John Cohen, former acting under-secretary at the Department of Homeland Security for intelligence and analysis, dropped the explosive details after it was revealed that San Bernardino terrorist Tashfeen Malik spoke openly about violent jihad and martyrdom on social media prior to her arrival in the U.S.
ABC News
ABC News
Malik and her husband, Syed Farook, killed 14 people and injured dozens more in the California terrorist attack. Malik entered the U.S. under a “fiance” visa, which was issued after she had already shown signs of radicalization.
In an interview with ABC News, Cohen confirmed “immigration officials were not allowed to use or review social media as part of the screening process.” He said Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson even refused to end the policy in early 2014.
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One current and one former senior counter-terrorism official confirmed Cohen’s account about the refusal of DHS to change its policy about the public social media posts of all foreign applicants.
A spokesperson for the DHS, Marsha Catron, told ABC News that months after Cohen left, in the fall of 2014, the Department began three pilot programs to include social media in vetting, but current officials say that it is still not a widespread policy. A review of the broader policy is already underway, the DHS said.
Cohen told “Good Morning America” the Obama administration decided not to inform the public of the policy because officials feared it “would be embarrassing.”
President Barack Obama speaks in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. President Barack Obama's advisers are finalizing a proposal that would expand background checks on gun sales without congressional approval. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Barack Obama speaks in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. President Barack Obama’s advisers are finalizing a proposal that would expand background checks on gun sales without congressional approval. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The social media exclusion, he explained, centered around concerns for “optics” and “concerns from privacy and civil liberties perspective that while this was not illegal, that it would be viewed negatively if it was disclosed publicly.”
Cohen said the arguments being made in favor of not reviewing the social media accounts of visa applicants — as to not invade their privacy — are being made in “bad faith.”
“There is no excuse for not using every resource at our disposal to fully vet individuals before they come to the United States,” he added.
A State Department spokesperson told ABC News the agency is now “actively considering additional ways to incorporate the use of social media review in its various vetting programs.”
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