Legal Doubts Surround New Jersey Rep’s Actions

Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, voiced skepticism on Wednesday regarding New Jersey Democrat Rep. Ramonica McQuiver’s claims about fulfilling his supervisory responsibilities in court.

Alina Haba, the interim U.S. Attorney for the New Jersey District, has accused McQuiver of assaulting federal agents during a May 9 incident outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark. Turley noted that body camera footage could complicate McQuiver’s position.

“I really doubt lawmakers will make this argument in court because it seems legally nonsensical,” Turley stated in an appearance on “American Newsroom.” He emphasized that just because one might claim to act for surveillance or legislative reasons doesn’t absolve them. For instance, you could visit a bank for a valid reason, but if you engage in wrongdoing there, that changes everything.

“Section 1 doesn’t give Congress members the authority to enforce access to federal facilities. If that were the case, we’d have 535 inspectors running around the country, visiting any office they wanted,” he added. “That argument simply won’t hold up. However, she could contend that she did not actually assault the officers.”

Newark’s Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka was also arrested during the melee on May 9, along with other Democratic lawmakers like Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez Jr. from New Jersey.

In a separate but related note, former President Donald Trump issued various executive orders after taking office on January 20, where he designated certain Mexican drug cartels, Venezuelan prison gang Tren De Lagua, and El Salvador’s MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations.