2020/09/07 | Update
DHS withheld a July 2020 intelligence bulletin for months. The bulletin should have alerted the public to Russian attacks on Biden’s mental health.
Not sharing information about a known foreign-state sponsored propaganda campaign is troubling, but it's all the more so because Trump's campaign has repeatedly engaged in a similar line of attack. Leaked emails have raised questions for which no good answers exist.
The information was scheduled for public disclosure on July 9, 2020, but the July 7 email (pictured below) instructed the reader to speak with AS1 before release.
While it’s not clear what happened exactly. The bulletin and the intel stayed secret. Even months past the planned release date, the bulletin had still failed to circulate.
https://www.scribd.com/document/474545682/DHS-July-Intel-Draft-July-2020
AS1, better known as Chad Wolf, held the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security position at the time the bulletin was withheld. Perhaps an unlikely candidate, Wolf held a BA in history and lacked relevant work experience. Instead, Wolf had worked for over two decades as a lobbyist.
At least one of Wolf’s previous employers received $160,000,000 in contracts from Homeland Security during his time at the position.
Before accepting the appointment in DHS, Wolf worked as a lobbyist who intentionally replaced American workers by bringing in immigrants to work for less.
Although it’s technically illegal to displace American workers, there’s a loophole—the loopiest of holes. An employer can displace US workers if the immigrant has H1-B status, and a subcontractor employs them.
The Government Accountability Office, an independent, nonpartisan agency often called the “Congressional watchdog,” released a statement after it found that AS1 had been appointed illegally.
Ordinarily, Congress would prevent, or at least ask hard questions concerning, the approval of unqualified parties. The oversight of the selections of the president is most critical for positions like those in DHS leadership; however Congress never approved AS1.
Wolf served in the position anyway, seemingly ignoring that he had not been legitimately appointed. Still, the report from the GAO provoked a heated response from Wolf.
DHS responded by demanding the GAO rescind the assessment. The hostile request was noteworthy for its personal attacks on the GAO staff’s qualifications. The letter failed to refute the chief concern of the GAO, which was that succession had been unlawfully subverted.
Stephen Vladeck is a law professor at the University of Texas School of Law and a relevant expert on the topics related to this case.