A 2015 membership roll for the Oath Keepers, a violent, anti-government extremist group, included hundreds of current or former employees of the Department of Homeland Security. That’s according to a leaked document reviewed by the Project On Government Oversight. Since the creation of the document, members of the Oath Keepers, including its founder Steward Rhodes, have been convicted of seditious conspiracy and other offenses related to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Any connection between this extremist group and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is obviously disturbing — especially considering the department’s role in fighting domestic terrorism. And this list may just be the tip of the proverbial iceberg. An internal study found that “significant gaps” have impeded the department’s ability to “respond to potential threats related to domestic violent extremism within DHS.”

On this episode of The Continuous Action, Virginia Heffernan and Walt Shaub sound the alarm. POGO senior investigator Nick Schwellenbach joins them to share the findings of his investigation into the troubling ties between extremists and the government agencies responsible for protecting the public. 

For transcript and show notes, visit pogo.org/podcasts/the-continuous-action

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.