WASHINGTON — A top intelligence official with the Department of Homeland Security alleges in a whistleblower complaint that he was ordered by his bosses at the agency to modify intelligence reports to align with President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and interests.
Brian Murphy, the former head of the the department’s intelligence branch, says he was directed by acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to stop producing assessments on Russian election interference.
According to the complaint, which was released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, Murphy also alleges acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Ken Cuccinelli instructed him to alter bulletins on violent white supremacists to “appear less severe” and include information on “left-wing” groups such as antifa, a favorite Trump target.
Murphy also alleges he was pressed by former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and her deputies to exaggerate the number of migrants with links to terrorism who have been detained at the Southwest border. He said she falsely used a higher figure in testimony to Congress.
Murphy says the orders amounted to an abuse of authority.
Wolf and Cuccinelli are both Trump appointees.
According to the 24-page complaint, Murphy, who was reassigned last month after his office compiled intelligence data on protesters and journalists in Portland, Oregon, said he refused to modify intelligence assessments, resulting in at least one being halted. He claims he was retaliated against after voicing his concerns to other superiors and cooperating with the department’s inspector general.
“The protected disclosures that prompted the retaliatory personnel actions at issue primarily focused on the compilation of intelligence reports and threat assessments that conflicted with policy objectives set forth by the White House and senior Department of Homeland Security” officials, Murphy’s lawyers wrote in the report.
DHS spokesman Alexei Woltornist denied Murphy’s accusations about Wolf and Cuccinelli to CNN.
"These allegations are patently untrue. DHS leadership has called out all threats to the homeland regardless of ideology,” he said.
Last week, ABC News first reported that DHS withheld an intelligence bulletin warning that Russia has been trying to promote “allegations about the poor mental health” of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. A department spokesperson said the bulletin was delayed because it failed to meet the agency’s standards, but analysts determined the threat with “high confidence.”
Trump has repeatedly questioned Biden’s mental fitness.
DHS also has stalled releasing a plan on combating white supremacy and other forms of domestic terrorism for nearly a year, The New York Times reported. Wolf said Wednesday his department plans to release a plan for addressing such threats this week, but it’s not clear if it will be made public.
Rep. Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that the whistleblower report “outlines grave and disturbing allegations that senior White House and Department of Homeland Security officials improperly sought to politicize, manipulate, and censor intelligence in order to benefit President Trump politically. This puts our nation and its security at grave risk."
The California Democrat went on to add that “Mr. Murphy’s allegations are serious — from senior officials suppressing intelligence reports on Russia’s election interference and making false statements to Congress about terrorism threats at our southern border, to modifying intelligence assessments to match the President’s rhetoric on Antifa and minimizing the threat posed by white supremacists."
Schiff is requesting Murphy testify before the committee.
“We will get to the bottom of this, expose any and all misconduct or corruption to the American people, and put a stop to the politicization of intelligence,” Schiff said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.