At today's House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) questioned DHS Sec. Kristi Noem.
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00:00This time has expired. I now recognize Mr. Swalwell for five minutes of questioning.
00:03Thank you, Madam Secretary. You have an important job. I think you have one of the most important
00:08jobs in the cabinet. Thank you for doing it. I want you to have credibility and be taken seriously
00:16as you do the job. And so I want to put to rest this question about Mr. Garcia in this photo that
00:23the president posted on April 21. Madam Secretary, you agree that the letters MS and the number 13
00:31in Times Roman numeral font, that they are doctored on this photo, right?
00:39Congressman Abrego Garcia. No, no, I'm just asking about this photo. It wasn't based off of tattoos.
00:45It was based off an entire case. And I'll accept that for the purpose of this question. You agree
00:50though that this is doctored. Is that right? The same protocols that are applied to every
00:54I want you to have credibility and I want you to be taken seriously. Is this doctored or is it not
00:58doctored? I am taken quite seriously. Is it doctored or not doctored? The importance that the president
01:03has given me to do my job. I understand. Is it doctored or not doctored? One thing that's important
01:07to remember is that every single time a case is built. Madam Secretary, I have a seven-year-old,
01:11a six-year-old, and a three-year-old. I have a bullshit detector. I'm just asking you,
01:15is this doctored or not doctored? Sir, the protocols in the case built against
01:20Abrego Garcia were exactly the same. Madam Secretary, I don't have any knowledge as to
01:24that photo you're pointing to. Okay. Can you show the photo? Walk with the photo down there.
01:29No, that one. Please take a look at this photo. It was tweeted by the president on April 21. It's
01:35been hanging out there for about a month. So what is your point? My question is the numbers and the
01:40letter MS-13. Could you look at the photo, please? It's right in front of you. Are you saying Abrego
01:44Garcia is not a white reader? No. No, ma'am. He's not a criminal. Ma'am. He's not a human
01:48trafficker. Ma'am, you vouched for Mr. Garcia when your team said, ma'am, you vouched for him when
01:54you said he was mistakenly deported. I didn't vouch for him. I did not say that. He should have been
01:59deported. Absolutely. It's so telling that you won't look at the photo. And we will not be
02:04bringing him back to the photo. Was it doctored or not? In staying here. Can you look to your right
02:08at the photo in front of you? Madam Secretary, can you look to the right at the photo in front of you?
02:13I have seen this photo as you held it behind your head. Thank you. And the letters MS and the
02:18numbers 13, are those doctored or not? Is this your entire testimony today is on a doctored photo? You
02:24don't want to talk about the facts? Okay. The importance of our national security? You acknowledge
02:29it was doctored. Madam Secretary, this is not a hard question. Are those doctored or not? Is that actually
02:37on his hand or not? This is unbelievable to me that you're focused. It's unbelievable to me that
02:42you can't look at the photo and tell the American people. I looked at the photo, but I don't have
02:45any knowledge as to this photo. Okay. So it's been hanging out there for four weeks. You are one of
02:50the chief law enforcement officials in the country. What have you done to investigate whether the
02:55president misrepresented the reason that that person has been detained? Have you done anything to try
03:03and figure out whether that was doctored or not? The mission of the Department of Homeland Security
03:06is to secure our nation and to make sure that we're out there going after those that are the
03:11worst of the worst, the criminals, the bad actors. Abrego Garcia. So the answer is you've done nothing
03:16to correct the president. A member of MS-13, a wife beater and a human trafficker that should never have
03:23been in this country to begin with. So Madam Secretary, thank you, Mr. Burnett. Two weeks ago,
03:28your agency deported a four-year-old American citizen in a stage four cancer battle. What are
03:34you doing to get him back to the country so he can get his treatment? Congressman, this mother wished
03:39to keep her family together and to take her child with her. So as every single person is given the
03:45opportunity to, medical care is given throughout the process. Okay. So it sounds like nothing. And for this
03:50child, medical care was confirmed in their home country so that it would continue and those treatments
03:55and whatever needs were needed to be had into the future were confirmed to be provided there before.
04:00That child's home country is the United States. Do you believe you have a right to deport a U.S. citizen?
04:05That mother chose to keep her family together and that is what President Trump is focused on.
04:10That's not the facts of the case. Yes, it is the facts. Madam Secretary, moving on.
04:15Confirmed that she wanted to keep her child with her and our families and parents are given that
04:19ability to keep their children with them when they return to their home countries.
04:22Madam Secretary, do you have a right to deport a U.S. citizen?
04:26No, we do not deport U.S. citizens and have not deported U.S. citizens.
04:29Except the four-year-old that we just referenced. No, that mother chose to keep her child with her
04:34and that is her prerogative and the law was followed in allowing her the opportunity to do that.
04:38So, Madam Secretary, I'm a former prosecutor. I have put people away for life sentences who are gang members.
04:45I don't need to wear costumes to show how tough I am. What makes me different from you is when I put those
04:51individuals away, I did it with the weight of the law behind me. And I yield back.
04:57Mr. Chairman.
04:58Gentleman yields.
04:59I ask unanimous consent to enter an article from Fox 45 that states documents reveal a second
05:07protective order filed by the White House.