Trump appointee delayed report on Russian election interference, creating perception that intelligence was politicized
A top Trump political appointee delayed a report on Russian election interference in the 2020 election in a way that created the perception that intelligence was politicized, according to a report by the Department of Homeland Security watchdog.
The DHS inspector general report also found that employees of DHS'Office of Intelligence and Analysis made changes to the analysis of foreign election interference that appeared to be based on political considerations, potentially impacting I&A's compliance with Intelligence Community policy. The report found that the appointee, Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, who is not named, has participated in the review process multiple times despite lacking a formal role in reviewing the product, which has resulted in a delay in its dissemination on at least one occasion. Wolf did not respond immediately to a request for comment from NBC News, but he denied acting for political reasons, according to the report.
An intelligence analysis found that Russian malign influence actors were spreading unsubstantiated allegations relating to the health of then-candidate Joe Biden to hurt voters confidence in him. Russia was using both overt and covert channels and linked the efforts to similar operations during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, according to the product.
The paper's release was twice delayed on Wolf's orders, according to the IG report. Other officials said there was a so-called tone box describing efforts by Chinese and Iranian influence actors to promote unsubstantiated narratives questioning the mental health of then-President Donald Trump.
The IG report says that the tone box is the only part of the product where Iran and China, as well as President Trump, are discussed.
The report was sparked by a whistleblower complaint, which was covered by NBC News at the time. The complaint by Brian Murphy, a top DHS intelligence analyst, accused top DHS officials of blocking Russian election interference, watering down intelligence reports about corruption and violence fueling a refugee flow from Central America, and modifying assessments to match up with the public comments by President Trump on the subject of ANTIFA and anarchist groups. The IG report said investigators were not able to conclude that Wolf or other officials acted out of political motives. It ended up creating a perception of politicization because of their actions.
DHS did not follow its standard process when it comes to editing and disseminating an I&A intelligence product regarding Russian interference with the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The Acting Secretary disrupted the distribution of the product when he asked for the product to be held during the July 8 meeting, according to the IG report.
The dissemination of an intelligence product meant to inform stakeholders about foreign influence efforts relating to the 2020 U.S. presidential election was delayed because of this. The IG report noted that an ombudsman at the DHS intelligence office questioned whether the intelligence report had been politicized.
The ombudsman concluded that there are some questions about objectivity and freedom from political considerations, given the structure, vagueness and use of a balancing tone box.