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Sens. Hawley and Johnson demand investigation into whistleblower's claim that Biden administration set suspected Afghan terrorists loose in the US

JOSEPH MACKINNON

AUGUST 05, 2022

Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) are urging for an investigation into the veracity of recent claims made by a Department of Defense whistleblower. The whistleblower has alleged that among the Afghan evacuees released into the U.S. by the Biden administration were 324 individuals on the DOD’s Biometrically Enabled Watchlist. 

The BEWL, used for screening purposes, identifies persons whose biometrics have been collected and have been deemed by analysts to be threats or potential threats to national security. The list includes known suspected terrorists. 

In their letter to Sean O’Donnell, acting inspector at the DOD, Hawley and Johnson noted they also want investigated the claims that: 

• the White House and DOD officials "directed personnel to cut corners and not conduct full fingerprint tests of Afghan evacuees"; and 
• Department of Homeland Security staff was authorized to delete old biometric data, possibly "compromis[ing] the integrity of existing databases and undermin[ing] national security." 

The Epoch Times reported that the DOD previously admitted that the National Counterterrorism Center did not in fact vet all evacuees "using all DOD data prior to arriving in" the U.S. 

A Pentagon report issued February 15, 2022, noted that the National Ground Intelligence Center had "identified 50 Afghan personnel in the United States with information in DOD records that would indicate potentially significant security concerns." Some of the Afghan evacuees flagged as possible security concerns could not be located since, according to the NGIC, "there was an issue with either field representatives or operators failing to upload data or maintain devices properly."