DHS February 7, 2022 Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin – Classifying Election Fraud Allegations as a “Terrorism Threat Driver,” Chilling Protected Political Speech Nationally (US)

[Reasonable Inference – As to unconstitutional chilling effect and absence of statutory authority] The Department of Homeland Security issued a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin on February 7, 2022, that explicitly classified “false or misleading narratives” regarding “unsubstantiated widespread election fraud” as a primary threat driver for domestic terrorism. The bulletin was documented in the Michigan investigative record specifically because of its chilling effect on Michigan citizens, election integrity researchers, and attorneys operating in the state. The constitutional implications are profound: the federal government published an official national security document categorizing constitutionally protected political speech – dispute about election integrity – as a precursor to terrorism. No specific factual predicate identified any election integrity advocate as an actual terrorism threat. The practical effect of the bulletin was to associate the entire field of election integrity advocacy with terrorism, creating an official government-issued chilling instrument targeting disfavored political speech. The statutory authority for DHS to issue domestic political speech advisories under the NTAS framework – which was created to warn of imminent foreign or domestic attack threats, not to categorize political viewpoints as threat precursors – is absent. The bulletin’s use of NTAS infrastructure for political speech control may constitute an abuse of official authority, and the internal communications that produced it should be examined for political motivation.