President Biden is planning to add a domestic terrorism office to the White House National Security Council in response to the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, part of a multipronged plan to address violent extremism that will also investigate social media’s role.
The move places the new team just two steps from the commander in chief, below the national security adviser. It signals that Biden is concerned that former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and antics in office may have radicalized a large segment of his tens of millions of supporters.
“As a part of this, the NSC will undertake a policy review effort to determine how the government can share information better about this threat, support efforts to prevent radicalization, disrupt violent extremist networks, and more,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a Friday briefing.
Biden has tapped Joshua Geltzer, a former assistant attorney general for national security at the Justice Department, to spearhead the effort, which Psaki characterized as an “NSC capability.”
The unit will be charged with “coordinating relevant parts of the federal government to enhance and accelerate efforts to address [domestic violent extremism].”
It will also focus on addressing evolving threats, radicalization, the role of social media, opportunities to improve information sharing, [and] operational responses,” she said.
“The rise of domestic violent extremism is a serious and growing national security threat,” she said, adding that the administration would “confront this threat with the necessary resources and resolve. … We’re committed to developing policies and strategies based on facts, on objective and rigorous analysis, and on our respect for constitutionally protected free speech and political activities.”
Biden will issue a directive to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to complete a comprehensive threat assessment coordinated with federal agencies on Friday.
The president and other officials, including Republicans and Democrats, have called the violent insurrection “domestic terrorism.”
Geltzer, a former Obama administration official, testified before two House Oversight subcommittees about a domestic “transnational terrorist threat” in 2019. “White supremacists are emulating” the recruitment efforts of “jihadists like ISIS,” he said at the time.
Conservative author and commentator Candace Owens, a staunch Trump supporter, also testified during the hearings.
