The Department of Homeland Security’s deputy secretary suggested that a libel lawsuit could be warranted after prominent Democrats referred to federal law enforcement agents using language that alluded to Nazi Germany.
“When you see such libelous, slanderous comments from people who know better — let’s not kid ourselves, the speaker of the House knows that she is using Nazi allusions to refer to correct, professional law enforcement officers,” Ken Cuccinelli, a senior official performing the duties of deputy secretary, told Fox News on Friday night. “If I was a CBP agent or ICE agent, or FBI agent, and if I was an FPS agent, I might sue for libel.”
High-profile Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, fellow Californian Rep. Maxine Waters, and House Majority Whip James Clyburn have expressed negative views about federal officers sent by the Trump administration to Portland, Oregon, to protect federal property. In particular, they have taken issue with claims that officers used unmarked vehicles to detain demonstrators.
“The use of stormtroopers under the guise of law and order. It is a tactic that is not appropriate to the country,” Pelosi told reporters on July 16. She said “stormtroopers” again in a tweet the following day.
Unidentified stormtroopers. Unmarked cars. Kidnapping protesters and causing severe injuries in response to graffiti.
These are not the actions of a democratic republic.@DHSgov’s actions in Portland undermine its mission.
Trump & his stormtroopers must be stopped.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 18, 2020
Waters criticized the tactics of federal officers in Portland, saying they were acting in a manner consistent with countries led by dictators.
Clyburn, who hails from South Carolina, compared agents to the “Gestapo,” which was the secret police force of Nazi Germany.
Cuccinelli pushed back against the notion that agents are operating outside the scope of the law, arguing that the acts taken by agents have been constitutional.
“We have a federal mission at the Department of Homeland Security, governed by statute — but we have also heard people say this isn’t constitutional,” he said before quoting the specific federal code that requiring agents to protect federal property. “So, we are not only within the boundaries of the Constitution. We have a statutory charge. That is the mission we are pursuing there.”
The inspectors general from the departments of Justice and Homeland Security announced on Thursday that they will investigate the actions by federal law enforcement in both Portland and Washington, D.C.
Last week, President Trump authorized the mobilization of hundreds of federal officers into other cities, including Chicago and Kansas City, Missouri, to help stop surges in violence that erupted from protests following the death of George Floyd.
