Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is inquiring to Attorney General Pam Bondi whether she is under investigation for advising constituents on how to respond to visits and requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
In a letter to Bondi sent on Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez asked for “clarity” on whether the Department of Justice has “yielded to political pressure and attempts to weaponize the agency against elected officials whose speech they disagree with.”
The correspondence comes after the New York congresswoman’s office held a webinar in February called “Know Your Rights with ICE” that informed undocumented immigrants how to handle situations involving immigration officers. She did not attend, but it was hosted on her Facebook page, where members of her office characterized the raids as “political tactics.” Migrants were told not to open their doors to ICE agents unless they were presented with a warrant.
This webinar, in addition to posts by Ocasio-Cortez regarding ICE and President Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration, caught the attention of border czar Tom Homan. He asked the Justice Department to look into whether Ocasio-Cortez’s actions were illegal.
“I’ve asked DOJ, where is that line of impediment, where is that line of interference?” he said.
In her letter to Bondi, Ocasio-Cortez cited recent remarks from Vice President JD Vance: “We may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square.”
She also referenced the details of the First Amendment, calling Homan’s attempts to “politically intimidate” elected officials such as herself a “textbook threat” to the freedom of speech.
“Educating the public about their rights, especially in a time of rising uncertainty, is a key part of our responsibility as elected officials,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “A government that uses threats of DOJ investigations to suppress free speech is a threat to all, regardless of political ideology.”
Other Democrats are under scrutiny by Ed Martin, the interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., after he told his office he would prosecute anyone targeting public officials, including lawmakers such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA). Martin asked Garcia to clarify statements he made against Trump adviser Elon Musk and for Schumer to explain remarks regarding two conservative Supreme Court justices in 2020.
“What the American public wants is for us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight,” Garcia had said in an appearance on CNN following the first subcommittee hearing on Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. “This is an actual fight for democracy.”
In Martin’s letter to Garcia, the top prosecutor said the comment “sounds to some like a threat to Mr. Musk … and government staff who work for him. Their concerns have led to this inquiry … We take threats against public officials very seriously. I look forward to your cooperation.”
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Garcia posted the letter on X, saying that he will “not be silenced” and members of Congress must have the right to “forcefully oppose the Trump administration.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Justice Department for comment on Ocasio-Cortez’s letter to Bondi.