WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit on behalf of itself and former Ambassador and Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for their unlawful creation of the “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group.”
In its own words, the so-called “Experts Group” was formed “to provide advice and perspectives on intelligence and national security efforts.” However, the “Experts Group” is stacked with allies of the Biden Administration and has no ideological balance whatsoever. No member in the group served in the Trump Administration or has any record of advancing an America First viewpoint on national security. Instead, the Group is stacked with partisan deep-state actors like James Clapper and John Brennan.
The preliminary injunction seeks to immediately stop all activity of the Group. In its brief, AFL argues that the “Experts Group” is an illegally formed Federal Advisory Committee because it:
- Has a defined structure and stable membership.
- Was formed for a specific purpose.
- Will provide advice or recommendations to Department leadership.
All of these points are made by the Department’s own admission in the press release announcing the creation of the Group. However, the Department failed to take the necessary steps, as required by law, to form an advisory committee. Specifically, the Department failed to:
- Give public notice in the Federal Register.
- Designate a federal official.
- Disclose meeting information.
- Fairly balance the committee to ensure proper representation of diverse viewpoints.
AFL will not cease in its legal battle to shut down this partisan, unlawful, and destructive committee.
Statement from Gene Hamilton, America First Legal Vice President and General Counsel:
“The Biden Administration has repeatedly attempted to stack federal advisory committees with its friends and allies to ensure that their radical agenda gets the imprimatur of impartiality from a supposedly outside group. Congress created legal requirements for federal advisory committees, and the Biden Administration has repeatedly flaunted those requirements. We stopped them before and will fight to stop them again,” said Gene Hamilton.
Read the preliminary injunction here.
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