Draft:Stephanie Marie Dobitsch

Stephanie Marie Dobitsch (born June 18, 1985) is an American civil servant and career intelligence officer. Most of her professional experience has focused on the Middle East and North Africa with a focus on counterterrorism issues.

Background and Education
Dobitsch is originally from Hamlin, PA, and graduated from Bishop O'Hara High School in Dunmore, PA in 2003. She graduated from the University of Scranton with a Bachelor's Degree in Middle Easter Studies: Arabic, International Studies.

Early Career
Dobitsch served as a military intelligence specialist in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. She started her civilian federal government career with the Defense Intelligence Agency and later served as a Branch Chief in the National Counterterrorism Center under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. She subsequently served as Vice President Michael Pence's special adviser for the Middle East and North Africa.

Department of Homeland Security
Dobitsch joined DHS' Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) in 2019 as the Mission Manager of the Counterterrorism Mission Center. In May 2020, then-Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis (USIA) David Glawe unexpectedly retired elevating his deputy, Brian J. Murphy to serve as the Acting USIA. Murphy asked Dobitsch to serve as the Acting-Deputy Undersecretary for Intelligence Enterprise Operations (DUSIEO). In this position, Dobitsch lead most of I&A's intelligence functions, to include analysis and collection operations, leading eight separate mission centers. On 31 July, 2020, Acting-Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf removed Murphy from his position due to improper collection activities during the Portland riots of the summer of 2020. In January 2021, DHS formally appointed Dobitsch as DUSIEO shortly after the insurrection at the U.S. Capital on January 6, 2021.

In early 2023, DHS reorganized the structure of I&A. Newly appointed USIA Kenneth L. Wainstein removed all collections capabilities and duties from Dobitsch's responsibilities and retitled her position as the Deputy Undersecretary for Analysis (DUS-A). This action reduced her span of control and influence within I&A decreasing the prominence of her position. In late October 2023, Wainstein announced Dobitsch's departure from I&A for a new position with the Federal Emergency Management Agency where she would serve as the Assistant Administrator, National Preparedness Directorate.

2020 Riots in Portland, Oregon
Protests erupted across the United States following the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. As a result, Federal law enforcement deployed to select cities to assist local authorities. In July 2020, Acting-USIA Murphy deployed a contingent of analysts to Portland, Oregon, in support of state and local law enforcement. On July 22, U.S. Representative Adam Schiff sent a letter to Acting-USIA Murphy requesting information about media reports regarding DHS "engaging in unprecedented, 'expanded' intelligence and related activities – in support of a policy that exceeds the department's historical mission and contrary to constitutionally protected rights of speech, assembly, and protest." On July 30, a second letter, this time from Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, inquired about federal surveillance activities after The Washington Post acquired a DHS Open Source Intelligence Report (OSIR) revealing that I&A had access to and scrutinized social media app messages posted by local protesters. On July 31, Acting-Secretary Wolf removed Murphy from his position.

During the months prior to the Portland riots, Glawe and Murphy implemented policy changes intended to streamline the process to produce and review finished intelligence and raw intelligence reporting. These changes made the USIA the arbiter of all disputes and legal disputes raised by the I&A Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) office; a duty previously reserved for the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security. These changes granted the DUSIEO the authority "to determine when a crisis or exigent circumstances exist and may adopt expedited production, review, approval, ad dissemination processes for I&A Finished Intelligence Products." The new policies allowed the DUSIEO to restrict the time allowed for the Oversight Offices to review products and reports prior to dissemination, and provide a copy to Oversight after dissemination if necessary. This effectively removed all legal oversight of I&A production and reporting efforts setting the stage for potential Questionable Intelligence Activities. In late June, Dobitsch disseminated a "job aid" to I&A collectors to supplement existing guidance on I&A's collection and reporting activities.

On July 20, the editor-in-chief of the national security blog Lawfare published a leaked copy of Dobitsch's job aid on his social media account. On July 24, the editor published a leaked email from Dobitsch to I&A staff discussing recent leaks and the need to guard against them. Due to I&A's organizational structure, the analysts that published the OSIRs addressing these leaks identifying the journalists served under Dobitsch's responsibility and direction.

Dobitsch denied providing direction to collectors and analysts during the events despite being the third in the line of I&A leadership. She supported her denial claiming she "didn't feel comfortable at the time due to having less than nine months of experience in DHS at the time" though she "obviously oversaw the offices that were responsible for implementing" the guidance. She further stated that she didn't believe she "had the knowledge, experience, or the background to make those determinations at the time." When asked about her role in advising the guidance of disseminating OSIRs, Dobitsch responded saying "I was very new in the position, and so I had no visibility."

Several narratives refute Dobitsch's claim of no involvement. These counter-claims describe the extent of Dobitsch's responsibility in the controversy surrounding I&A's activities during the Portland events. An October 2020 article published in The Nation reported that two former intelligence officials stated Dobitsch played a central role in the Portland operation. Dobitsch's immediate supervisor, the second highest official in I&A, refuted her claims reporting "she was part of the decisions we were making." A Congressional committee member reported "DHS has been slow in making her [Dobitsch] available despite the committee making it clear she is a priority witness." A former senior I&A intelligence officer alleged "it was her that started taking the OSIRs and memos and directing them to be changed to suit Trump's narrative." Finally, a former intelligence official revealed that some officers began "taking copious notes on the orders they were given in anticipation of subpoenas from Congress or investigations by the inspector general." The official alleged Dobitsch "generally avoided taking notes or otherwise memorializing activities."

January 6, 2021 Insurrection at the U.S. Capital
Dobitsch remained in the position of Acting-DUSIEO during the events of the January 6 United States Capitol attack. She testified before members of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6, 2021, Attack on the U.S. Capital on May 5, 2022. Committee members asked Dobitsch why I&A had not produced finished intelligence about the potential for violence prior to the attack. She responded saying she did not think a product would have been sufficient "because most on the intelligence that [I&A] occurred primarily in the week running up to January 6." Dobitsch reported she directed her staff to compare a previously published product analyzing indicators for violence for Portland to the indicators they could observe for Washington, DC, ahead of January 6. She noted "most of the indicators we had identified for Portland had been observed." When pressed for why she did not replicate the Portland product for DC, Dobitsch cited a lack of reporting and production time as the reason did not produce a finished product to warn law enforcement. Dobitsch did not elaborate how I&A observed the reported indicators for DC despite the claimed lack of documented reporting. In a March 2022 report written by the DHS Inspector General report Dobitsch added that she "tasked CTMC with this assignment to ensure it was prepared to brief leadership about the threats, rather than to disseminate a product."

Personal
Dobitsch married Michael Richards, a regional operations officer of a Northern Virgina concrete company in 2012.