Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), who currently faces criminal charges for attacking and forcibly impeding and interfering with federal law enforcement outside of an ICE detention facility, scolded Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with a personal vendetta during a Homeland Security Committee Hearing on Thursday.
McIver was clearly attempting to get her “boss girl” soundbites to make a campaign video, but she just looked like an idiot. During her time to ask questions, McIver highlighted herself, Representative Grijalva, and Senator Padilla, claiming their “character, integrity, and bodies were attacked” by the Department of Homeland Security, “without evidence and without apology.”
McIver is currently facing a three-count indictment for verbally abusing and physically assaulting federal agents at a detention facility in Newark in May and facing a maximum of 17 years in prison. A Biden-appointed judge recently declined to toss out the charges, The Gateway Pundit reported.
ICE body camera footage shows her attacking law enforcement, screaming, “I touch whoever I want, motherf*cker!” WATCH:
Representative Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) falsely claimed she was pepper-sprayed “in the face” by ICE agents earlier this month, and Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) was physically restrained and removed for aggressively accosting DHS Secretary Kristi Noem while she was giving a briefing on the Los Angeles riots in June.
After her more than three minute monologue, accusing Noem of “breaking the law, lying to the American public, systematically dismantling oversight, fueling bigotry and targeting vulnerable communities” and accusing Republicans of “kiss[ing] this administration’s butt cheeks,” McIver asked Noem, “Is Trump embarrassed by your tenure or is this exactly the kind of God-awful leadership he wants at DHS? Yes or No?”
She then got triggered by Noem attempting to highlight how DHS has allowed oversight visits at facilities and cut her off, demanding she answer a new question: “How can the American people trust your department with you at the helm with this kind of behavior?”
And McIver didn’t even let her answer the question!
McIver fired back, asking, “Do you agree that using DHS resources to target members of Congress is an abuse of power?”
Noem then asked her to repeat herself, and she snapped. “You would have heard me if you stopped talking and listened to my questions,” she said, and Noem shut her down, saying, “You wouldn’t stop talking crazy,” then attempted to answer the question, which triggered McIver again.
“Of course, we’re not going to get any answers,” McIver said before ending the examination.
After the exchange, McIver yielded the rest of her time and sat there with a smug look and arms crossed, thinking that she had totally owned Noem.
Watch the full exchange below:
Transcript below:
McIver: The greatest threat to the homeland right now is a Department of Homeland Security that the American people no longer trust, a department actively undermined by its own Secretary. This is on you, Secretary Noem. Today’s hearing is supposed to be about worldwide threats. But Madam Secretary, under your watch, the threat is coming from inside the building because when DHS, the department charged with keeping Americans safe, is caught breaking the law, lying to the American public, systematically dismantling oversight, fueling bigotry and targeting vulnerable communities, trust is broken.
Let’s start with the basics. How can we trust your department with you at the helm? The American people deserve an answer, even if you spent the past year dodging accountability like it’s your full time job. We need to talk about oversight. Oversight is not optional. It is not a courtesy because you feel like it. It is not something you entertain only when it’s politically convenient to you. Yet, time and time again, Secretary Noem, you have treated congressional oversight as an inconvenience at best and at worst, something to be invaded, ignored, or denied altogether. Republicans on this committee may be willing to hand over their constitutional duty in order to kiss this administration’s butt cheeks. But I am not. I will never. My district is not, and the American people sure aren’t.
While Republicans turn this hearing into a praise fest for your failed tenure community— your failed tenure, communities across America, including mine in New Jersey, are made less safe because DHS, under your leadership has become unproductive and malicious. All of the “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you” that we keep hearing from across the aisle, there’s no thank you from me, and we see the truth that you’re trying to hide. The truth is you are deeply unqualified for the post you hold. This is on full display in the way you treat the people in this body, myself included, who have been elected to serve our communities and keep them safe.
Representative Grijalva, Senator Padilla, myself, and others whose character, integrity and bodies were attacked by your department without evidence and without apology. Far beyond this, far beyond being disrespectful, you have shown a complete disregard for the oversight authority granted to us by law. You have repeatedly shown that you will target whoever you want, whenever you want without accountability. Members of Congress, members of our communities, and even American citizens, as many of my colleagues have continued to point out today. Secretary Noem, that’s not leadership, that’s not democracy, and that is not how this works. Again, this is not just about you. Don’t want you to think this is just a pick on you day. This is about the Trump administration that has turned DHS into a political weapon.
So I’ll ask you this: Is Trump embarrassed by your tenure or is this exactly the kind of God-awful leadership he wants at DHS? Yes or No?
Trending: How a Never Trump “Republican” Billionaire Took Down the Georgia GOP
Noem: Ma’am, we’ve already conducted more oversight visits–
McIver: Um, no. No, no. It’s a yes or no, yes or no— Okay, Secretary Noem, this is my time to talk, not your time to talk. I reclaim my time. I reclaim my time. I reclaim my time. Here, I reclaim my time. Secretary Noem, DHS is breaking the law, hiding information from Congress and shutting out oversight. So, let me ask you, how can the American people trust your department with you at the helm with this kind of behavior?
Noem: The American people absolutely trust this department to keep them safe, and we are showing that every day by the support we get across the country, the amount of people that we’re recruiting to all of our—
McIver: Thank you, Secretary Noem. Do you agree that using DHS resources to target members of Congress is an abuse of power?
Noem: Excuse me, would you say that again?
McIver: You would have heard me if you stopped talking and listened to my questions.
Noem: You wouldn’t stop talking crazy.
McIver: Do you agree that using DHS resources to target members of Congress is an abuse of power?
Noem: We are not doing that. We are out there, enforcing the law, doing our work, and we are allowing oversight—
McIver: Of course, we’re not going to get any answers. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back!
