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.