The Biden administration has agreed to wind down a controversial intelligence “experts” group known as the Homeland Intelligence Experts Group, following a lawsuit from a conservative legal nonprofit arguing that it violated federal law. The group, announced by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in September, consisted of private sector figures providing perspectives on government intelligence and national security efforts. Critics accused the board of being a partisan body, particularly objecting to figures like former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan due to their involvement in questioning the veracity of the Hunter Biden laptop story. America First Legal, which filed the lawsuit, found that political contributions from group members heavily favored Democrats over Republicans. Multiple Republican lawmakers demanded the withdrawal of appointments for “known purveyors of disinformation.”
America First Legal, representing itself and former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, sued DHS in November, alleging that the group’s alleged bias violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The lawsuit cited lack of balance, lack of public notice, and inappropriate influence by the Biden administration. Despite maintaining that the group’s establishment and operation did not violate the FACA, DHS agreed to wind down the group in response to the lawsuit. The agreement stipulated that the Experts Group would be dissolved within 30 days, with no future meetings held, and all meeting agendas and minutes redacted and provided within 15 days. AFL agreed to dismiss the lawsuit, while DHS retained the right to create an advisory committee under the FACA provisions. Conservative plaintiffs deemed the agreement a victory, with Stephen Miller stating that the closure of the group would prevent “censored, unethical spying, and gross civil rights invasions of political enemies.”
Former senior Trump White House advisor Stephen Miller and America First Legal President hailed the legal victory over DHS as a result of their lawsuit, which led to the closure of the partisan intelligence board featuring controversial figures like Clapper and Brennan. They also achieved the surrender of documents related to the group. Former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell asserted that DHS “surrendered” because they recognized that the America First Legal team was correct in their assertions that Biden’s team had violated the law. DHS did not provide immediate comment on the agreement. Overall, the winding down of the Homeland Intelligence Experts Group marked a significant development following the legal challenge mounted by America First Legal and its allies against what they perceived as a biased and legally questionable intelligence council.
