U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem may be hit with a subpoena after she made a rookie error for a photo op, according to a former prosecutor.
Analysts have long suggested Noem was a camera hog interested in promoting herself more than doing the job. Now, she has taken that too far, according to ex-federal prosecutor Joyce Vance.
Vance highlighted a recent ICE operation, which Noem personally attended, apparently against protocol. Vance quoted Newsweek as saying that Noem “joined federal immigration agents during an early morning operation in Elgin, Illinois, on Tuesday that resulted in multiple people being led away in handcuffs, and two U.S. citizens being briefly detained.”
"It was another poorly executed raid where people’s rights, in this case, American citizens, were violated," Vance said of the operation. Vance then noted that Noem may have made things difficult for herself by being at the botched op.
"By the way, the Secretary’s presence might seem like a small thing here, but it’s not. It’s not amusing. It’s not cosplay. It’s not cute. It’s not shake your head and then look away. It’s dangerous. And it was done, apparently, for a photo op," Vance wrote.
She added:
"Noem, too, should be concerned about the security risk her presence creates. Furthermore, if Noem accompanied agents to the scene, as the reporting indicates, she made herself a witness. If I’m a criminal defense lawyer for one of the men or a plaintiff’s lawyer in a civil suit, I’m cutting the subpoena for her testimony pronto. This is why smart prosecutors know better than to go along when a search warrant is executed, let alone an attorney general or a cabinet secretary. But Noem likes her photo ops."
Vance further said, "It’s just another sign of the less-than-professional way Trump’s appointees are running government, following Pam Bondi’s comments about prosecuting people for First Amendment-protected speech earlier this week."