DOJ politicization escalates with bogus arrest of congresswoman
Alina Habba strikes again.
🏛️ ⚖️ 👩🏻⚖️ With corporate outlets obeying in advance, supporting independent political media is more important right now than ever. PN is possible thanks to paid subscribers. If you aren’t one already, please click the button below to sign up and support our work. 👩🏻⚖️ ⚖️ 🏛️
On the same day the government agreed to pay $5 million to the family of January 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt, the Justice Department announced it was charging New Jersey Congresswoman LaMonica McIver with assaulting an ICE agent.
“Representative LaMonica McIver assaulted, impeded, and interfered with law enforcement in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1),” Acting US Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba tweeted. “That conduct cannot be overlooked by the chief federal law enforcement official in the State of New Jersey, and it is my Constitutional obligation to ensure that our federal law enforcement is protected when executing their duties.”
Habba added that she had “persistently made efforts to address these issues without bringing criminal charges and have given Representative McIver every opportunity to come to a resolution, but she has unfortunately declined.” Whatever that means.
Normal prosecutors are not in the business of “addressing issues” through extra-legal remedies. But a normal prosecutor who was serving in an interim capacity and hadn’t even been nominated for Senate confirmation wouldn’t scream out a press release touting herself as “the chief federal law enforcement official in the State of New Jersey,” so YMMV.
Like every other lawyer in Trumpland, Habba is a caricature of incompetence. She came to the president’s attention by making a sexual harassment suit disappear at the president’s New Jersey golf club. But the way she did it was by sidling up to a 21-year-old waitress at the breakfast bar and convincing her to fire her lawyer and then sign away her rights for $15,000 in a wildly illegal settlement agreement.
Habba quickly became Trump’s go-to lawyer, representing him in the civil fraud suit, where he and his company were ordered to disgorge $354 million in ill-gotten gains, and both defamation cases brought by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, where juries found him liable for $88 million in damages. Along the way she made time to sue Hillary Clinton, James Comey, and half of DC on Trump’s behalf, racking up another $1 million in fines and legal fees for filing such a frivolous piece of garbage.
Habba has never been a prosecutor, but now she’s heading up the US Attorney’s Office in New Jersey. And so it fell to her office to handle the fallout from what should have been a routine visit by members of Congress and Mayor Ras Baraka to inspect Delaney Hall, an ICE facility in Newark.
In February, the for-profit prison company GEO Group announced that it had inked a 15-year, $1 billion contract with the Department of Homeland Security to run a 1,000-bed immigrant prison. They anticipated profits of $60 million in year one alone. The facility started housing immigrants almost immediately, despite protests from the City of Newark that the company refused to allow the city to inspect or to secure the necessary occupancy permits.
Delaney Hall immediately became a magnet for protesters, with Mayor Baraka showing up multiple times and being refused entry. On May 9, he was accompanied by Rep. McIver, as well as Reps. Rob Menendez Jr. and Bonnie Watson Coleman. Members of Congress are entitled to inspect federal facilities as part of their oversight responsibility, and so the representatives were allowed in. Baraka was also admitted, but then the guard asked him to leave, because he had no statutory right of access.
A note from Aaron: Working with brilliant contributors like Liz takes resources. If you aren’t already a paid subscriber, please sign up to support our work.
It’s not entirely clear from the publicly released footage what happened next, and the government has consistently lied about it.
While members of Congress were touring Delaney Hall, DHS put out a preposterous press release saying that “two members of the US House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility. Representatives Robert Menendez Jr. and Bonnie Watson Coleman and multiple protestors are holed up in a guard shack, the first security check point.” On CNN, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin accused the members of Congress of “body slamming a female ICE officer.”
We do know that while Baraka was in the parking lot outside the facility, ICE agents came out and tried to arrest him. The representatives and members of the crowd formed a human chain around the mayor, and masked ICE agents physically pushed their way through, grabbed Baraka, and dragged him back inside the gate. (Watch below.)
On May 9, the DOJ filed a federal criminal complaint against Baraka alleging that he violated New Jersey’s trespassing law — likely because the federal trespassing charge has a higher intent requirement. Notably, they did not seek an actual indictment, and indeed Habba said yesterday that “after extensive consideration, we have agreed to dismiss Mayor Baraka’s misdemeanor charge of trespass for the sake of moving forward.”
She’s now filed a two-count criminal complaint against Rep. McIver, alleging that the congresswoman assaulted two ICE officials. The complaint consists of a declaration by DHS Special Agent Robert Tansey attesting that the congresswoman “slammed her forearm into the body” of an ICE agent, “forcibly grabbing him,” and “used each of her forearms to forcibly strike” another agent.
But even this sworn declaration contains obvious false statements, clearly disproven by the bodycam footage ICE released to the media. For instance, the complaint alleges:
After numerous warnings to leave, and numerous warnings of potential arrest, the HSI agent announced he was going to place the Mayor under arrest. McIVER interjected, yelling “Hell no! Hell no! Hell no!” The HSI agent ordered the Mayor to put his hands behind his back and displayed his handcuffs. McIVER and other members of Congress surrounded the Mayor and prevented HSI from handcuffing him and taking him into custody.
McIVER initially remained inside the secured area as the Mayor was then moved outside the gate. Once outside, HSI agents again attempted to handcuff the Mayor. At that time, McIVER hurried outside towards the agents and attempted to thwart the arrest as others yelled “circle the Mayor.”
In reality, you can see Mayor Baraka walking out peacefully. He was certainly not “moved outside the gate.” And although the video is heavily edited, you can tell from the timestamp that several minutes elapsed between the mayor’s exit and the agents coming outside to arrest him.
You can also see the masked agents putting their hands on the three representatives, shoving and being shoved in the scrum ICE itself created by escalating a situation that was entirely under control. (Watch below.)
So far, Habba has not taken Rep. McIver’s case to a grand jury, although she certainly could have done so if she thought the case was a slam dunk. A criminal complaint is merely a placeholder, most commonly used to secure an arrest warrant for someone the government has yet to charge. Here, it’s functionally a press release, allowing the Trump administration to milk this thing for several more news cycles as Rep. McIver is forced to make an initial appearance in court and show up for any subsequent proceedings.
Habba now has 30 days to secure a criminal indictment from a grand jury if she actually intends to proceed with the case. Notably, she did not do that with Mayor Baraka.
Habba’s online posturing would appear to violate the Justice Department’s own rules, which say that “DOJ personnel shall not make any statement or disclose any information that reasonably could have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding,” including “statements concerning anticipated evidence or argument in the case.
Here, all parties acknowledge that McIver was visiting the facility in her official capacity, and she will certainly assert congressional immunity under the Speech or Debate Clause. Indeed, Judge Hannah Dugan, the Wisconsin jurist charged with obstructing ICE by allowing a prisoner to exit her courtroom through a side door, immediately moved to dismiss the case on grounds of judicial immunity.
Habba’s comment that “Congressional oversight is an important Constitutional function and one that I fully support. However, that is not at issue in this case,” makes a conclusory statement about the viability of such a defense, making a mockery of the DOJ’s own rules.
It would also appear to violate New Jersey’s Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers, which bar attorneys from offering “any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of a defendant or suspect in a criminal case or proceeding that could result in incarceration” or even “the fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime, unless there is included therein a statement explaining that the charge is merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.” The rules also impose an additional obligation on prosecutors to “refrain from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused.” Whoopsie!
Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress, who loudly insisted that President Trump enjoyed absolute immunity for official acts, are braying to strip all three Democratic representatives of their committee assignments and for Rep. McIver’s imprisonment.
Democrats have vehemently condemned the arrest as the weaponization of the Justice Department against political enemies.
“The criminal charge against Congresswoman LaMonica McIver is extreme, morally bankrupt and lacks any basis in law or fact,” the House Democratic Leadership wrote in a joint statement, adding, “By visiting the detention center in Newark, Rep. McIver and two other Members of Congress were upholding their oath of office. They didn’t assault anyone, but were themselves aggressively mistreated by illegally masked individuals.”
Rep. McIver herself is unbowed.
“The charges against me are purely political — they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,” she said. “This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right."
That’s it for today
We’ll be back with more tomorrow. If you appreciate today’s newsletter, please support our work by signing up. Paid subscribers make Public Notice possible.
Thanks for reading.
Has Habba ever paid the $1 million in sanctions that were imposed against her by Judge Middlebrooks for filing frivolous lawsuits against 31 defendants?
One of the many obsequious people bowing to Trump, those that took the oath to defend the Constitution. Trump admits he is ignorant of that document.