Election securityDHS Blocked Circulation of a July Intelligence Bulletin Detailing Russian Disinformation Attacks on Biden
DHS, in early July, blocked publication of a departmental intelligence bulletin which warned intelligence and law enforcement agencies of a broad Russian effort to promote “allegations about the poor mental health” of former Vice President Joe Biden, according to internal emails and a draft of the document obtained by ABC News. Critics of DHS’s decision say that the perplexing decision would fuel fears that U.S. intelligence is being politicized. “By blocking information from being released that describes threats facing the nation,” said John Cohen, the former undersecretary for intelligence at DHS under President Barack Obama, “it undermines the ability of the public and state and local authorities to work with the federal government to counteract the threat.”
DHS, in early July, blocked publication of a departmental intelligence bulletin which warned intelligence and law enforcement agencies of a broad Russian effort to promote “allegations about the poor mental health” of former Vice President Joe Biden, according to internal emails and a draft of the document obtained by ABC News.
On 7 July, the draft bulletin, titled “Russia Likely to Denigrate Health of U.S. Candidates to Influence 2020 Election,” was submitted to DHS’s legislative and public affairs office for review. The intelligence bulletin was not intended to be made public, but as is the case with such intelligence bulletin, it was meant to be distributed to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The emails obtained by ABC News show that it was supposed to circulated to the distribution list on 9 July.
Just one hour after the document was submitted for review, however, DHS Chief of Staff John Gountanis intervened: “Please hold on sending this one out until you have a chance to speak to [acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf],” Gountanis wrote, according to an email obtained by ABC News.
The intelligence bulletin was never circulated.
DHS spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that the bulletin was “delayed,” explaining that it failed to meet the agency’s standards.
The draft bulletin, obtained by ABC News, determined with “high confidence” that “Russian malign influence actors are likely to continue denigrating presidential candidates through allegations of poor mental or physical health to influence the outcome of the 2020 election.”
“High confidence means what it sounds like — that they are highly confident that their assessment is accurate and they don’t use that language very often,” Elizabeth Neumann, a former DHS assistant secretary in the Trump administration, told ABC News.
The document refers to Iranian and Chinese efforts to criticize Trump, but it takes its title from, and its main focus is on, Russia’s attacks on Biden’s mental fitness.
ABC News notes that the lines of attack by the Russian disinformation and propaganda specialists, and the wording of the attacks, dovetails with personal attacks on Biden by President Donald Trump and language used in Trump’s reelection campaign advertising.
Critics of DHS’s decision say that the perplexing decision would fuel fears that Trump has politicized intelligence – releasing intelligence information which serves his political and personal interests, and suppressing intelligence information which does not do so.
