At first, I thought I would do a Q&A for Napolitano, but given that we had a report in draft form, I was directed to write an assessment that would not only answer Napolitano's questions, but also help state and local police prepare for an anticipated change in the domestic threat environment.
How did you feel about her appointment?
We were actually somewhat optimistic and excited because Napolitano was the former Arizona attorney general. She had been involved in the prosecution of Michael Fortier, who was part of the Oklahoma City bombing investigation of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. And she was also involved in the Viper Militia case back in 1996. [Editor's note: Members of the militia were accused of surveilling Federal facilities in Phoenix as part of an alleged bombing plot. In the end, several were convicted of weapons charges.] So, here we had a secretary with experience in working domestic terrorism cases. We thought we had a potential advocate and ally.
Did your report generate controversy inside DHS?
This is how it happened. I got a tasking from the secretary, which demanded a quick turnaround. We went through all the necessary coordination; many people reviewed the draft and made comments. Several people signed off on the report: two supervisors, the Office of General Counsel, multiple editors, etc. The Office of Privacy signed off, and the Office of Policy had no suggestions.
The secretary doesn't oversee agency reports. She couldn't do it, given the number of agencies generating multiple reports a day. As a result, heads of DHS' agencies have authority to review work, coordinate with other agencies, approve and disseminate reports.
One office raised issues -- the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties [CRCL]. At the time, we weren't required to give them the report, but my boss thought we should run it past them. They had edits, but the main issue related to the definition of right-wing extremism. That office wanted a narrow definition limited to violent groups and individuals. Our subject-matter experts and management felt the definition needed to be broader.
Under CRCL's definition, if you were in the Klan, burned crosses, had a terrorist in your house and donated money to groups advocating violence, you still would not qualify as a right-wing extremist. Our attorneys basically told them, "We appreciate your input, but we are approving the more broad definition." This ended up being a sore point with CRCL once the document was released.
Did Napolitano know about the report?
Analysts generally have little interaction with the secretary. I know she was briefed on the report a few days before it went out. The day after it went out, I met with Napolitano to talk about the four questions she had asked. My division director thought we could answer the first three questions, but couldn't answer the last. So, we gave the last question to the FBI, and they came to the briefing.
The report had yet to be leaked. I gave Napolitano a summary of the report and gave her a map of where new militia extremist groups had recently organized. She held the report and nodded her head with agreement as I was talking. It was a cordial meeting. She listened and thanked us all, and she seemed pleased.
"When the right-wing report was leaked and people politicized it, my management got scared and thought DHS would be scaled back. DHS stopped all of our work and instituted restrictive policies. Eventually, they ended up gutting my unit."
Any idea who leaked it?
The report went to the fusion centers [joint federal, state and local terrorism task forces] and various law enforcement agencies. They, in turn, blasted it out to many more people. It's virtually impossible to know who leaked it, though I have some hunches. Obviously, the person who leaked the report didn't agree with it and had a political agenda.
How did you react when the report came under attack?
It was an extremely frustrating time, to see conservatives and media folks taking the report out of context and misinterpreting it. [Conservative columnist] Michelle Malkin called it Obama's "hit job" to target conservatives and others said it called everyone "on the right" a terrorist.
They would have been shocked to know that I personify conservatism. I'm an Eagle Scout. I'm a registered Republican. I'm Mormon. In fact, I was helping the Boy Scouts with a fundraiser when I heard the report being attacked on the news.
How were Malkin and other commentators wrong?
This report was not politically motivated. It was based on a phone call from the Capitol Police that got me thinking about what having a black president would mean to extremism in the U.S. We wanted to warn LEOs [law enforcement officials] about a growing threat.
Sad to say, we were right on this one. History has shown that. I'd also like people to know that we were not directing LEOs to do anything. We were prohibited from doing so. All we could do was say there is a trend emerging, and if you have these folks in your jurisdiction, perhaps you should think about how you are using your resources. Malkin and others totally misconstrued this.
Others criticized the report's points as being obvious, meaning that the bad economy and Obama were fueling this resurgence. Nonetheless, we were the first ones in law enforcement to connect these dots and to write about them.
What happened after the leak?
I got to the office, and there were lots of phone calls. Citizens were angry. People wanted to speak to DHS authorities. I was very distraught. I felt I could talk to my peers, but beyond that, I couldn't speak for myself. The public affairs office was doing all the PR and media response. We weren't consulted on anything. If I could have responded, I would have said this is why we wrote this. But the response DHS provided just fueled the public's speculation.
What about Napolitano?
Napolitano initially supported the report. She issued an official press release [on April 14, 2009] that said DHS has the authority to look at all types of threats. And we need to be vigilant. It was very supportive and direct.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
