Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Socialist from New York, is once again portraying herself as a victim of a potential DOJ probe, following her controversial involvement in an immigration webinar.
AOC revealed that the Trump administration’s Department of Justice has yet to answer her requests about whether she is under federal investigation. The matter pertains to a gathering in February where Ocasio-Cortez seemingly adhered to the law by offering advice that some claim encouraged illegal immigrants to evade ICE enforcement.
“I’ve asked them, they haven’t responded to me,” Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News. “But you know, I was once again fully using the First Amendment to inform people of their constitutional rights. They say a lot of things, but I’ve written a formal letter, and they won’t respond.”
When asked about the potential fallout, she didn’t hold back. She claimed that detaining an elected official “without any actual grounds,” she said, would represent a “tremendous sea change and escalation in what this administration is willing to do to bend laws, norms, et cetera, and how a normal functioning democracy works.”
“I sure hope that for all the saber-rattling that this administration is doing, that they really think about the global consequences of what it means for the United States,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
The statements come as there is growing suspicion that Ocasio-Cortez may face legal inquiry from the DOJ following public requests by Trump-appointed border czar Tom Homan for a probe into her activities.
The congresswoman organized a “Know Your Rights” webinar earlier this year, in which lawyers advised illegal immigrants on how to respond to interactions with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities.
The internet forum, held in both English and Spanish, provided legal advice and distributed papers, including one declaring that immigrants “do not have to open the door” for ICE officials unless they had a judge-signed warrant.
Ocasio-Cortez’s office also supplied information on how to receive pro bono legal assistance and urged undocumented people to sign privacy release forms, which would allow her office to interfere in deportation proceedings.
Ocasio-Cortez has forcefully denied any allegations that her actions were inappropriate, labeling the prospect of a federal inquiry “politically motivated.”
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, the lawmaker stated that the DOJ was succumbing to political pressure from the Trump administration.
“I write to request clarity on whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) has yielded to political pressure and attempts to weaponize the agency against elected officials whose speech they disagree with,” she wrote. “Over the past two weeks, ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan has gone on multiple forums threatening political prosecution against me, citing resources I distributed informing my constituents and the American public of their constitutional and legal rights.”
Ocasio-Cortez has accused Homan of seeking to “intimidate” her through DOJ channels, calling his campaign a flagrant violation of her First Amendment rights.
Homan, for his part, has not backed down. During an appearance on The Ingraham Angle at the time, he acknowledged that he contacted Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to raise the problem.
“I sent an email today to the Deputy Attorney General. At what level is that impediment? I’m not an attorney, I’m not a prosecutor. Is that impeding our law enforcement efforts?” he said.
Homan added, “So maybe AOC is going to be in trouble now, but I need the DOJ to opine on that. Because impediment is impediment in my opinion.”
This latest dispute is part of a long-running feud between Ocasio-Cortez and Homan, which began during the early Trump years when AOC became one of the most prominent supporters of eliminating ICE.