AFL alleges that DHS used Jan. 6 and Trump raid to increase surveillance of political dissidents
America First Legal also revealed that the agency used the Mar-a-Lago raid to justify intelligence investigations against opponents of Joe Biden.
January 6, 2021
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) took advantage of the events of Jan. 6 to increase surveillance of Americans, mainly dissidents to Joe Biden's administration. This was explained by the organization America First Legal (AFL), which published documents showing the notes of the internal meetings of the National Intelligence Expert Group of the DHS, obtained via a court request.
Similarly, AFL explained that the group was disbanded after the legal battle it waged: "Today’s installment shows how the Biden administration’s allies on the Brennan-Clapper committee discussed using January 6 and the manufactured raid at Mar-a-Lago to justify further targeting and surveillance of political dissent."
According to AFL, the court documents also indicate that under the Biden administration, the federal government has used Jan. 6 to justify expanded efforts to gather intelligence on what they consider "domestic violent extremists."
In addition, AFL explained that this is the way they refer to people who are religious or who support former President Trump. Similarly, it was learned that after Jan. 6, the FBI planned to advise the DHS to step up its efforts to monitor opponents of Biden on social media.
"The group also discussed using the fabricated and illegal raid on President Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago – where the FBI staged photographs to manufacture incriminating evidence – to justify its expanded activities. With respect to Mar-a-Lago, one Group member said there was 'reason to be concerned about a violent reaction' after the raid," AFL noted.
"These documents, obtained exclusively by AFL through litigation against DHS, prove there is a pronounced difference between how I&A operated (collected and reported intelligence for DHS) before and after January 6. They demonstrate how the standards followed under the Trump administration to respect Constitutional rights and civil liberties are apparently no longer followed under the Biden administration"
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