The House Intelligence Committee received a whistleblower complaint from a former senior Department of Homeland Security official who alleges he was instructed to "cease providing intelligence assessments on the threat of Russian interference in the United States" because it "made the president look bad," Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) announced Wednesday.
The big picture: U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that Russia is actively seeking to denigrate Joe Biden to assist President Trump ahead of the election.
- The whistleblower, former intelligence and analysis acting undersecretary Brian Murphy, alleges that he was told to instead start reporting on interference activities by China and Iran, which he did not believe were on par with the actions of Russia.
- Murphy alleges that he was told by acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf that the instructions came specifically from White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien.
The whistleblower complaint also alleges that acting DHS deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli directed Murphy to modify a Homeland Threat Assessment report to make the threat of white supremacist violence "appear less severe."
Read the full whistleblower complaint.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
