WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A group of hundreds of former U.S. national security officials on Tuesday urged lawmakers to examine an internal government group that has been coordinating President Donald Trump’s retribution drive against his perceived enemies. The Steady State, a rule-of-law advocacy group, issued its call for congressional inquiries into the Interagency Weaponization Working Group in […]
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Former US officials urge Congress to examine ‘weaponization’ working group
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A group of hundreds of former U.S. national security officials on Tuesday urged lawmakers to examine an internal government group that has been coordinating President Donald Trump’s retribution drive against his perceived enemies.
The Steady State, a rule-of-law advocacy group, issued its call for congressional inquiries into the Interagency Weaponization Working Group in a letter to the top Republicans and Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence, judiciary and armed services committees.
The letter came a day after Reuters disclosed that a review of government records showed that the interagency group drew dozens of officials from the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, the FBI and other departments.
The existence of the interagency group indicates the administration’s push to deploy government power against Trump’s perceived foes is broader and more systematic than previously reported.
“The activities described in the Reuters report echo the worst examples of intelligence politicization and misuse of our ‘security services’ in our history and would represent a direct violation of the statutory and ethical boundaries designed to separate intelligence functions from domestic political operations,” the Steady State said.
The Steady State represents more than 340 former U.S. intelligence officers, law enforcement officials and diplomats, according to its website.
The Reuters report quoted a source as saying the interagency group discussed potential targets including former FBI Director James Comey; Anthony Fauci, Trump’s chief medical advisor on the COVID-19 pandemic; and former top U.S. military commanders who implemented orders to make COVID-19 vaccinations compulsory for servicemembers.
A senior ODNI official disputed that account.
The source also said the group was told that the ODNI had begun using “technical tools” to search an unclassified communications network for proof of an anti-Trump “deep state” and hoped to expand its search to classified networks.
The ODNI official disputed this as inaccurate and “not how the systems operate.” Reuters could not obtain independent information about the tools.
An ODNI spokesperson confirmed that the top U.S. spy agency formed the interagency group to implement an executive order signed by Trump in January to identify those responsible for previously “weaponizing” law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Trump and his allies use the term “weaponization” to refer to their unproven claims that officials from the Obama and Biden administrations and Trump’s first term abused federal power to target him.
In its letter, the Steady State called on the congressional committees to immediately hold closed hearings with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Attorney General Pam Bondi “to determine the existence, authority and scope” of the interagency group.
The panels, it said, also should demand “all documents, communications, and membership lists” related to the group and “similar ‘weaponization’ initiatives,” and assess possible violations of the law and prohibitions on domestic intelligence activities.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Don Durfee and Andrea Ricci )