Former Homeland Security Director Jeh Johnson testifies before the House Intelligence Committee.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

In what has become typical fashion, President Trump blamed the Obama administration for failing to “stop”  Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

“By the way, if Russia was working so hard on the 2016 Election, it all took place during Obama Admin. Why didn’t they stop them?” Trump tweeted at 9:22 a.m. Thursday.

Truth is, the FBI and other intelligence agencies were trying to stop Russia and had found evidence in August that Kremlin-backed hackers targeted electoral systems in 21 states, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, former Homeland Security Director Jeh Johnson said the Obama administration didn’t immediately reveal Russia’s interference to avoid an appearance of partisanship.

“We were very concerned that we would not be perceived as taking sides in the election, injecting ourselves into a very heated campaign,” Johnson told the committee.

When asked what took the Obama administration so long to disclose the allegations of Russian interference, Johnson cited the need to protect intelligence sources and methods.

Testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, former Homeland Security Director Jeh Johnson said the Obama administration didn’t immediately reveal Russia’s interference to avoid an appearance of partisanship. The public disclosure finally came Oct. 7, when Johnson and James R. Clapper the then-director of national intelligence, said in a joint statement that Russia was involved in cyber “threats and disclosures … intended to interfere with the U.S. Election process.” They also said a Russian company attempted to break in to state voter registration databases, The L.A. Times reported. 

Johnson said the Oct. 7 statement “did not get the attention it deserved” because it was morphed in media coverage later that day by the leak of Trump making crude comments about women on a 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape.

Homeland Security helicopter, via Homeland Security.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

In the wake of the deadly terrorist attacks in London, Homeland Security said Sunday there’s no evidence of “a specific, credible terror threat in the United States.”

Still, the federal agency is remaining vigilant and monitoring the situation, the USA Today reports. 

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city was on high alert, and critical response units have been placed in “particularly prominent” locations throughout the city.

“That means New Yorkers today will see a heavier presence at key locations around the city,” he said Sunday while speaking to reporters. “You will see a stronger police presence, including our counter-terror forces, which are heavily armed and heavily geared.”

Still, he said, this “is not a cause for alarm – that is a cause for comfort, to see the NYPD out in strength to protect u against any situation,” the mayor said.

So far this year, there have been 500 terror attacks that lead to 3,500 deaths “and many more physically and mentally wounded” said Tom Cochran, CEO and executive director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Homeland Security has cautioned U.S. citizens in London to “maintain security awareness.”

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Immigrants who fled their countries because of dangerous conditions and have been legally living in the U.S. are now in danger of being sent back to their homes, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Thursday.

Kelly told the Associated Press that immigrants with “temporary protected status” should not believe they have a permanent right to live in the U.S.

That could impact tens of thousands of people from Central America and Haiti.

“The point is not that there be a complete recovery of all ills in the country,” Kelly said. “The point is, whatever the event is that caused TPS to be granted — that event is over, and they can return.”

The vast majority of immigrations with temporary protected status are from El Salvador (263,000) and Honduras (86,000). Immigrants fled those countries because of natural disasters.

Kelly said the immigrants were not intended to stay in the U.S. permanently.

“The point is not that there be a complete recovery of all ills in the country,” Kelly said. “The point is, whatever the event is that caused TPS to be granted — that event is over, and they can return.”

Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr., via Twitter

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

There are few law enforcement officials as controversial and divisive as Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke.

That’s why Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee urged Homeland Security Director David Clark to not appoint Clarke to a post within the agency, The Hill reports. 

“We understand that the Department [of Homeland Security] has yet to make an announcement about this position and strongly urge you not to consider Sheriff Clarke as candidate for this important office or any other within DHS,” they wrote in a letter to Kelly.

Among Clarke’s “troubling record” are allegations of plagiarism and “multiple inmate deaths” under his watch.

“Taken together, they warrant not only his immediate disqualification from consideration, but an unequivocal response from the department stating that neither Sheriff Clarke nor anyone with a similar record would be considered for a secretarial appointment within DHS.”

On Saturday, CNN reported that Clarke plagiarized parts of his master’s thesis on Homeland Security. 

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly fired back Thursday at Sen. Bob Casey Jr.’s “outrageous” tweets about a recent deportation.

The Democrat from Pennsylvania rallied against the deportation of a Honduran mother and her 5-year-old son.

“Twitter: it’s urgent,” Casey tweeted. “I just found that a young child & mother who came to U.S. seeking refugee will be sent back to Honduras today.”

Casey added: “What I won’t do: stand by silently as a vulnerable child and his mother are sent to their possible death.”

Kelly was not happy, McClatchy reports.

“You can’t pick and choose the laws you follow,” Kelly said Thursday. “I can’t pick and choose the laws I enforce.” 

Kelly added that multiple courts, including the Supreme Court, denied the woman’s stay in the U.S.

Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr., via Twitter

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

President Donald Trump is considering controversial Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. for a job with Homeland Security.

Clarke, who is a polarizing figure and longtime Trump supporter, is expected to be appointed as assistant secretary at Homeland Security’s Office of Partnership and Engagement, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.  No Senate confirmation is required for the job, which involves coordinating outreach to state and local law enforcement agencies.

Clarke is a frequent guest on Fox News and is a lightning rod for the GOP.

In 2015, Clarke participated in an NRA-backed trip to Russia, where he and others reportedly met with one of Russian President Putin’s deputies.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Americans who were victimized by crime perpetuated by undocumented immigrants will have a new resource under the Homeland Security Department.

The Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) is expected to open today. The idea is to inform victims of the immigration proceedings of suspects, the Associated Press reports.

The office is part of an executive order by President Trump, who pledged to open the office during a speech to Congress in February.

Critics question the motive behind the office because studies have indicated that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born U.S. citizens.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Stopping homegrown terrorism is no easy task.

No one knows that more than Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who admitted Sunday that he doesn’t know how to stop what he describes as the “most common” threat facing the U.S.

Kelly made the admission during an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation. 

“There are so many aspects to this terrorist thing,” Kelly said. “Obviously you got the homegrown terrorists. I don’t know how to stop that. I don’t know how to detect that. You got other terrorist threats that come across the border. I believe in the case of the murder, in the Paris shooting I believe he was homegrown. But, again, there are so many threats that come in from across border. And it’s essential absolutely to control one’s border.”

Kelly said homegrown terrorism is “the most common threat” to America.

Kelly said the threat of homegrown terrorism keeps him “literally awake at night.”