U.S. Launches Broad Effort to Combat Domestic Terrorism

(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration, five months after the assault on the U.S. Capitol, outlined its plans for combating domestic terrorism on Tuesday, promising to better use existing federal resources and to consider whether any additional laws are needed to address the threat.

In the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism, the administration details ways it intends to improve analysis and information sharing, prevent recruitment and mobilization, disrupt and deter activity, and confront long-term factors. Some efforts are already under way, such as the federal government’s efforts to step up the screening of employees who may pose insider threats.

“This is a project that should unite all Americans,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “Together we must affirm that domestic terrorism has no place in our society. We must work to root out the hatreds that can too often drive violence.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland will formally disclose the document Tuesday, and other cabinet members also will be engaged as the strategy is put in place, a senior administration said on the condition of anonymity to preview plans.

Garland and the Justice Department will consider whether the government needs additional legal authority to address domestic terrorism, and the administration will ultimately determine, in consultation with Congress, whether any legislative action is necessary.

Read More: Garland Calls Capitol Attack Top Threat to U.S. Democracy

While the strategy details recent episodes involving right-wing extremists, including the attack on the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump and violence at the 2017 march by White supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, a second senior administration official said that it also focuses on the shooting that targeted Republican members of Congress on a Virginia baseball field in 2017 and a fatal attack on police officers in Dallas in 2016.

The State and Treasury Departments are assessing whether foreign entities linked to domestic terrorism can be designated as terrorists, which would prohibit U.S. citizens from supporting them or receiving training from them.

Treasury and law enforcement agencies are exploring ways to enhance the identification of “financial activity associated with domestic terrorists and their foreign counterparts, as well as enhancing engagement with financial institutions on domestic terrorist financing, including through existing provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act,” according to the strategy.

The federal government also intends to bolster its information sharing from within as well as with state, local, tribal and territorial governments. It also aims to better engage with technology companies. Each company sees only the activity on its own platforms, while the government can synthesize that information with facts on the ground to get a fuller picture of potential threats, a senior administration official told reporters on a call to preview the document’s release.

Earlier: House Republicans Renew Attacks on U.S. Intelligence Agencies

The Biden administration in May joined the Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online, an international effort begun by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern following the 2019 mass shootings at two mosques, and believes its membership -- along with those of other governments -- can be used to work with technology companies and civil society groups. The Trump administration had declined to be part of the effort.

The document pledges to improve intelligence collection and sharing while also pledging to uphold civil rights and liberties. However, using intelligence powers that were created to stop foreign terrorists for domestic purposes has long been a sensitive topic in both conservative and liberal circles.

House Republicans criticized U.S. intelligence agencies during a hearing in April for overreaching by investigating domestic terrorism.

‘Volatile’ Threats

Biden took office two weeks after Capitol attack and quickly directed his administration to assess what White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki at the time referred to as the “serious and growing national security threat” of domestic violent extremism. He initiated a 100-day review of the issue, which in March led to an assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence with other agencies that, in turn, informed the strategy document released Tuesday.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin last month warning the U.S. is “facing threats that have evolved significantly and become increasingly complex and volatile in 2021,” including “those posed by domestic terrorists, individuals and groups engaged in grievance-based violence, and those inspired or influenced by foreign terrorists and other malign foreign influences.”

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