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NEW: Brian Murphy, the DHS official whose office compiled "intelligence reports" about the work of journalists and protestors, has been removed from his job. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-official-whose-office-compiled-intelligence-reports-on-journalists-and-protesters-has-been-removed-from-his-job/2020/08/01/f01247be-d3ff-11ea-8d32-1ebf4e9d8e0d_story.html
Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of DHS, decided on Friday to remove Murphy. Wolf had ordered I &A to stop collecting information about journalists after our story on Thursday.
Murphy was drawing scrutiny and criticism internally for trying to expand the activities of I&A, which is technically an element of the intel community but is not operational in the same was as, for example, the FBI, where Murphy was previously an agent working counterterrorism.
Some officials said Murphy was misapplying I&A's authorities. Collecting on journalists and protestors, also broadening the definitions I&A used to decide which protestors were violent. The intel reports on journalists & protestors appear to have been the proverbial last straw.
Now, Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, says he's concerned Murphy "may have provided incomplete and potentially misleading information to committee staff" about I&A activities in Portland.
On Friday, members of the Senate Intel Committee asked Murphy to confirm that previous statements he made, including that I&A had not analyzed, collected, or exploited information from protestors' electronic accounts, were still accurate. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-analyzed-protester-communications-raising-questions-about-previous-statements-by-senior-department-official/2020/07/31/313163c6-d359-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html
