The Thomas More Law Center based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has filed a federal lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder. The lawsuit is a civil action claiming that the Homeland Security Department's “Rightwing Extremism Policy,” violates First and Fifth Amendment rights by chilling the expression of controversial political speech and targeting individuals and groups for disfavored treatment on the basis of their speech.According to Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center:
Janet Napolitano is lying to the American people when she says the Report is not based on ideology or political beliefs. In fact, her report would have the admiration of the Gestapo and any current or past dictator in the way it targets political opponents. This incompetently written intelligence assessment, which directs law enforcement officials across the country to target and report on American citizens who have the political beliefs mentioned in the report, will be used as a tool to stifle political opposition and opinions. It will give a pretext for opponents of those Americans to report them to police as rightwing extremists and terrorists. You can imagine what happens then.On the Congressional front, Michigan Representative Pete Hoekstra, the top-ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, has asked the National Intelligence ombudsman to investigate Homeland Security's "Rightwing Extremist" report. "This report has significant analytic shortcomings and does not deserve to be called an intelligence product,” Hoekstra said. “Our nation’s veterans and hardworking families that may be facing tough times should not be viewed as a threat and neither should citizens who oppose out-of-control federal spending and tax hikes."
"The administration," Hoekstra commented, "needs to get to the bottom of how and why a report like this was written, and put standards in place to keep it from happening again.”
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