Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., slammed two Biden administration officials for skipping Thursday's threats to the homeland hearing, calling their absence a "slap in the face" to the families whose loved ones have been killed at the hands of illegal immigrants.
Marshall admonished FBI Director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over their 11th-hour decision to skip their appearance before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
"This is a slap in the face to the families of Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, and 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, whose lives have been shattered by their sheer incompetence and inability to do their most basic job: secure our homeland. They must be subpoenaed and held in contempt," Marshall said of Wray and Mayorkas in a post to X.
Committee Chair Sen. Gary Peters, R-Mich., said it was the first time in more than 15 years that an FBI director and Homeland Security secretary had refused to offer public testimony at the annual committee hearing focused on threats to the homeland, calling it a "shocking departure" from tradition.
Their no-shows came one day after Venezuelan illegal and gang member Jose Ibarra was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.
Federal authorities said Ibarra illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 and was allowed to stay in the country while he pursued his immigration case. Ibarra traveled to New York City where he was arrested — for riding a gas-powered moped with a child on the back without any head protection or restraint — and released by New York City police. Ibarra fled to Georgia, where he beat Riley to death in February.
"I don't know why they postponed it, but I have my suspicions that they just can't take the heat," Rep. Mike Ezell, R-Miss., told Newsmax on Thursday. "This administration has totally failed our American citizens with this wide-open border and, as we've seen, the result is crime running all over the place."
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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