Democrats Refer Noem To DOJ for Criminal Perjury Investigation

Democrats in the House and Senate have issued a criminal referral to the Justice Department related to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s testimony before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees earlier this month, with lawmakers saying she lied on multiple occasions. In one instance, under questioning from a Republican senator, Ms. Noem claimed that President Trump had signed off on a $220 million television ad campaign — something Mr. Trump denies. Ms. Noem is leaving her post at the end of March after a chaotic tenure that saw a surge of federal immigration officers to blue cities across the country, including Minneapolis, where two Americans were killed. Senator Markwayne Mullin has been nominated to succeed her. Just days before Mr. Trump announced her departure, Ms. Noem was questioned by Senator John Kennedy during testimony before the Judiciary Committee. He made clear that he was not a fan of Ms. Noem running ads which featured her personally. “How do you square that concern with waste, which I share, with the fact you have spent $220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently?” Mr. Kennedy asked. “You’re testifying that President Trump approved this ahead of time?” At first, Ms. Noem dodged the question, saying only that she had had “conversations” with the president about the ads. “No, ma’am,” Mr. Kennedy said, cutting her off. He pressed her again on the question of whether or not Mr. Trump explicitly approved those ads. At that point, Ms. Noem responded, “Yes.” In an interview with Reuters two days later, Mr. Trump said that he had had no such conversation with his Homeland Security secretary. That admission by the president prompted the leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committee to refer Ms. Noem to the DOJ for prosecution. “A number of her statements appear to violate criminal statutes prohibiting perjury and knowingly making false statements to Congress,” Congressman Jamie Raskin and Senator Dick Durbin write. The lawmakers concluded their letter on a pessimistic note, saying that they expected nothing to come of this referral while also warning that the next administration would have the power to prosecute Ms. Noem. “While we have low expectations that you will pursue this matter given your partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice, we note that the statute of limitations for perjury and for knowingly and willfully making false statements to Congress is five years,” Messrs. Raskin and Durbin write. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department confirmed that the “stunt” by Democrats would not be taken seriously. “The DOJ has received the latest political stunt from the Democrats who should instead vote to reopen the Department of Homeland Security,” the office said. They list a number of other incidents in which Ms. Noem allegedly lied, including telling lawmakers that her department and its agencies had never violated court orders, despite judges finding that ICE agents had done so. Ms. Noem also told members of both the House and Senate that DHS does not detain American citizens, which the department has done on multiple occasions in the last year. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democrats Refer Noem To DOJ for Criminal Perjury Investigation

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