A New Jersey congresswoman said Friday afternoon that the Justice Department offered to drop charges against her if she admitted to something she "did not do."
Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) was arrested and later indicted on federal charges stemming from a confrontation outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark last month. Federal prosecutors said McIver "forcibly imped[ed] and interfer[ed' with federal law enforcement officers" as they arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was trying to join a congressional oversight visit at the facility.
McIver was charged with three counts of assaulting, impeding, and interfering with federal law enforcement officers, with authorities saying she tried to block Baraka's arrest by creating a human shield, "slammed her forearm into the body" of a Homeland Security Investigations agent, and "reached out and tried to restrain" the agent from grabbing the mayor. She was also accused of pushing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer and using her forearms to strike officers during the fracas.
On Friday afternoon, McIver told MSNBC anchor Ari Melber on his show, "The Beat," that the DOJ under President Donald Trump tried to offer her a deal she couldn't refuse.
"It’s truly unfortunate to be in this situation. But at the same time, it just — it goes back to the political intimidation of this administration. And because I’m speaking out, because I’m doing my job, I think they want to continue to silence leaders and, you know, stop their critics from speaking out against them. And so they’ll go to any extent, especially any extent of cruelty, to make an example. And I am that example now," she said.
"And you say they tried to silence you. Did the Trump DOJ float or push anything other than going to trial?" asked Melber.
"I mean, absolutely. The acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey wanted me to admit to something that I did not do. That was not right. That’s what she put in her Twitter, her tweet that we saw that night," McIver replied.
Melber pressed her on the statement.
"But if you had done that, were they saying they would drop the whole thing?" he asked.
"Yes. Yep. That is exactly what —" she began, as Melber cut her off.
"So that’s a lot. I mean, again, that’s a lot of pressure, because some people would say, “Gosh, let somebody else fight this out.” You’re saying the whole thing could go away if you just said something," he said.
"Correct," replied McIver. "And I was not doing that. I was not going to waver on that. Like I said, I went to Delaney Hall with my colleagues. We went there for an oversight visit, and we didn’t do anything wrong. The whole tense situation that took place — DHS and Homeland Security and ICE, they created that, not us. And so, absolutely, I was not going to do that."
Watch the clip below or at this link.
