[House Report 117-614]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress   }                                    {      Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session      }                                    {      117-614

======================================================================

 
    RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY REQUESTING THE PRESIDENT TRANSMIT CERTAIN 
DOCUMENTS IN HIS POSSESSION TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RELATING TO 
 THE SURVEILLANCE OR MONITORING OF PRO-GUN, PRO-LIFE, OR CONSERVATIVE 
  GROUPS UNDER THE INTERNET COVERT OPERATIONS PROGRAM OPERATED BY THE 
                UNITED STATES POSTAL INSPECTION SERVICE

                                _______
                                

 December 12, 2022.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

 Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, from the Committee on Oversight 
                  and Reform, submitted the following

                             ADVERSE REPORT

                             together with

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                      [To accompany H. Res. 1479]

    The Committee on Oversight and Reform, to whom was referred 
the resolution (H. Res. 1479) of inquiry requesting the 
President transmit certain documents in his possession to the 
House of Representatives relating to the surveillance or 
monitoring of pro-gun, pro-life, or conservative groups under 
the Internet Covert Operations Program operated by the United 
States Postal Inspection Service, having considered the same, 
reports unfavorably thereon with an amendment and recommends 
that the resolution not be agreed to.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Summary and Purpose of Legislation...............................     2
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     2
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................     4
Legislative History..............................................     4
Committee Consideration..........................................     4
Roll Call Votes..................................................     4
Explanation of Amendments........................................     6
List of Related Committee Hearings...............................     6
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the 
  Committee......................................................     6
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............     6
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch.....................     6
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................     6
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings..............................     6
Federal Advisory Committee Act Statement.........................     6
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act Statement...........................     6
Earmark Identification...........................................     7
Committee Cost Estimate..........................................     7
New Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost 
  Estimate.......................................................     7
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     7
Minority Views...................................................     8

    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the 
following:

That not later than 14 days after the adoption of this resolution, the 
President is requested to transmit to the House of Representatives, in 
a complete and unredacted form, a copy of any document, record, report, 
memo, correspondence, or other communication either generated or 
received by the office of the President that refers or relates to the 
surveillance or monitoring occurring on or after January 20, 2021, of 
any pro-gun, pro-life, or conservative group under the Internet Covert 
Operations Program (commonly referred to as ``iCOP'') operated by the 
United States Postal Inspection Service.

                   SUMMARY AND PURPOSE OF LEGISLATION

    H. Res. 1479 directs the President to transmit certain 
documents in his possession to the House of Representatives 
relating to the surveillance or monitoring of pro-gun, pro-
life, or conservative groups under the Internet Covert 
Operations Program (iCOP) operated by the United States Postal 
Inspection Service (USPIS).

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Committee opposes this resolution, which is a partisan 
effort by Republicans to falsely insinuate that President Biden 
has used USPIS to surveil conservative groups. While the 
Committee has worked on a bipartisan basis to investigate 
potential inappropriate surveillance of First Amendment 
activity through iCOP, this resolution would not advance that 
effort in any meaningful way. Instead, the resolution appears 
designed to stir up partisan outrage without justification and 
seeks documents from President Biden about a program dating 
back to 2018 that was run out of the Postal Service--an 
independent agency--under the leadership of a Republican 
Postmaster General appointed during the Trump Administration.
    In April 2021, press reports highlighted the activities of 
USPIS's iCOP program and the program's surveillance of 
Americans' social media posts related to protest activities 
planned by both liberal and conservative groups. The reports 
indicate that intelligence gathered by this surveillance was 
shared with the Department of Homeland Security for wider 
distribution to other law enforcement agencies.\1\
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    \1\The Postal Service Is Running a ``Covert Operations Program'' 
That Monitors Americans' Social Media Posts, Yahoo! News (Apr. 21, 
2021) (online at https://news.yahoo.com/the-postal-service-is-running-
a-running-a-covert-operations-program-that-monitors-americans-social-
media-posts-160022919.html?soc _src=social-sh&soc 
_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr&guccounter=1&guce 
_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGFpbHlrb3MuY29tLw&guce _referrer 
_sig=AQAAAII04iks KrtUrRpPMHxqI7ZghLdm1ui08GyY IpXhifAq1v0IY 
AC5sArs9mQU9TQX hAyb3DhbQvO7EMXeBvonA XypiWYmlhSq58I1-UvSTqRNR5 
KLipgG5vqH8xWoUTaiEGr LcsE759BRWkWIdWKbSWGqlZ JFOBQViYfo0FU_gu).
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    In response, the Committee held two bipartisan staff 
briefings with the USPIS on April 23, 2021, and May 14, 2021, 
to learn more about the iCOP program. These briefings raised 
additional questions about the program and its use of open-
source data to gather intelligence on possible threats to 
Postal Service facilities and personnel, including on protected 
First Amendment activity.
    On May 25, 2021, Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney and Ranking 
Member James Comer sent a bipartisan letter to Tammy L. 
Whitcomb, Inspector General of the Postal Service, expressing 
concerns about the USPIS using iCOP to perform intelligence 
operations on First Amendment activity. The bipartisan letter 
requested that the Inspector General conduct an evaluation of 
iCOP, specifically addressing whether the USPIS had the 
authority to conduct online intelligence operations targeting 
people in the United States, the impact of these operations, 
the specific search methods and tools used by analysts, and any 
internal processes in place to ensure accountability.\2\
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    \2\Letter from Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney and Ranking Member 
James Comer, Committee on Oversight and Reform, to Inspector General 
Tammy L. Whitcomb, United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector 
General (May 25, 2021) (online at https://oversight.house.gov/sites/
democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/2021-05-
25.CBM%20Comer%20to%20Whitcomb-USPS%20OIG%20re%20iCOP.pdf).
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    The Inspector General accepted the Committee's request and 
conducted a review of iCOP's activities from October 2018 
through June 2021, covering 160 cases and 70 reports. The 
Inspector General also conducted interviews and reviewed iCOP's 
policies, procedures, and related contracts.
    The IG released a report on March 25, 2022,\3\ which found 
that, in some instances, iCOP's use of open-source intelligence 
tools went beyond its law enforcement authority and identified 
areas for improvement in iCOP's policies and procedures. The 
report explained:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, U.S. 
Postal Inspection Service's Online Analytical Support Activities (Mar. 
25, 2022) (online at www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/document-
library-files/2022/21-191-R22.pdf).

          [C]ertain proactive searches iCOP conducted using an 
        open-source intelligence tool from February to April 
        2021 exceeded the Postal Inspection Service's law 
        enforcement authority. Furthermore, we could not 
        corroborate whether other work analysts completed from 
        October 2018 through June 2021 was legally authorized. 
        The Postal Inspection Service's activities must have an 
        identified connection to the mail, postal crimes, or 
        the security of Postal Service facilities or personnel 
        (postal nexus) prior to commencing. However, the 
        keywords used for iCOP in the proactive searches did 
        not include any terms with a postal nexus. Further, the 
        postal nexus was not documented in 122 requests and 18 
        reports due to a lack of requirements in the program's 
        procedures. These issues occurred because management 
        did not involve the Postal Inspection Service's Office 
        of Counsel in developing iCOP or its procedures.\4\
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    \4\Id.

    Postal Service management expressed disagreement with some 
of the IG's findings and recommendations in the report but 
agreed to undertake remedial measures to address the Inspector 
General's recommendations, including conducting an internal 
review of the program's activities and procedures.\5\
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    \5\Id.
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    Given that the Committee has already been pursuing 
effective bipartisan oversight to address concern about iCOP 
and that this resolution of inquiry is highly partisan, 
misleading, and unlikely to yield any useful information, the 
Committee recommends not considering this resolution further.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    H. Res. 1479 directs the President to transmit certain 
documents in his possession to the House of Representatives 
relating to the surveillance or monitoring of pro-gun, pro-
life, or conservative groups under iCOP, operated by USPIS.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    H. Res. 1479 was introduced on November 16, 2022, by 
Representative Andrew Clyde. The resolution was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Reform.

                        COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

    On December 6, 2022, the Committee met in open session and, 
with a quorum being present, considered H. Res. 1479. The 
resolution was ordered reported unfavorably, as amended, on 
December 6, 2022.

                            ROLL CALL VOTES

    There was one roll call vote during consideration of H. 
Res. 1479. Chairwoman Maloney's amendment in the nature of a 
substitute was agreed to by voice vote. H. Res. 1479 was 
ordered unfavorably reported to the House on a roll call vote 
of 23 to 18.

	[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                       EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS

    During Committee consideration of the bill, Chairwoman 
Maloney offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute that 
did not make substantive changes to the legislation.

                   LIST OF RELATED COMMITTEE HEARINGS

    The Committee did not hold any hearings on this resolution.

  STATEMENT OF OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause 
(2)(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee's oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the Background and Need for 
Legislation section above.

         STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the performance goals or 
objectives of this resolution are to seek documents from the 
Executive Office of the President concerning the iCOP program 
of USPIS.

              APPLICATION OF LAW TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104-1 requires a 
description of the application of this resolution to the 
legislative branch where the bill relates to the terms and 
conditions of employment or access to public services and 
accommodations. This bill does not relate to employment or 
access to public services and accommodations in the legislative 
branch.

                    DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS

    In accordance with clause 2(c)(5) of rule XIII no provision 
of this resolution establishes or reauthorizes a program of the 
federal government known to be duplicative of another federal 
program, a program that was included in any report from the 
Government Accountability Office to Congress pursuant to 
section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program related to a 
program identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal 
Domestic Assistance.

                  DISCLOSURE OF DIRECTED RULE MAKINGS

    This resolution does not direct the completion of any 
specific rule makings within the meaning of section 551 of 
title 5, U.S.C.

                     FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT

    The Committee finds that this legislation does not direct 
the establishment of advisory committees within the definition 
of Section 5(b) of the appendix to title 5, U.S.C.

                      UNFUNDED MANDATES STATEMENT

    The Committee finds that H. Res 1479 does not contain any 
unfunded mandates.

                         EARMARK IDENTIFICATION

    This resolution does not include any congressional 
earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as 
defined in clause 9 of rule XXI of the House of 
Representatives.

                           COMMITTEE ESTIMATE

    The Committee finds that H. Res. 1479 would not affect 
direct spending.

   new budget authority and congressional budget office cost estimate

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the House of 
Representatives, the Congressional Budget Office will not 
produce a cost estimate as the resolution does not have the 
force of law.

         CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    The resolution makes no change to existing law.

                             MINORITY VIEWS

    Committee Republicans support House Resolution 1479. House 
Republicans are seeking more information on whether the United 
States Postal Inspection Service's (USPIS) Internet Covert 
Operations Program (iCOP) inappropriately and specifically 
targeted Americans for advocating 2nd Amendment, pro-life, or 
other conservative viewpoints, and if such activity was 
coordinated with the President or other federal agencies.

I. CONDUCTING OVERSIGHT OVER THE U.S. POSTAL INSPECTION SERVICE SOCIAL 
   MEDIA MONITORING ACTIVITIES IS A PRIORITY OF THE HOUSE OVERSIGHT 
                               COMMITTEE

    In April 2021, Americans--and Members of Congress--were 
alarmed by news reports claiming the Postal Service was 
monitoring their social media activity.\1\ In a bipartisan 
briefing to Committee staff in April 2021, the U.S. Postal 
Inspection Service (USPIS) explained that they did monitor 
social media as part of their Internet Covert Operations 
Program (iCOP). The purpose was to identify potential areas of 
social unrest or violence--such as the Black Lives Matter riots 
in the spring and summer of 2021--in order to protect postal 
workers and property. USPIS also used the program to identify 
threats against the life of Postmaster General DeJoy resulting 
from the inflamed and baseless rhetoric of Democrats who 
accused him of trying to steal the 2020 election by upending 
postal operations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Natalie O'Neill, USPS admits to spying on Americans' social 
media posts, NEW YORK POST (Apr. 28, 2021). See also, Jana Winter, The 
Postal Service is running a `covert operations program' that monitors 
Americans' social media posts. YAHOONEWS (Apr. 21, 2021).
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    Concerns about iCOP have arisen again due to recent reports 
the program was used to specifically target conservative groups 
and events, such as 2nd Amendment rallies and pro-life 
marches.\2\ USPIS is only authorized to conduct activities 
directly related to the mail or postal employees and property. 
An inspector general report requested by Ranking Member Comer 
and Chairwoman Maloney in 2021 found that the iCOP program 
exceeded that authority in some cases.\3\
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    \2\Ryan Lovelace, Postal Service surveilled protesters with pro-
gun, anti-Biden agendas, WASHINGTON TIMES (Sep. 22, 2022).
    \3\Letter from Hon. Carolyn Maloney, Chairwoman, and Hon. James 
Comer, Ranking Member, H. Comm. on Oversight & Reform, to Hon. Tammy 
Whitcomb, Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service (May 25, 2021). See 
also, Audit Report, U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Online Analytical 
Support Activities, March 25, 2022 (Report Number 21-191-R22).
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    While Committee Republicans appreciate the need to protect 
postal workers and property, it is also important to both 
maintain public confidence in the Postal Service and protect 
the civil liberties of all Americans. The U.S. House must 
determine whether particular groups were targeted over others. 
The documents covered by this resolution of inquiry will help 
determine if this was the case or not.

                             II. CONCLUSION

    Committee Republicans support H. Res. 1479 which would help 
the U.S. House of Representative conduct necessary oversight 
over the United States Postal Inspection Service's (USPIS) 
Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP). It is important to 
know whether the USPIS is, in fact, specifically targeting 
conservative groups, and the documents covered by this 
resolution of inquiry will help determine whether or not this 
is the case.
                                   James Comer,
                                           Ranking Member, Committee on 
                                               Oversight and Reform.

                                  [all]