Senate Investigation Found DHS Intelligence Centers Wasted Money and Violated Civil Liberties

By MIA STEINLE

Updated October 5, 2012.

A Department of Homeland Security effort to improve the sharing of terrorism-related intelligence among state and local governments and with officials in Washington has yielded “shoddy” information and civil liberties violations, according to a Senate investigation.

The two-year bipartisan investigation by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that the Department of Homeland Security’s poor oversight of “fusion centers”—local intelligence-sharing hubs it created in response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11—led to “hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars” being wasted.

“The investigation found that top DHS officials consistently made positive public comments about the value and importance of fusion centers’ contributions to federal counterterrorism efforts, even as internal reviews and non-public assessments highlighted problems at the centers and dysfunction in DHS’ own operations,” the report said.

Up to $1.4 billion of federal funds has been spent on fusion centers since 2003, according to the investigation.

“But the report documents spending on items that did little to help share intelligence, including gadgets such as ‘shirt button’ cameras, $6,000 laptops and big-screen televisions. One fusion center spent $45,000 on a decked-out SUV that a city official used for commuting,” The Washington Post reported.

Intelligence coming from the fusion centers was often “flawed” and “unrelated to terrorism,” according to the investigation. Additionally, the investigation found that some unpublished documents contained personal information that violated federal privacy law.

“DHS did not adequately train personnel it sent out to perform the extremely sensitive task of reporting information about U.S. persons—a job fraught with the possibility of running afoul of Privacy Act protections of individuals’ rights to associate, worship, speak, and protest without being spied on by their own government,” the report said.

The investigation also found that many fusion center intelligence reports were completed and internally distributed days—or even months—late. This meant that potentially time-sensitive intelligence related to terrorism was sitting in a backlog in an office. For example, fusion center reports from June 2009 were “published” for internal use on average three months after the intelligence had been gathered, according to the Senate report. As of November 2011, the investigation found that 307 intelligence reports were backlogged. A DHS official interviewed by investigators called the publishing process “horribly inefficient,” according to the report.

The Senate report comes several weeks after The Constitution Project, a non-profit that advocates on issues such as privacy and accountability, released a report recommending reforms to fusion centers.

“If a national security program is not even effective, then it is not worth any intrusion into privacy rights and civil liberties,” according to The Constitution Project’s Sharon Bradford Franklin. “We agree with the report’s conclusion that serious improvements are needed for the training of fusion center personnel and also welcome the report’s clear recommendation that DHS must reform its policies to protect civil liberties and ‘adhere to the Constitution.’”

In a statement, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the subcommittee that performed the investigation, said Congress should “clarify the purpose” of fusion centers, adding, “Fusion centers may provide valuable services in fields other than terrorism, such as contributions to traditional criminal investigations, public safety, or disaster response and recovery efforts.”

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the top Republican on the subcommittee, said in a statement that instead of strengthening counterterrorism efforts, the fusion centers “have too often wasted money and stepped on Americans’ civil liberties.”

Mia Steinle is an investigator for the Project On Government Oversight.

Comments

[Lem G.]

Whatever happened to the inter-agency task force on domestic terrorism surveillance and detection ? Why doesn't the Justice Department issue standard operational procedures WITHIN the Bill of Rights to protect the innocent from illegal search and seizure, and unwarranted wire tapping for ALL the branches of government working alongside Homeland Security to avoid needless repetition and concurrent surveillance on the same individuals and groups/ cells ? On what, if any basis, does the DoD, CIA, FBI, state, county and local police forces work together on specific programs and operations alongside Homeland Security ?
Duplication and overlapping jurisdictional squabbles have to be ironed out or this waste will not only continue but only get worse over time.

[Anne]

Thank you POGO for keeping Americans informed of the "facts" and news we don't hear from the MSM cartel.

[Gregory Romeu]

It is WE, THE PEOPLE that are ALLOWING this sort of thing to happen in our country because all too many people are either glued to their own personal social schedule, watching reality TV, sports or doing whatever they may have on their, "bucket lists" and FAIL at directing their city, county, state and federal REPESENTATIVES on what to do.

NOTICE: I DID NOT call these elected officials; "Our elected LEADERS". They are NOT ou leades, THEY are in fact a REPRESENTATIVE OF OUR VOICE and I we don't give them our voice, they will keep doing things the way they have been all along, playing ignoant while they use OUR TAX DOLLARS at their free will, KNOWING that if they get caught, it is an OOPS! Get a slap on the wist and go off to blow OUR MONEY in some other assnine manner, in whatever manner THEY find because WE,THE PEOPLE are all too busy with our own personal issues to really give a damn about any responsibility as citizens, until something is reported that we can complain about.

[Chris]

First GOLDEN RULE: DO NO HARM. We have gotten so far away from this statement and made it all but invisible to our thoughts and concerns in doing work and matter handling.

After 9/11 we "allowed" our rights to be trampled on to ensure security to a President and party that misled us and our trust, as well as the resolve and support from other countries froms around the world... we have taken this extension and blown our budgets, killed innocents, and helped crash the economies of the world by poor and probable criminal leadership that has benefitted rich people.

It is time for us to take back and limit powers of government, close down bases around the world, disolve Patriot act, increase border protection. It has been a farce what has happened to date, shameful farce. And WE THE PEOPLE need to wake up to our own ignorance and consumerism and join the World society with environment and people at the center again.

[Tom Pearson]

This doesm't even make a dent in representing all the millions and billions wasted on just duplicity in the fedral intelligence comunities.

See if you can find out just how many intelligence orginizations there are, overt, covert, and deep deep black boxes...rotsa ruck doing it.

[Rwolf]

In The Name of Fighting Terrorism, Fusion Centers Bypass Fourth Amendment To Spy on Americans.

Federal and State Fusion Centers—perhaps by design laid the groundwork for Government agencies to bypass U.S. Citizens’ Fourth Amendment Protections to invade the privacy of every American. Since 9/11 federal government has established across the nation approximately 77 Fusion Centers. The Fusion Centers were originally established to improve the sharing of anti-terrorism intelligence among different state, local and federal law enforcement agencies. But have since taken a different path with encouragement of the federal government to pursue all crimes and hazards. Fusion Centers now pursue for analysis not just criminal and terrorist information, but any information that can be derived from police, public records and private sector data about Americans. Fusion Centers increasingly involve components of the U.S. Military in addition to other government entities to spy on U.S. Citizens. Fusion centers heavily rely on local and neighborhood informants often not reliable for information that is shared with Local, State, and Federal Police Agencies.

More recently the Department of Homeland Security began sharing more classified Military information with local Fusion Centers, perhaps a mistake. Historically not all local police keep secrets—disclosing confidential police information to neighbors and friends; in cop bars, sometimes to anyone that will listen. Some Fusion Centers appear to operate more independently than others and take advantage of ambiguous lines of authority to manipulate differences in federal, state and local laws to maximize information collection. Increasingly more (private security corporations and their operatives) are working with law enforcement and Fusion Centers—exchanging information about Americans. Some private sector security corporations appear merged with police. Because Fusion Centers and law enforcement exchange information with select U.S. private sector companies: that has enabled fusion centers to escape accountability and public oversight. That happened in Germany during the 1930’s when Hitler’s SS and private Gestapo worked with German corporations, local and State Police to target often-lawful German Citizens and others for arrest, extortion and asset forfeiture. Before Hitler’s Gestapo was consolidated with the German Government in 1934 his Gestapo arrested Citizens and confiscated their private property with no legal authority. In 1934 the Gestapo was placed under SS leader Heinrich Himmler Chief of German Police. In 1939 all German Police agencies were put under the control of the "Reich Main Security Office” the equivalent of U.S. Homeland Security.

While the press on occasion has discussed Fusion Centers invading privacy of Citizens, the media has missed Fusion Centers’ involvement in criminal and civil asset forfeitures. It was problematic law enforcement and quasi private government contractors would gain wider access to Fusion Center data to secure evidence to arrest Americans and civilly forfeit their homes, inheritances and businesses under Title 18USC, The USA Patriot Act and other laws to keep part of the assets. Considering there are more than 400 laws and violations many which corporations unknowingly break that can make their property/assets subject to Government Civil Asset Forfeiture, it is foreseeable merging private security corporations with government police operations like Nazi Germany could result in government and quasi private security corporations seizing ownership of several large corporations; blackmailing corporations to support the will of politicians’ or dictator should that be the case.

[gerard ciccone]

A large group of "targeted Individuals" claim to have suffered personal injuries and slander at the hands of the HS fusion centers. After 911 the Patriot Act was the initiative to start the flow of civil rights abuses in the U.S. The FBI has issued more than 350,000 National Security Letters against innocent citizens for the purpose of harassment and directed energy weapons testing at the hands of the Fusion centers and their contractors. Claims of this torture can be found at "Torturedinamerica .com, Human rights Examiner, Freedom from covert harassment.com, and many others. Citizens are recruited from Neighborhood Watch, Infraguard (an FBI program), and other vigilante groups.

[Here's the Deal]

Why HAS Lieberman been a weak HSGAC Chair? He has too much skin in the game. According to yesterday’s Washington Post piece (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fusion-centers-defendedin-response-to-senate-report/2012/10/03/58841b38-0da2-11e2-a310-2363842b7057_story.html)

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, acknowledged in a statement that the centers have some problems. But he said the report focused too narrowly on intelligence going to federal officials in Washington and ignored broader benefits, including better information sharing with state law enforcement agencies.

“I strongly disagree with the report’s core assertion that fusion centers have been unable to meaningfully contribute to federal counterterrorism efforts,” he said in a statement.

Lieberman was a driving force behind the creation of the centers. The report was issued by the subcommittee, not the full committee.