Trump-appointed DHS chief stalled an intel report on Russian election meddling in the run-up to the 2020 election, watchdog says

• Former DHS chief Chad Wolf delayed an intel report on Russian election interference, a watchdog report said.
• The report includes a whistleblower complaint that said Wolf ordered him to "kill it."

A Trump-appointed Department of Homeland Security chief stalled a key report on Russian interference in the 2020 election and politicized the intelligence process, a government watchdog said.

The report from DHS' Office of the Inspector General, which was published on April 26, said that between April and October 2020, Chad Wolf, then the department's acting secretary, intervened in the release of a dossier on Russian media attempts to question the mental health of Joe Biden, the then-Democratic nominee.

The OIG report includes allegations made by Brian Murphy, the former DHS under secretary for intelligence and analysis, who filed a wide-ranging whistleblower complaint in September 2020.

It included Murphy's allegation that the intelligence report was altered to help then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, and concluded that the intelligence process was likely politicized through the intervention. Murphy withdrew his complaint in November 2021 as part of an agreement with DHS, the OIG report said.

In a statement to Insider, Wolf said that the report "supports my longstanding position on this matter," saying it found no credible evidence he was trying to help Trump and that his interventions were solely over "quality control." He also called Murphy's complaint "grossly false." The full statement can be seen below.

'Kill it'

In April 2020, DHS' cybersecurity wing — referred to as CYMC — began looking into multiple reports that Russian state media was seeking to undermine Biden's mental capacity.

The initial draft was made by June 30 with the plan of sharing it on July 9. But at a meeting on July 8, Wolf requested it be "held," the OIG report said.

This is a departure from DHS norms. Per the OIG report, the DHS chief has no formal role in making and approving intelligence reports, the OIG report noted.

The OIG report made no decisive conclusion on one key allegation that at the July 8 meeting, Wolf instructed Murphy to bury the intelligence report as a form of damage control for Trump.

But it included Murphy's scrawled note from the meeting that reads: "AS1 — will hurt POTUS — kill it per his authorities." "AS1" is an internal abbreviation for the Acting Secretary, namely Wolf.

Per the OIG report, Murphy said "these notes meant that the Acting Secretary told him [Murphy] to hold the product because it would hurt President Trump; he also believed the Acting Secretary was referring to authorities possessed by the DHS Secretary."

Others at the July 8 meeting could not recall Wolf giving a political reason for the instruction, the report said. Wolf told OIG investigators he got involved and delayed it simply because of its quality. "The product I saw in July was written at the Fifth-grade level," he told investigators.

CYMC then delayed the report twice more, which the OIG found a highly unusual situation. It was ultimately released on September 4.

Politicizing the report

OIG included that inappropriate changes to the report were made with political considerations in mind.

It highlighted a section added by CYMC, with the apparent intention of adding "balance" — a blue information box that outlined Iranian and Chinese efforts to question Trump's health as well.

In his original whistleblower complaint, Murphy said that this was done on Wolf's instruction.

The CYMC's mission lead, who was unnamed in the report, told OIG investigators it was a "blunting feature" included to add balance. That addition "potentially furthered the perception of politicization surrounding the product," the OIG report said.

An internal ombudsman also raised concerns, the report said. "The piece seems to almost avoid the main message that is made explicit in the key judgment — that Russian influence actors are targeting the Democratic candidates in 2020," the ombudsman wrote.

OIG ultimately concluded that Wolf's delays and the addition of "balancing" material risked politicizing the report and the intelligence-gathering process.

Here is Wolf's full statement to Insider

"The recent release of the DHS IG report regarding the quality of an Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) product supports my longstanding position on this matter.

"First, I became aware and was concerned about the deficiencies of this product because of the lack of professional standards and quality control exhibited at the time, as confirmed by I&A employees and validated by a separate audit.

"Second, the conclusion of the report did not find any credible evidence that I directed anyone to change the substance of the report because it 'made President Trump look bad.' In fact, the report found that I had no objection to the substance of the report or its subsequent release.

"And finally, buried in the report is the fact that the grossly false whistleblower complaint against me was withdrawn."