By MIKE CATALINI
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A federal judge overseeing the Trump administration’s prosecution of U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver on charges she assaulted and impeded immigration officers outside a New Jersey detention center told the government to remove social media posts he called “prejudicial” to the congresswoman.
U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper on Tuesday heard pretrial arguments in the case brought by Republican President Donald Trump’s U.S. Justice Department against the Democratic congresswoman representing Newark, the state’s biggest city. Semper didn’t issue a ruling from the bench but told the government’s attorneys nine social media posts should be removed.
The posts, which came from the Department of Homeland Security’s X account as well as the account for one of its spokespeople, referred to the May 9 visit by McIver and other members of Congress as “a reckless stunt by sanctuary politicians” and said the visit was not about oversight, a key point from the congresswoman and the other lawmakers who accompanied her to Newark’s Delaney Hall Detention Facility in May.
“It’s not factual,” Semper said. “The prejudicial nature of it is self-evident.”
A message seeking a response from Homeland Security was sent Tuesday.
McIver’s attorneys have argued the department’s posts could imperil her chances for a fair trial.
The judge also told the government to turn over additional video footage to McIver after her attorneys told the court they had not received footage they knew existed but wasn’t turned over.
He also said he would take time to review a motion from McIver’s attorneys to dismiss the case against her based on her right as a member of Congress to conduct oversight of the federal government.
McIver, a Democrat, was charged by interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, a Republican appointed by President Donald Trump, following the May 9 visit to Delaney Hall. Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses the privately owned, 1,000-bed facility as a detention center.
She has pleaded not guilty.
“This process has not stopped me from doing my job,” McIver said outside the courthouse on Tuesday.
She was indicted in June on three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials. Two of the counts carry a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison. The third is a misdemeanor with a maximum punishment of one year in prison.
Among those at McIver’s side Tuesday in court were Democratic Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and Nellie Pou, along with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
Baraka was arrested on a trespassing charge that was later dropped and is suing Habba over what he called a malicious prosecution.
Habba’s tenure as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey is being challenged in court, with appellate judges having heard arguments in that case the day before McIver’s appearance in court.
A nearly two-minute video clip released by the Department of Homeland Security shows McIver at the facility inside a chain-link fence just before Baraka’s arrest on the other side of the barrier, where other people were protesting. McIver and uniformed officials go through the gate, and she joins others shouting that they should circle the mayor.
The video shows McIver in a tightly packed group of people and officers. At one point her left elbow and then her right elbow push into an officer wearing a dark face covering and an olive green uniform emblazoned with the word “Police.”
It is not clear from police bodycam video if the contact was intentional, incidental or the result of jostling in the chaotic scene.
The government’s complaint alleges that she “slammed” her forearm into an agent and then tried to restrain the agent by grabbing him.
The indictment also says she placed her arms around the mayor to try to stop his arrest and says again that she slammed her forearm into and grabbed an agent.
Watson Coleman and Menendez were with McIver at the detention center that day and have disputed the charges.
Members of Congress are legally authorized to go into federal immigration facilities as part of their oversight powers, even without notice. Congress passed a 2019 appropriations bill spelling out that authority.
McIver first came to Congress in September in a special election after the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. left a vacancy in the 10th District. She was then elected to a full term in November.
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