to this report.
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