President Donald Trump's Justice Department admitted to a federal judge on Tuesday that the agency's social media accounts have taken down several controversial posts that politicized the actions of a member of Congress they indicted, according to CBS News' Scott MacFarlane.
The issue stems from a visit made by several New Jersey politicians, including multiple members of Congress, to Delaney Hall, a private, for-profit immigrant detention facility in Newark. After clashes with law enforcement that briefly saw the arrest and release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Trump-installed New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba indicted Rep. LaMonica McIver for forcibly impeding federal officers.
But the motive behind the indictment was immediately thrown into question by partisan statements put out by the Department of Homeland Security social media account, which, among other things, posted on X that "Delaney Hall Detention Center houses the WORST OF THE WORST! This stunt by sanctuary lawmakers puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and detainees at risk." McIver's defense team has cited the posts as evidence of an unlawful prosecution.
In the latest filing as part of the case against McIver, attorneys for the government have stated these posts have been taken down.
This comes as the Trump administration has come under fire for a number of prosecutions of President Donald Trump's political critics and opponents, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, that appear to be politically motivated and pushed from the top by the president.
It also comes as Habba, who served as a defense lawyer in some of Trump's own legal issues before he was re-elected, has faced court decisions determining she was not legitimately appointed to the role of U.S. attorney in the first place.
