Latest news with #ClayHiggins
Fox News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
House to vote on censuring Dem rep charged in ICE facility incident
A House Republican put forward a resolution calling for a vote to censure the New Jersey Democrat who was federally indicted for allegedly obstructing Homeland Security agents at an immigration facility in May. The measure from Clay Higgins of Louisiana states that Rep. LaMonica McIver's "continued service on the Committee on Homeland Security, which is charged with oversight of Federal immigration enforcement and other national security matters, would represent a significant conflict of interest" and that she should be removed from that committee as well. "Clay Higgins is a bigot who wants to be back in the news," McIver told Axios in a statement provided by a spokesperson. "This resolution aims to kick me off the committee that presides over the Department of Homeland Security and shame me for doing the oversight work that is my job," she reportedly added. "Good luck, Clay." The resolution mentions how McIver was hit with a "three-count indictment by a Federal grand jury for assaulting, resisting, impeding, and interfering with Federal officers" during the May 9 incident at the Delaney Hall Federal Immigration Facility in Newark, N.J. It states that "clause 1 of rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives provides, ''A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House shall behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House'" and that "such actions of a Member of the House of Representatives do not reflect creditably on the House." During the incident, McIver and two other members of Congress were conducting a congressional oversight visit that coincided with an immigration protest, according to a Justice Department press release. After Newark Mayor Ras Baraka entered the facility's secured area, federal agents warned him to leave. However, when officers tried to arrest Baraka, McIver allegedly blocked them, putting her arms around the mayor, and "slammed her forearm" into one officer while grabbing another. After pleading not guilty during a court appearance last month, McIver said "At the end of the day this is all about political intimidation. "The Trump administration and his colleagues or cronies, or whatever you want to call them, have weaponized the federal government. They weaponized the Department of Justice and anybody who stands up to them, anyone who criticizes them, anyone who fights back against them finds themselves in these hairs that we are in today," she added. McIver is now headed for trial on Nov. 10. Higgins told Axios that he waited until just before the House of Representatives' 5-week recess to see if Democrats would remove McIver from her committee assignment. House Republicans' rules require indicted members to give up all their committee assignments, while Democrats only require those individuals to surrender committee leadership positions, according to Axios. McIver "should not be participating on the committee that has oversight and voting authority over the branch of federal government that she's been indicted for committing crimes against," Higgins told the outlet.
BreakingNews.ie
5 days ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Congressional committee votes to issue subpoena for Jeffrey Epstein files
A subcommittee in the US House of Representatives has voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for files in the sex-trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Three Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight voted with Democrats for the measure, sending it through on an 8-2 vote. Republican subcommittee chairman Clay Higgins said work to draft the subpoena was beginning. Advertisement Earlier on Wednesday, a judge had rejected the Justice Department's request to unseal transcripts from grand jury investigations into Epstein years ago in Florida, saying the request did not meet any of the extraordinary exceptions under federal law that could make them public. A similar records request is still pending in New York. President Donald Trump (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP) News reports on Wednesday said the department told Donald Trump in May that his name was among high-profile people mentioned in government files about Epstein, though the mention does not imply wrongdoing. Files already released by the government included a 2016 deposition in which an accuser recounted spending several hours with Epstein at Mr Trump's Atlantic City casino, but did not say if she met Mr Trump and did not accuse him of any wrongdoing. The president has also said he once thought Epstein was a 'terrific guy' but that they later had a falling out. Advertisement White House spokesperson Steven Cheung on Wednesday said the reports were 'nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media'. The subcommittee vote came hours before the House was scheduled to end its July work session and leave Washington for a month-long break. House Speaker Mike Johnson has adjourned major business in the House ahead of Congress's August recess to avoid contentious votes on Epstein-related matters as Mr Trump's administration faces intense public pressure to release more information about the sexual predator.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Congressional committee votes to issue subpoena for Jeffrey Epstein files
A subcommittee in the US House of Representatives has voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for files in the sex-trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Three Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight voted with Democrats for the measure, sending it through on an 8-2 vote. Republican subcommittee chairman Clay Higgins said work to draft the subpoena was beginning. Earlier on Wednesday, a judge had rejected the Justice Department's request to unseal transcripts from grand jury investigations into Epstein years ago in Florida, saying the request did not meet any of the extraordinary exceptions under federal law that could make them public. A similar records request is still pending in New York. News reports on Wednesday said the department told Donald Trump in May that his name was among high-profile people mentioned in government files about Epstein, though the mention does not imply wrongdoing. Files already released by the government included a 2016 deposition in which an accuser recounted spending several hours with Epstein at Mr Trump's Atlantic City casino, but did not say if she met Mr Trump and did not accuse him of any wrongdoing. The president has also said he once thought Epstein was a 'terrific guy' but that they later had a falling out. White House spokesperson Steven Cheung on Wednesday said the reports were 'nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media'. The subcommittee vote came hours before the House was scheduled to end its July work session and leave Washington for a month-long break. House Speaker Mike Johnson has adjourned major business in the House ahead of Congress's August recess to avoid contentious votes on Epstein-related matters as Mr Trump's administration faces intense public pressure to release more information about the sexual predator.
Toronto Star
5 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
House GOP seeks to censure Democrat McIver over New Jersey detention center incident
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House Republican proposed a resolution Wednesday to censure Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver over an incident with law enforcement during a congressional oversight visit to a new immigration detention facility in her home state of New Jersey. Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana pushed forward the measure, which also calls for removing McIver from her seat on the Homeland Security Committee, as the House was preparing to recess for the August break. As a privileged resolution, it can be considered for swift action as soon as lawmakers return in September.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
House GOP seeks to censure Democrat McIver over New Jersey detention center incident
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House Republican proposed a resolution Wednesday to censure Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver over an incident with law enforcement during a congressional oversight visit to a new immigration detention facility in her home state of New Jersey. Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana pushed forward the measure, which also calls for removing McIver from her seat on the Homeland Security Committee, as the House was preparing to recess for the August break. As a privileged resolution, it can be considered for swift action as soon as lawmakers return in September. Higgins read from the resolution on the House floor, arguing that McIver violated the chamber rules that require a member 'to behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.' He said her continued service on the Homeland Security Committee 'would represent a significant conflict of interest.' The GOP action comes as House Republicans in the majority have been quick to punish Democratic lawmakers for transgressions large and small — and in this situation, before McIver's case has played out in court. She has pleaded not guilty to charges brought by interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, a Republican appointed by President Donald Trump, stemming from the May 9 incident. A trial date has been set for November. The congresswoman has vowed not to be intimidated by the legal and political actions against her. 'Clay Higgins is a bigot who wants to be back in the news,' McIver said in a statement. She pointed to the way House Republicans are 'running home to hide,' having recessed for August break a day early. 'This resolution aims to kick me off the committee that presides over the Department of Homeland Security and shame me for doing the oversight work that is my job. Good luck, Clay,' she said. Members of Congress have been conducting oversight of the federal detention centers that are being stood up by the Trump administration across the nation as part of the president's mass deportation agenda. Lawmakers have been assessing how best to conduct such work amid blowback by the Trump administration. At the time, McIver, a new lawmaker first elected in 2024, was making the visit with other House Democrats and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at the privately owned 1,000-bed facility that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using as a detention center. McIver was indicted on three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials. Two of the counts carry a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison. The third is a misdemeanor with a maximum punishment of one year in prison. Baraka was also arrested on a trespassing charge that was later dropped and is suing Habba over what he called a malicious prosecution. A nearly two-minute video clip released by the Department of Homeland Security shows McIver at the facility inside a chain-link fence just before Baraka's arrest on other side of the barrier, where other people were protesting. The video shows McIver in a tightly packed group of people and officers. At one point her left elbow and then her right elbow push into an officer wearing a dark face covering and an olive green uniform emblazoned with the word 'Police.' It is not clear from police bodycam video if the contact was intentional, incidental or the result of jostling in the chaotic scene. The prospect of a House censure used to be rare, with fewer than 30, but has become more frequent in recent years. ___ Associated Press writer Matt Brown contributed to this report.
