GOP pushes to defund new DHS ‘intel experts’ group featuring ‘spies who lied’

Two House Republicans want to kill the recently unveiled “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group” — featuring three former top spooks who questioned The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop bombshell.

Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) unveiled legislation Tuesday to strip funding for the group and prevent the establishment of a similar committee in the future.

“Tens of thousands of migrants are flooding our southern border daily while the Biden Administration wastes its resources setting up an ‘Experts Group’ with the likes of James Clapper and John Brennan,” Pfluger, who chairs the Homeland Security Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Subcommittee, said in a statement.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the formation of the panel last week, ostensibly to help buttress the department’s national security apparatus.

Given August Pfluger’s perch and team work with Mark Green, aides believe the lawmakers have a shot at bringing their bill to the House floor. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Three of the 17 “experts” — former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former CIA senior operations officer Paul Kolbe — signed an open letter in October 2020 that stated The Post’s reporting on the contents of the now-first son’s laptop “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

“These men abused their positions of power perpetuating the Russia Hoax and serving as partisan operatives for the Democrat Party,” Pfluger said.

Shortly after the group was announced, Green and Pfluger penned a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas raising “serious concerns” about the department’s “impartiality and objectivity.”

Mark Green has clashed with Alejandro Mayorkas in the past, namely over border security matters.CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

“Multiple members of this newly-formed group … signed a discredited public statement on October 19, 2020, that incorrectly implied the New York Post’s reporting about Hunter Biden’s political influence peddling was the product of Russian disinformation,” they wrote Sept. 21.

Both Green and Pfluger also informed Mayorkas that they are conducting oversight of the newly formed panel.

They demanded all communications among DHS officials and employees about the formation of the group since President Biden was sworn into office as well as material showing how the 17 experts were selected.

Alejandro Mayorkas praised the new expert panel, which he argued would help the department stay informed about pressing concerns in the intelligence community.Getty Images

DHS officials have until the close of business Oct. 5 to fork over that material.

“DHS responds to congressional correspondence directly via official channels, and the Department will continue to respond appropriately to Congressional oversight,” a DHS spokesperson told The Post.

Members of the newly-minted group were supposed to convene at least four times a year to discuss national security matters, including “terrorism, fentanyl, transborder issues, and emerging technology,” according to a DHS statement.

The Post cover story detailing how few of the letter’s signatories regret signing the document to discredit The Post.

“The appointment of two notorious Russian-collusion hoaxers to this Homeland Intelligence Experts Group raises serious concerns about the Department’s impartiality and objectivity in intelligence sharing,” Green told The Post Tuesday.

“This Committee will not stand idly by as DHS continually undermines its mission and erodes the trust of the American people.”

The Oct. 19, 2020, open letter was passed to Politico, which amplified the story with the incorrect headline: “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.”

James Clapper, stood by the letter back in June, saying he didn’t have regrets.Shutterstock

Biden himself cited the letter three days later to dismiss The Post’s reporting as “a Russian plant” during his second and final debate against then-President Donald Trump.

Around the time the “spies who lie” letter was released, social media companies such as Twitter, now known as X, and Facebook, suppressed The Post’s story on the grounds that it violated policy against posting hacked materials — even though items found on the laptop were not obtained through hacking.

Multiple news outlets, such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CBS News have belatedly confirmed the authenticity of items from the laptop.