House Oversight Committee leaders on Tuesday asked the independent inspector of the postal service to examine what they called violations of Americans’ First Amendment rights through a covert surveillance program.
In a letter written by Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, Democrat of New York, and ranking member James Comer, Republican of Kentucky, the leaders expressed concern to Tammy L. Whitcomb, the U.S. Postal Service inspector general, about reports the U.S. Postal Inspection Service is using the internet Covert Operations Program, the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service, to perform intelligence operations on First Amendment activity.
Yahoo News reported on March 16 that the Postal Inspection Service is running a stealth program, iCOP, which surveils Americans’ social media content and searches for anything on a person’s or group page considered “inflammatory.” From there, the information about the page will be sent along to other government agencies.
“These activities raise serious questions about the scope of the program, the extent of sharing of information among law enforcement agencies, and whether USPIS has the authority to conduct such an operation,” wrote Maloney and Comer. “We understand that USPIS has a critical law enforcement responsibility to protect the people and facilities of the Postal Service. We also appreciate that since reports of iCOP being used in connection with First Amendment activity have become public, USPIS has put certain safeguards in place and is reviewing additional ways to protect First Amendment activities. Nevertheless, significant questions about iCOP remain.”
Maloney and Comer asked Whitcomb several questions, including why the decision was made to expand iCOP beyond its original focus on drug interdiction, as well as when the decision was made and who approved the decision.
Additionally, the leaders asked, “What authority does USPIS have to conduct online intelligence operations on people in the United States, including those engaging in First Amendment activity?”
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They also inquired what vendor USPIS uses to search publicly available information as well as what information the vendor is storing about searches and results, and how that information is secured.
