House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Monday requested information on any intelligence resources the Defense Department may have provided the federal government in its response to the protests against police brutality that have swept the nation in the two weeks since George Floyd’s death.
In a letter to Joseph Kernan, under secretary of Defense for intelligence and security, Schiff asks for information on whether combat support agencies have assisted domestic military or federal law enforcement responding to the protests.
He further asked for details about any inquiries or requests the Trump administration or Pentagon may have made to prepare for such support.
“The sudden and impulsive manner in which the Armed Forces and law enforcement components from across the federal government have been mobilized to date, and the lack of public transparency regarding their orders, operations, authorities, and chains of command and accountability, is deeply troubling,” Schiff wrote.
“We are concerned that they have been or might be asked to undertake unlawful or unethical activities that could violate civil liberties and erode even further the legitimacy of, and trust in, the military and law enforcement,” he added.
“The American people deserve, and expect, that the IC [intelligence community] will scrupulously honor its obligation to respect their civil liberties when conducting its vital mission of keeping our nation safe,” Schiff’s letter states. “At this key moment in our history, it is critical that the public retains confidence and trust in the U.S. military and in the IC. The Defense Intelligence Enterprise, sitting uniquely at the intersection of these two institutions, has a special obligation in this regard.”
The letter comes after numerous states deployed the National Guard in response to the protests, with the federal government doing the same for the D.C. National Guard. President Trump ordered the withdrawal of forces from Washington on Monday.