A Masterclass in Doubletalk
Kristin Noem appears before Congress. It wasn't pretty
In an almost 5-hour congressional hearing, the first since the killings of American citizens in Minneapolis, Kristi Noem defended her handling and leadership.
Both Democrats and Republicans skewered her. She denied American citizens have been arrested or detained, denied ICE went to schools leaving children terrorized, denied a quota of 3000 detainments per day set by Steven Miller and would not answer pointed questions.
She would not apologize to the families of Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother of three who was shot and killed on Jan 7 by an Ice officer, nor for the death of Alex Pretti.
She would not state clearly that armed agents would NOT be deployed at the polls, and instead answered with “do you plan on having illegal aliens voting?”. She would not address reports that training for ICE agents has been cut. She would not admit to the violation of at least 100 court orders. She was confronted with the attempted purchase of a warehouse to detain prisoners in Roxbury NJ for $129.3 million even though it was assessed at $62 million.
Both Republicans and Democrats called for her impeachment or resignation. Cory Booker called her utterly incompetent, of violating laws with impunity and having “no situational awareness of Americans being attacked by their own government”. He said she should step down or be impeached.
Perhaps the most animated conversation came from Thom Tillis, who furiously blasted Noem, first for her killing of a dog which he characterized as “a bad decision made in the heat of the moment, not unlike what happened in Minneapolis,” and then for her overall incompetence. He made it clear he was giving “a performance evaluation” and “not looking for a response.”
Watch Republican Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) here:
See the full hearing below:
And because we all love adorable puppies. My Winston:
