Agency claims video said to show AOC berating Border Patrol agent does not exist

Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol, has refused to fulfill a Freedom of Information Act request and release video footage of an altercation between New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Border Patrol personnel during a July tour of a Texas facility. CBP claims the video does not exist, even though a supervisor at the facility said over the summer that it did. The Washington Examiner submitted a FOIA request July 1, hours after a congressional tour of a Border Patrol station in El Paso, Texas, turned tense. Several Border Patrol personnel present during the Congressional Hispanic Caucus tour said at the time that the congresswoman confronted them in a way they considered inappropriate. After the tour, the Washington Examiner contacted Border Patrol’s El Paso Station to obtain a copy of the video. El Paso Station Special Operations Supervisor Michelle Perez said in two phone calls in July that the cameras were recording in the area where the exchanged happened. Perez said she pulled the footage so it would be ready to share if CBP headquarters in Washington approved the FOIA request.

In late November, CBP’s FOIA arm responded to the request, saying it did not have video, and instead released nine pages of related documents. CBP FOIA Analyst L. Beasley wrote in a letter dated Nov. 19, “It has also been determined at the time of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ visit the station’s DVRs were not operational at the time and as such no videos were recorded and no videos exist of the visit.”

Two Border Patrol employees present during the exchange spoke with the Washington Examiner last week and said the 11-year-old station — where migrants are temporarily detained after being arrested for illegally entering the country — is “new” compared to others in the region and had working cameras and recording equipment when the lawmakers visited. The redacted CBP documents include the accounts of five employees who were present during the incident. The five memos were written within a day of the incident and depict how Ocasio-Cortez became upset as the result of what she said was a female Border Patrol agent secretly taking her photo on a cellphone. No proof was provided that a photo was taken by the agent of Ocasio-Cortez.

It is unclear whether the video exists or whether it is being withheld. One official said CBP headquarters may be refusing to release footage because the video would make them look bad for how it showed then-El Paso Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Hull “getting run over” by lawmakers. The second person said it could look bad for an official who berated the female agent whom Ocasio-Cortez thought was taking a photo.

“During the briefing which was presented by El Paso Sector Command Staff, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez abruptly voiced an allegation that a female agent outside of the [REDACTED] had just taken a selfie with Rep. Ocasio-Cortez in the background. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez not only verbally voiced this concern, she became agitated and animated as she began to bang on the glass, pointing and screaming at the agent,” according to the memos. A senior border official walked over to the female agent, seized the agent’s phone, and found a “web-based” image that “had nothing to do with interior photos of the detention area.” A second witness said Ocasio-Cortez "pointed to the agent and began to bang on the glass and yell from inside the [REDACTED] to the agent." The same person recalled: “Ms. Ocasio became more animated and began to stomp her foot she then said, “I as a woman of color do not feel safe here, as women of color none of us feel safe here, nobody of color feels safe here.” Ms Ocasio then stormed out of the processing [REDACTED] to the processing area to confront the agent who allegedly took the picture of Ms. Ocasio.”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/agency-claims-video-said-to-show-aoc-berating-border-patrol-agent-does-not-exist

Congressional Photo Allegation Boxed_Redacted

https://www.scribd.com/document/438302662/Congressional-Photo-AllegationBoxed-Redacted#from_embed

>>7432430

>>7432463

Agreed, there was something she didn't want leaking anywhere..Question is who is helping to hide this for her..who has the pull and the deep pockets in her corner..hmm

'Don’t mess with me': Pelosi slams reporter for asking if she hates the president

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed a Sinclair news reporter for asking if she hates President Trump. The California Democrat was walking out of her weekly press conference when James Rosen asked, "Do you hate the president, Madam Speaker?" Pelosi stopped and returned to the microphones to condemn the question, telling reporters she is a Catholic and prays for the president. “Don’t mess with me when it comes to words like that,” Pelosi said. “As a Catholic, I resent you using 'hate' in a sentence that references me.”

Rosen told Pelosi the question echoes accusations by Republicans and the GOP witness at the Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday that Democrats are moving to impeach Trump because they don’t like him. Pelosi denied it. “I don’t hate anyone,” Pelosi said. “We don’t hate anyone.” Pelosi said she has "a heart full of love" and prays for the president, and even though she disagrees with his agenda, it is not the motivation for impeaching him. “It has nothing to do with that,” she said. “I think the president is a coward when it comes to helping our kids who are afraid of gun violence. I think he is cruel when it comes to helping our Dreamers. I think he is in denial when it comes to climate change. But take it up in the election.” Impeachment, she said, “is about the Constitution of the United States.”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/dont-mess-with-me-pelosi-slams-reporter-for-asking-if-she-hates-the-president

Video

https://youtu.be/CUEUv1WEL2Q

Rep. Banks Sends Letter to Sen. Graham Over Impeachment: You Need to Subpoena These People's Phone Records

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) on Wednesday sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham asking him to subpoena various phone records. "On Page 153 of the Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry Report produced by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, we learned that Chairman Adam Schiff obtained personal phone records chronicling conversations between President Trump's personal lawyer, White House officials, a journalist and the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes," Banks wrote in his letter.

Page 153 of the report has this citation: 49 AT&T Document Production, Bates ATTHPSCI _20190930_00768, ATTHPSCI _20190930_00772, ATTHPSCI _20190930_00775

Which goes to this paragraph: The Committees uncovered evidence of close ties and frequent contacts between Mr. Solomon and Mr. Parnas, who was assisting Mr. Giuliani in connection with his representation of the President. Phone records show that in the 48 hours before publication of The Hill opinion piece, Mr. Parnas spoke with Mr. Solomon at least six times.

Because Schiff subpoenaed AT&T for phone records, Banks believes Graham should obtain call records for Chairman Adam Schiff, former Vice President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and Mark Zaid, the lawyer for the Ukrainian whistleblower. "The public has a right to know with whom Rep. Adam Schiff has coordinated his impeachment effort and if America's national security is at risk in any way as a result of Rep. Schiff's actions," Banks wrote.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bethbaumann/2019/12/04/rep-banks-sends-letter-to-sen-graham-over-impeachment-you-need-to-subpoena-the-n2557507

https://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/20191203_-full_report___hpsci_impeachment_inquiry-_20191203.pdf?mod=article_inline