A senior House Republican is urging the Trump administration to investigate political leaders in Oregon regarding whether they carried out a “smear campaign” against the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice amid federal police deployments to Portland.
“Acting Secretary Wolf has been clear that prior to surging federal resources to Portland, DHS requested assistance and coordination with state and local officials and law enforcement to address the violent rioters,” House Homeland Security ranking member Mike Rogers of Alabama wrote in a letter to DHS and DOJ leaders. “Those requests were denied. Instead, Portland officials carried out a smear campaign against federal officials, dismissed calls to address the violence, and passed resolutions preventing local police from providing any assistance, coordination, or information with federal counterparts.”
Rogers asked acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf and Attorney General William Barr to launch a joint federal investigation examining how Democratic Gov. Kate Brown and Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler handled riots in Portland that began in late May and have continued into August despite less federal involvement.
“As your departments review the violent rioting that has occurred in Portland, I am requesting you conduct a joint investigation into the breakdown of cooperation, mutual assistance and information sharing by state and local law enforcement with their federal counterparts in Portland, Oregon between May 29, 2020 and July 29, 2020,” Rogers wrote. “Furthermore, I request that you provide to Congress a full assessment of the injuries to federal personnel caused by violent rioters while on duty in Portland during this same time period, as well as an accounting of the damage done to federal facilities.”
Earlier Thursday, Wheeler said rioters were attempting to commit murder by locking people inside a police association building and trying to burn it down. Rioters attempted to do the same thing to DHS and DOJ federal police locked inside the Hatfield federal courthouse during the nightly violence throughout July, but Wheeler did not call on them to stop. More than 140 federal police officers were wounded while deployed to Portland, and another 100 state and local police were hurt. Rogers, citing the words of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, said the events surrounding each injury ought to be investigated, and “the arsonists and anarchists should be prosecuted.”
As of Thursday, Wolf testified before the Senate that 99 people had been arrested and charged with federal crimes.
