Republicans are demanding that the Biden administration release the findings of an investigation it initiated last September following unfounded White House accusations that Border Patrol agents had whipped Haitian migrants.
Seven House Republicans, including three from Texas, asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a letter sent Monday to publish the report immediately, according to a copy of the document obtained by the Washington Examiner.
“The widespread narrative of whipping based on a demonstratable lie — especially by members of this administration — demands that the public record be finalized by publicly disclosing the ‘investigative work’ conducted by Customs and Border Protections’ (CBP) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR),” Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Brian Babin of Texas, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Mary Miller of Illinois, Michael Cloud of Texas, and Darrell Issa of California wrote in the letter.
The lawmakers said they were spurred into action following a recent Washington Examiner report in which DHS officials anonymously said they thought the Biden administration was not releasing the report because it would make President Joe Biden and Mayorkas look “terrible” for condemning agents for using horsewhips against illegal immigrants when that was not the case.
REPUBLICANS PRESS BIDEN TO EXPLAIN HOW SYNAGOGUE TERRORIST WAS LET INTO THE COUNTRY
“For four months, the Biden Administration and your Department have gone without even apologizing to the agents that were smeared,” the letter states. “The American people deserve transparency from their government, and the United States Border Patrol deserves defense from their Department’s Secretary against unfounded accusations.”
Mounted agents were photographed and filmed attempting to prevent people from walking across the Rio Grande in Del Rio, Texas, on Sept. 19, 2021. The migrants ignored verbal orders to turn around, and the mounted agents rode along the riverbank, where migrants tried to get past them.
One agent was accused by third parties on social media of whipping someone. Before any investigation had been undertaken, top Biden administration officials condemned the agent. Biden said people were “being strapped” in an “outrageous” way and vowed that “those people will pay.” Mayorkas said he was “horrified” by the images, before later admitting that he reacted “without having seen the images” prior to commenting to the media.
The Biden administration promised a quick review of the incident but has issued no statement to date. Mayorkas pledged before Congress last fall to conclude within “a matter of days, not weeks,” whether agents were too aggressive that day.
The lack of a conclusion to the investigation has prompted suspicion among DHS officials, who said the report should have been completed by now, regardless of the outcome.
“I doubt that the current administration will release this report on the horse patrol incident because it makes the administration look terrible,” one DHS official said in a phone interview last week. “They essentially convicted the mounted agents based upon a lie, which the investigation after 120 days would surely have revealed.”
“My experience would be that this would have been done within a period of weeks,” the same official said, adding that no agent had been disciplined to date.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
A representative for the Border Patrol union, the National Border Patrol Council, told the Washington Examiner that there have been “no new developments whatsoever.”
