Acting DHS secretary says white supremacists are 'most persistent and lethal' threat within U.S.

Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told senators during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that white supremacists are the "most persistent and lethal" internal threat the United States is facing.

Wolf, who has been acting head of DHS since November, said overall, the deadliest threats to the U.S. are pandemics, national disasters, and foreign adversaries, and the government "cannot ignore" anti-fascist protesters.

Earlier this month, a DHS whistleblower named Brian Murphy said Wolf instructed him to stop providing intelligence assessments on the threat of Russian interference in the United States. Murphy also alleged that Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Ken Cuccinelli told him to change an assessment's section on white supremacy to make "the threat appear less severe" and to add information "on the prominence of violent 'left-wing' groups." Murphy said in both cases, he did not comply.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Wolf denied the accusations, calling them "patently false."