Brian Murphy (intelligence official)

Brian Murphy was the acting United States Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis from May 10, 2020 until August 2, 2020.
Career.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Government from the College of William & Mary, and a Master’s degree in Islamic studies from Columbia University. He is currently a doctoral student at Georgetown University. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1994 to 1998 as an infantry officer. Murphy began his FBI career in 1998 and worked there for 20 years, culminating in a position responsible for the FBI’s national level counterterrorism programs. As a junior special agent assigned to the FBI's New York Field Office his work in counterterrorism were noted in an Esquire article called "Brian Murphy V. The Bad Guys" Murphy was also a leading counterterrorism investigator who focused on illicit financing. He led an FBI investigation called Blackbear. The Blackbear illicit counterterrorism case was among the first of its kind in the post 9-11 environment. 
Murphy took a leave of absence from the FBI and was called back to active duty as a Marine Officer. As an infantry officer, Murphy served with a Marine reserve infantry battalion 2/24 in Iraq in 2004. He later moved to DHS as the Principal Deputy for Intelligence and Analysis, and in May 2020 became Acting Under Secretary for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis. He was temporary detailed from that position two months later after it was alleged his office had compiled dossiers of public information about journalists who were reporting on the George Floyd protests.
Murphy has appeared as an expert witness on both international and domestic terrorism.
Whistleblower complaint.
Murphy filed a whistleblower complaint in September 2020 alleging episodes of misconduct by top DHS officials. Murphy asserted that DHS secretary Chad Wolf and his deputy Ken Cuccinelli instructed him “to modify intelligence assessments to ensure they matched up with the public comments by President Trump on the subject of ANTIFA and 'anarchist' groups” and to downplay the threat posed by white supremacists. Murphy stated he declined to comply. 
Murphy also claimed Wolf told him to "cease providing intelligence assessments on the threat of Russian interference in the US, and instead start reporting on interference activities by China and Iran.” Murphy said Wolf told him this directive came from White House national security advisor Robert O'Brien.
He had also submitted prior complaints. In early 2020, he had submitted six internal complaints to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence about the way the intelligence program was addressing Russian disinformation. He had also filed two Office of the Inspector General reports about “attempted censorship of intelligence analysis.”
Days before his September 2020 complaint, "ABC News" reported that DHS had withheld the July release of an intelligence bulletin to law enforcement that warned of Russian efforts to promote “allegations about the poor mental health” of Joe Biden. DHS chief of staff John Gountanis halted the release pending review by secretary Wolf. The bulletin stated that analysts had “high confidence” of the Russian efforts, which were similar to efforts by Trump and his campaign to depict Biden as mentally unfit. A DHS spokesperson said the bulletin was “delayed” because it did not meet the department’s standards. The bulletin had not been released as of the date of the ABC News report. Murphy asserted in his complaint that Wolf told him “the intelligence notification should be ‘held’ because it ‘made the President look bad.’”
DHS flatly denied the allegations.They said they expect that any internal investigation by the DHS inspector general will reveal no retaliatory action against Murphy. One of the initial counter claims by then Acting Secretary Chad Wolf and other senior DHS officials was Murphy's organization had potentially violated administrative procedures. On April 21, 2021, the DHS Office of Inspector General issued a finding indicating DHS had the followed all requisite authorities to carry its mission, thus contradicting Wolf's claim. 
Much of what Murphy alleged in his complaint has been proven accurate by press accounts or reports issued by other government agencies. For example, Murphy claims about reporting on China and Iran over Russian interference was articulated in the March 2021 Office of Director of National Intelligence's Election 2020 Intelligence Community Assessment.
Murphy also alleged the threat from right wing domestic extremists was substantial, but he received pressure not to reveal the results. On January 6, 2021 the Capitol was overrun by extremists who were part of a right wing mob. Many reporters noted Murphy's intelligence predictions and January 6 incident.