Demand Congressional Investigation of Secret DHS Watchlists Targeting Protesters

I am writing to urge you to launch an immediate congressional investigation into the existence of over a dozen secret government watchlists being used by the Department of Homeland Security and FBI to track American citizens exercising their First Amendment rights. Investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein has revealed that these watchlists, operating under codenames including Bluekey, Grapevine, Hummingbird, Reaper, Sandcastle, Sienna, Slipstream, and Sparta, target anti-ICE protesters, pro-Palestine demonstrators, and others labeled as "domestic terrorists." This directly contradicts recent denials by DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who claimed no such database exists. Two senior national security officials confirmed these lists to Klippenstein, lending credibility to these revelations. The scope of this surveillance apparatus is alarming. According to a DHS attorney familiar with the matter, domestic watchlisting has "expanded exponentially" since January 6, 2021, into a "highly secretive and compartmented superstructure that few even understand." These lists process tips, photographs, and videos to create surveillance networks that track individuals through geographic proximity and "call chaining" of phone numbers and emails. Some tools even collect information on friends and families who have no connection to alleged lawbreaking. Rachel Levinson-Waldman, director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security Program, has identified potential legal justifications the administration might cite, including National Security Presidential Memo 7 and Attorney General Pam Bondi's December 5 memo directing expanded investigation of "domestic terrorism," including groups "aligned" with antifa, an ideology that doesn't exist as an organization. A senior intelligence official warned that these watchlists create dangerous feedback loops where "mere attendance at a protest" becomes evidence of criminality, leading to "an environment of paranoia on the ground and more tragic killings." The case of Alex Pretti, a nurse shot dead by federal enforcers in Minneapolis who was known to Trump officials from a previous encounter, underscores these dangers. I urge you to demand transparency about these watchlists' scope, size, legal justification, and oversight mechanisms. Congress must protect Americans' constitutional rights to protest and dissent without fear of being labeled terrorists by their own government.