WASHINGTON, D.C. – Matthew Kozma, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, appeared at his Senate confirmation hearing earlier this week. Throughout the hearing, Kozma made several statements that, according to an article by Just Security, promote illegal conduct within the department and raise serious concerns regarding privacy rights.
Kozma claimed that the intelligence office was sometimes justified in accessing private communications, which Just Security argues is generally illegal.
“Under long-standing rules, I&A may collect information only when its officers are either (1) openly identified as the government or (2) obtaining material available to the public. Anything else, such as covert infiltration of private chats, is illegal,” reports Just Security.
Senators pressed Kozma on similar issues, with Sen. Ron Wyden asking if it was acceptable for I&A officers to “misrepresent themselves to get into private chat rooms and other private communications.”
While Kozma said it was generally not acceptable, he emphasized for the record that there may be scenarios in which officers use “alternative representations” online “in order to access information critical to thwarting terrorism or other attacks against America.”
Just Security argues that this contradicts testimony from Kozma’s predecessor, who stated that officers can only collect publicly available information and cannot misrepresent themselves to access private communications. When Sen. Wyden asked Kozma to respond to the contradiction, he dismissed it as a “remark made by a prior administration official,” according to Just Security.
Such conduct, Just Security contends, would be “clearly illegal” and could be used to target activists and protestors.
According to the article, I&A’s 2017 guidelines only permit officers to gather information overtly, either by identifying themselves as government officials or by relying on public sources. As a result, covert intelligence gathering is explicitly prohibited.
Despite these restrictions, Kozma asserted that officers may go undercover in two cases: to prevent a terrorist attack or under unspecified “certain exceptions,” reports Just Security.
The publication notes that the “loopholes” Kozma described do not exist and have not been recognized by any administration since I&A’s guidelines were established in 2008. Congress further restricted I&A in 2023, making no exceptions like the ones Kozma referenced, the article explains.
Just Security describes the limits on I&A’s authority as “critical,” especially given its broad mandate to counter domestic terrorism and undefined “significant threats” to public health, safety, and economic security.
“Agency guidelines allow officers to collect, retain, and disseminate information about speech and associations protected by the First Amendment when the collecting officer says it furthers one of those missions,” Just Security emphasizes, warning about the implications for civil liberties.
The article cites past abuses to illustrate the risks, including I&A activity during the 2020 Portland protests. In that instance, the agency compiled dossiers on activists and intelligence reports on journalists.
What constitutes a threat to homeland security can be highly subjective, Just Security notes, pointing out that I&A lawyers once argued vandalism of Confederate monuments was such a threat.
The publication reports that I&A has previously monitored student demonstrators, abortion rights advocates, and climate activists. In one case, I&A produced “questionable reports” on environmentalists in Atlanta that were later used in indictments.
Just Security contends that DHS oversight has “collapsed,” placing privacy rights in jeopardy. The department’s civil rights office may face elimination or severe staffing cuts, leaving only internal oversight—which would answer to Kozma if he is confirmed.
I&A reportedly plans to lay off up to 75% of its employees, with oversight and governance personnel expected to be among the first to go. However, the agency will retain its intelligence-gathering staff, according to Just Security.
Kozma’s apparent disregard for privacy protections is “alarming,” Just Security argues, especially given the office’s history of targeting activists and protestors. The article warns that this conduct poses a renewed threat under the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on dissent.
“Kozma’s comfort with covert entry into private chats should alarm Congress before it votes,” the article concludes. “Given these risks and I&A’s history, the public, Congress, and the media should be watchful, and insist that the agency’s domestic intelligence practices be sunset, rather than expanded.”
