by WorldTribune Staff, February 28, 2017
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report that undercut President Donald Trump’s temporary travel ban position was drafted by Obama administration holdovers in the agency, a report said.
A source close to DHS told The Washington Times that the report was “not really a leak but sabotage. This report was commentary. This is insurrection. They all took an oath.”
The DHS drafters relied solely on open source material, which meant it could be delivered to reporters without violating federal laws on mishandling classified information, the Times report said.
“The leak to The Associated Press (AP) appears to follow a pattern of suspected Obama loyalists still inside the government releasing draft documents that are immediately refuted by the White House, such as a supposed plan to mobilize the National Guard to arrest illegal criminal immigrants,” Rowan Scarborough wrote for the Times on Feb. 26.
The three-page DHS draft report that was leaked to AP said the threat of terrorist arrivals is dispersed among other countries and that citizenship is not a good gauge.
Homeland Security press secretary Gillian Christensen dismissed the draft report as an “incomplete product.”
She said in a statement: “The seven countries were identified by the previous administration as being countries of concern for foreign terrorist travel to the United States. Consequently, these countries were the focus of this administration’s initial efforts to enhance vetting for foreign travel to the United States. It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from foreign nationals who intend to commit terrorist attacks in the United States; and to prevent the admission of foreign nationals who intend to exploit United States immigration laws for malevolent purposes.
“The document referenced in this report and others was incomplete and had not been subject to the extensive interagency review process required of finished intelligence products. Further, the report does not include data from other intelligence community sources. It is clear on its face that it is an incomplete product,” she said.
Related: Express check-in? DHS intel worker arrested for bringing loaded handgun to the office, June 10, 2016
Rep. Mac Thornberry, Texas Republican and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said last week that Obama loyalists inside the Pentagon are not embracing Trump’s call to boost military readiness and buy more equipment.
Defense Secretary James Mattis has no Senate-confirmed aides in place.
“The problem is it’s Secretary Mattis alone right now,” Thornberry said. “So you have a number of people, political appointees and others from the Obama administration, and they have been the ones trying to deny there’s a problem. They’re well-intentioned people, patriotic Americans, but it’s hard for any of us to turn 180 degrees in the other direction.”
According to Scarborough’s report, all but six of Obama’s political appointees have left the Pentagon.
“But during Obama’s eight years, many Democrats landed jobs there in the senior executive service or civil service, which are immune from political dismissal,” the report said.
Political appointees typically submit resignations in December when a different political party is preparing to take over the White House.
Report: ‘Insurrection’ at DHS led by Obama holdovers added by World Tribune on
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