Politico reports Homeland Security issues from leaked docs.

(RT) ⸻ The Department of Homeland Security is operating a "virtually unknown" intelligence-gathering program within the US, Politico reported Monday, citing internal documents. The "Overt Human Intelligence Collection Program" (OHIC) has been in existence since at least 2016 and is intended to gather information about threats such as organized crime and transnational drug trafficking. The program allows DHS officials to "seek interviews with just about anyone" in the US, including people held in local jails and federal prisons. Concerns that not having an attorney present for the interviews might violate people's civil rights led to that particular "element" of OHIC being "paused" in 2022. Other documents show that some DHS employees had similar misgivings about the legality and morality of the department's operations. One email quoted one employee who called the Field Operations Division leadership "shady" and said it "runs like a corrupt government." Those who offered feedback or criticism the leadership did not appreciate, said another, might find themselves getting transferred to the US-Mexico border, or to Portland. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was involved in a media scandal in the summer of 2020, when violent 'Antifa' demonstrators attacked the federal courthouse. The Washington Post accused the I&A of spying on journalists and protesters. Two days later, Brian Murphy was ousted and Joseph Maher revoked a previous instruction. Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Intelligence Enterprise Operations Stephanie Dobitsch, who authored the instruction, was later hired in a permanent capacity. Dobitsch noted that the most significant instances of "distortion or suppression" of intelligence analysis had to do with protection of "bureaucratic interests." A survey for the fiscal year 2020 noted that the DHS workforce had a general mistrust of leadership resulting from orders to conduct activities they perceive to be inappropriate, bureaucratic, or political.