Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee called on their Republican counterparts to hold a hearing with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, saying she must be held to account for the treatment of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).
Noem’s security forcibly removed Padilla after he interrupted her press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday. He identified himself and tried to ask a question as he was pushed out of the room, onto the ground and handcuffed.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), joined by the other Democrats on the panel, said Padilla’s effort to question Noem was inspired by “an abysmal record of responding to inquiries and document requests from Capitol Hill.”
“Senator Padilla was doing his job when he attempted to communicate their outrage to Secretary Noem and ask questions about the administration’s brazen actions in the State,” he wrote, describing Padilla’s removal as “a mortifying display for the Department and for the country.”
Trump administration officials have said the security officers acted appropriately in removing someone they didn’t recognize from the press conference.
But Padilla was escorted to the event by federal security and used his name and title when interjecting.
“Secretary Noem was present and aware of what was happening and at no point attempted to intervene. She later gave the excuse that no one in the room recognized the Senator, which we know is not true,” wrote Thompson, the top Democrat on the panel.
“If it was true that neither the Secretary nor anyone who works for her was able to identify one of the two Senators of a State in which her Department is executing widespread immigration raids, she should take responsibility and apologize for the fact their ignorance resulted in the Senator being treated as a criminal. Instead, the Secretary has been slandering the Senator, falsely suggesting that he never identified himself and that he lunged at her. Video footage of the incident demonstrates both accusations to be patently false.”
The letter was addressed to Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.), who announced this week he plans to resign from Congress to pursue an opportunity in the private sector.
Thompson asked Green to “summon the Secretary of Homeland Security to testify about the egregious treatment of Senator Alex Padilla.”
Neither Green nor Noem’s office immediately responded to request for comment.
Noem did meet with Padilla shortly after the incident.
“I think everyone would agree that wasn’t appropriate,” she said during the press conference.
“When I leave here I’ll find him and visit and find out really what his concerns were. I think everybody in America would agree that that wasn’t appropriate, that if you wanted to have a civil discussion, especially as a leader, a public official, that you would reach out and try to have a conversation,” she said.
Padilla has said his treatment raises questions about what happens off camera.
“I will say this: If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, I can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country,” he said in a press conference after meeting with Noem.
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