Dems vow response to DOJ charges against New Jersey Rep. McIver

WASHINGTON (CN) — House Democrats on Tuesday pledged to support a New Jersey congresswoman who the Justice Department charged with assault this week after an altercation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers outside a detention facility.

But party leadership offered few details about how Democrats might respond to the “trumped-up” charges against Representative LaMonica McIver and framed the move as an effort to distract Capitol Hill from Republicans’ ongoing negotiations on sweeping budget legislation.

Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba on Monday unveiled the charges against McIver, who she said in a statement “assaulted, impede and interfered with law enforcement” during a visit to ICE’s Delaney Hall detention facility earlier this month. The altercation, which saw members of Congress and other lawmakers pushing past ICE agents to enter the compound, initially resulted in the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

Habba said Monday that the Justice Department was dropping trespassing charges against Baraka but would instead move forward with a case against McIver. Video footage from outside Delaney Hall appears to show McIver push back against officers who intervened as she and other lawmakers entered the facility.

Members of Congress are legally allowed to tour federal facilities for oversight purposes, and Democrats including McIver have held that they were at Delaney Hall to examine the treatment of migrants held there. It’s rare for lawmakers to be charged with crimes other than fraud or corruption.

In her statement announcing the charges, Habba said that congressional oversight was an “important constitutional function” and that she supported lawmakers’ right to conduct it. “However, that is not at issue in this case,” she added.

House Democrats are furious, accusing the Justice Department and the Donald Trump administration of sidestepping congressional oversight authority and undertaking a political revenge mission against McIver.

“Let’s be clear: She did not do anything wrong,” California Representative Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters during a news conference Tuesday morning. “She was doing her job as a member of Congress. Anybody saying otherwise is telling a lie.”

But as far as what Democrats would do to fight back against charges he called “ridiculous,” Aguilar did not make any firm commitments. He said party leaders would “support and uplift” McIver and would have more to say “in the coming days.”

Asked whether Democrats could take steps to block Habba’s confirmation as New Jersey’s permanent U.S. attorney should she be nominated, Aguilar largely deferred to the Senate, which is responsible for such tasks. But he noted that the former Trump attorney was “doing everything she can in her own right” to sabotage a potential nomination.

“Clearly Donald Trump is very comfortable appointing people who can’t get confirmed to those positions,” said Aguilar, citing Ed Martin, the president’s ill-fated nominee for D.C.’s U.S. attorney slot.

And the congressman responded to questions about the video from the Delaney Hall scuffle, which appeared to show McIver push back on law enforcement officers, arguing that it was the agents themselves who were attempting to “impede” congressional oversight. He pointed out that the lawmakers were allowed to continue their tour of the facility even after the clash.

“Why would they allow three representatives to spend an hour on a tour after this if they felt that there was something done that was wrong and untoward?” Aguilar asked. “Why on earth would they open up the gates and say, ‘come on in, we’d like to give you your tour now?’”

Meanwhile, the California representative sought to reframe the charges against McIver around Republicans’ ongoing budget negotiations, suggesting they were a “distraction” from proposed budget reconciliation measures that Democrats say will include cuts to Medicaid and federal nutrition assistance programs.

“It’s not lost on any of us, the timing of this decision,” Aguilar told reporters. “They would like to distract from the dark-of-night attack on health care and supplemental nutrition.”

Republican leadership has offered little on the record about the charges against McIver. House Speaker Mike Johnson abruptly ended a news conference with reporters Tuesday morning, leaving without taking any questions.

The top House Republican, who had just come from a GOP conference meeting with Trump, reasoned that “we’ve already done a ton of media” and urged reporters to “hold the questions” so Republican leaders could continue work on budget legislation.

Johnson did not respond to a torrent of shouted questions from reporters as he left.

In a statement issued Monday night, Tennessee Representative Mark Green said he fully supported the move to charge McIver.

“Like most Americans, I am so tired of seeing those on the left constantly get away with their lawless, criminal behavior,” said Green, who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security. McIver also sits on the committee.

Green added that he would work with the homeland security panel to hold the New Jersey Democrat accountable. “We need to sent a clear message to would-be lawbreakers around this country — under this administration, no matter how privileged you are, you will be subject to the rule of law.”

McIver has said that the Justice Department mischaracterized her actions earlier this month, writing in a statement Monday that the charges were “purely political” and designed to criminalize legitimate congressional oversight.

“This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right,” she wrote.

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