A Department of Justice official has been placed on leave and now faces the possible revocation of their security clearance after reportedly adding a reporter to an internal mailing list that shared details about the timing and locations of upcoming ICE raids. The employee insists it was an accident — but that’s hard to believe.
While no classified material was disclosed, the information was clearly sensitive, outlining the schedule and targets of federal immigration enforcement actions. According to NBC News, the incident occurred in January when a Department of Homeland Security employee mistakenly included a Washington-based reporter in an email thread discussing an imminent ICE operation.
The employee later called the reporter to admit they had been accidentally added to the mailing list. The reporter agreed not to publish the sensitive details, and fortunately, the raid proceeded without incident.
Accident or not, this was an egregious lapse in judgment. At best, it’s stunning incompetence. Someone who carelessly exposes federal enforcement operations to the media should never be trusted with sensitive communications again — let alone be responsible for managing internal mailing lists.
NBC News reported:
The DHS employee who was put on leave did not speak to NBC News. The officials who did didn’t want to identify her out of fear she would face retaliation from members of the public who are pro-immigration enforcement.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELThe DHS employee told colleagues she accidentally added a reporter from a conservative Washington-based print publication to an email that included information about upcoming ICE operations in the Denver area. The officials said the information was not classified but considered law enforcement sensitive because it included the time of day for the operation and possible home locations where targets could be identified.
Realizing her mistake immediately, the employee called the reporter who agreed not to disclose the information, the officials said.
The ICE operation took place without incident, the officials said.
But another person on the email group flagged the blunder to higher-ups at DHS at a time when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and border czar Tom Homan were blaming leaks to the media for lower-than-expected arrest numbers during ICE roundups, the officials said.
#dojleak #iceraids #dhsfailure
