According to recent reports, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advisory board considered Trump supporters, members of the U.S. military, and those with religious faith as a potential domestic terrorist threat. Internal documents obtained by America First Legal (AFL), a conservative legal organization, exposed these characterizations of American citizens within the federal agency.
Reportedly, the board known as the “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group,” was created in 2023 to inform the DHS of threats regarding terrorism and fentanyl trafficking, featuring a panel of experts including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former CIA Operations Officer Paul Kolbe.
The documents unearthed by AFL indicate that the advisory board painted “supporters of the former president” as constituting “most of the Domestic Terrorism threat” in the nation. Furthermore, the documents considered traits such as having served “in the military” and being “religious” as “indicators of extremists and terrorism.”
The board was shut down following a lawsuit from AFL and former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell. The legal measure argued that the DHS panel of experts violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
AFL Executive Director, Executive Vice President, and General Counsel Gene Hamilton explained that Americans should be concerned about the federal government viewing citizens in such a manner, suggesting it is evidence of weaponization against political opponents.
“These inflammatory records reveal the interworkings of the illegal partisan committee that we proudly stopped,” Hamilton explained to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “All Americans should be alarmed about the contents of these records. All efforts to weaponize the federal government against political opponents of the ruling regime should be stopped.”
In similar news, The American Tribune reported on comments from Rep. Jim Jordan earlier this year, sounding off on the federal government for allegedly flagging private transactions related to “MAGA” and religion. According to reports, the U.S. Treasury’s financial crimes enforcement office had flagged customer transactions that included phrases such as “MAGA” and “Trump” alongside the purchase of certain religious texts.
Rep. Jordan, who is the Chair of the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, wrote a letter to the former director of the Treasury’s Strategic Operations Division of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Noah Bishoff, questioning him on the agency’s conduct. “These materials included a document recommending the use of generic terms like ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA’ to ‘search Zelle payment messages’ as well as a ‘prior FinCEN analysis’ of ‘Lone Actor/Homegrown Violent Extremism Indicators,’” Jordan’s letter read.
“According to this analysis, FinCEN warned financial institutions of ‘extremism’ indicators that include ‘transportation charges, such as bus tickets, rental cars, or plane tickets, for travel to areas with no apparent purpose,’ or ‘the purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views.’” Jordan further argued that “FinCEN urged large financial institutions to comb through the private transactions of their customers for suspicious charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression.”
“We now know the federal government flagged terms like ‘MAGA’ and ‘TRUMP’ to financial institutions if Americans completed transactions using those terms,” Jordan posted on X. “What was also flagged? If you bought a religious text, like a BIBLE, or shopped at Bass Pro Shop.”
"*" indicates required fields