While this report provides details of the investigation of “fusion centers,” or intelligence centers across the country under the control of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, it provides critical insight into the workings of the DHS itself.
The report, available here in PDF format, notes that a review by subcommittee investigators of 13 months of reports issued between April 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010identified no reports that “...uncovered a terrorist threat, nor could [subcommittee investigators] identify a contribution…to disrupt an active terrorist plot.”
The report details a governmental agency led by upper management who are out of touch and out of control. Some explosive findings include:
- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)-assigned “detailees” or agents to fusion centers often issued shoddy and untimely reports that sometimes endangered citizens civil liberties and protections under the Privacy Act:
Of the 386 unclassified reports reviewed during this investigation, only 94 were found to relate “in some way” to potential terrorist activity, or the activities of a known or suspected terrorist. Of those 94 reports, the usefulness of those reports were deemed as “questionable.”
- DHS intelligence reporters overstepped legal boundaries, including reporting on First Amendment-protected activities lacking a nexus to violence or criminality, andreporting on or improperly characterizing political, religious or ideological speech that is not explicitly violent or criminal.
The subcommittee investigation noted three specific reports that were based on inaccurate, false or misleading information, including the 2011 alleged Russian cyber-attack against an Illinois water plant, which never happened in the manner portrayed by the DHS.
