Congressmen ask acting DNI director about fighting white supremacy

Two House subcommittee chairmen recently sent a letter to Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, requesting information about how the intelligence community (IC) is combatting the growing threat of transnational, white supremacist terrorism.

At a joint subcommittee hearing last month, Dr. Joshua Geltzer, former National Security Council Senior Director for Counterterrorism, testified that white supremacist terrorism is a form of international terrorism and that the National Counterterrorism Center should play a role in combatting white supremacy.

“We are pleased that after months of prodding, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finally released its long-promised Strategic Framework for Countering Terrorism and Targeted Violence, which identifies white supremacist violent extremists as a national security threat to the U.S. homeland,” the chairmen wrote. “We hope and expect the remaining IC agencies will follow suit.”

The letter was sent by Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA), chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

Lynch and Raskin asked Maguire to provide a briefing by Oct. 18 on the IC’s strategy to combat transnational white supremacist terrorism. The briefing also should include any implementation documents, policies or strategies, that would help subcommittees’ work.