DHS Internal Investigation Shows No Misuse of Resources - June 30, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 13

June 30, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 13:

Published: 06/30/2003

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DHS Internal Investigation Shows No Misuse of Resources

Last week, an internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigation cleared the department of any wrongdoing when it used federal resources to track down Texas Democratic state legislators in a partisan battle last month. As reported in a June 2 Watcher article, the Democrats fled the state in order to avoid quorum for hearings on redistricting. The department’s Air & Marine Interdiction Coordination Center (AMICC) was called in order to track down a private plane belonging to one of the lawmakers.

The investigation determined that when AMICC agreed to assist in the search, department employees believed the plane was missing or had crashed. An edited transcript of the telephone call placed to AMICC from the Texas Department of Public Safety supports this claim. Democratic members of Congress are still skeptical about the abuse of homeland security resources, as a number of related documents and tapes of phone calls they requested continue to be denied by DHS. As a new agency the department’s lack of disclosure is troubling and could set a poor precedent for future information access.