Democrats Block GOP Inquiries Into Postal Service’s Internet Snooping Program

House Republicans want to know what President Biden knows about the U.S. Postal Service’s so-called Internet Covert Operations Program that monitored conservative social media chatter.

AP/Matt York
The U.S. Postal Service's Internet Covert Operations Program monitored the online chatter of conservatives and others during the civil unrest in the summer of 2020. AP/Matt York

House Oversight and Reform Committee Democrats stymied Republican efforts Tuesday to push a resolution to the House floor demanding President Biden turn over documents on U.S. Postal Service surveillance of conservative, anti-abortion, and pro-gun rights groups. 

The resolution was reported unfavorably on a 23-18 vote. The committee chairwoman, Representative Carolyn Maloney, said Republican efforts to investigate the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Internet Covert Operations Program, or iCOP, had turned “highly partisan.” In turn, Republican lawmakers criticized the majority for ignoring Postal Service overreach.

“This is chilling when you have a government agency like the U.S. Post Office Inspection Service and they are investigating things far beyond their purview,” Representative Pat Fallon, a Republican of Texas, said. “This may be directed toward conservatives today and yesterday, but it certainly could be targeted at other folks, including our friends across the aisle … tomorrow.” 

The previously little known iCOP began operating after Black Lives Matter protests erupted across the nation following the May 2020 death of George Floyd, who was killed while in police custody. In March 2021, an iCOP bulletin leaked to Yahoo News discussed “inflammatory or violent messages” being passed among conservative groups on Parler, Facebook, and Telegram ahead of an impending “WorldWideDemonstration” rally. The bulletin was distributed across several intelligence agencies.

Ms. Maloney and the committee ranking member, Representative James Comer of Kentucky, sent a request to the Postal Service inspector general in May 2021 asking for an evaluation of the Postal Inspection Service’s authority to conduct online intelligence operations. The IG’s office concluded in a report in May 2022 that iCOP’s proactive searches of social media accounts and its use of open-source intelligence tools went beyond its law enforcement authority.

After reviewing 160 cases and 70 reports from between October 2018 and June 2021, the IG said it could not determine whether iCOP was legally authorized to operate.

Postal Service officials agreed to consider remedial measures to address the IG’s recommendations after it completed an internal review of the program’s activities and procedures. That review has not been released to Congress.

Republicans pointed to iCOP monitoring of Black Lives Matters protests and surveillance of both left- and right-wing groups after the shooting of Breonna Taylor at Louisville, Kentucky, to back their assertions that the inquiry is nonpartisan. Several GOP lawmakers said all Americans should support protecting First Amendment rights. 

“It is very disturbing that in over eight months since this report initially came out, Democrats have not requested more information or even had a hearing on this matter,” Representative Andrew Clyde, a Republican of Georgia who introduced the resolution of inquiry, said. “What are in these documents that Democrats refuse to allow Americans to see?”

“I’m incredibly concerned and worried about the ultimate fate of our country if agencies continue to target Americans simply for voicing their opinion or exercising their constitutionally protected rights,” Representative Jody Hice, a Georgia Republican, said.

However, Ms. Maloney said the resolution “is unnecessary and misdirected, and it would do nothing to protect the First Amendment.” She added that it aimed to put Mr. Biden in the impossible position of providing documents he doesn’t have. 

“This resolution seems to be suggesting that President Biden somehow used the Postal Service to spy on conservatives and other people but nothing could be further from the truth,” she said. “The truth is the Postal Service is an independent agency which is not subject to direction from the president or the White House.” 

Surveillance of conservative groups has been a growing concern among Republicans, who point to reports that the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security have colluded with social media organizations to censor conservative speech.

In August, the secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, terminated the short-lived but much maligned Disinformation Governance Board and rescinded its charter after condemnation by GOP lawmakers of the board’s would-be chairwoman, Nina Jankowicz, a disinformation specialist who pushed the Steele Dossier and ridiculed reports about the discovery of Hunter Biden’s laptop.  

House Republican lawmakers have frequently said that when they regain the majority, they will investigate law enforcement and intelligence agencies monitoring conservative social media accounts.

“When you have a swath of the American people who feel as though their voice and their opinion is being targeted then we have a problem as a republic as a whole. We cannot allow our federal government to be weaponized against any political groups in this country,” Mr. Hice said.


The New York Sun

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