00:00virtually no restraints and as we have seen are now carrying out extrajudicial killings in the
00:07street. So I would hope that that is not the America that we want to live in. The president
00:13in an interview with the New York Times said that the only thing that would constrain his power as
00:18commander-in-chief is his own morality. What do you think of a comment like that? I mean it shows
00:24the danger that we are in and the necessity for us to have a Congress that is willing to rein in the
00:31president's power as well as the necessity for the Supreme Court to be able to rein in the president's
00:37power as well. Now we have a Republican majority that has decided to completely abdicate its power
00:43to the president. I think that is it is why it's up to the American people to ensure that we take
00:49away power from those who do not use it well. Can I ask for a moment about the Democratic leaders
00:55on both sides, Leader Schumer and Jeffries, when I press them about ICE and even Venezuela,
01:01they seem reluctant in this funding round to do anything on ICE or Venezuela because it seems
01:07as though they're reluctant to blow up any fragile agreement they might be. Do you get that sense
01:11and do you think that's a mistake by them? No, I mean listen, we have a caucus that is very wide
01:18and they're responsible for leading an entire caucus that elects members from across the country
01:22so they're in a different position. And whether it's this funding round or when Democrats are in
01:28the majority is a tactical decision that is up to leadership to make. But I think in the long term
01:33what we are seeing now is that this funding of ICE, it exploded virtually overnight and we are already
01:41seeing the ramifications of it in terms of the abuse of power that is happening as well as the fact
01:47that they, I mean, ICE doesn't even meet the level of rigor that your local police department has to
01:55meet in terms of ethics and in terms of rules and regulations that they have to abide by.
02:00What do you say to your Republican colleagues?
02:02Have you gotten enough of the Epstein files to your satisfaction?
02:04Pardon?
02:05Have you gotten enough of the Epstein files to your satisfaction?
02:09This administration, the Trump administration, Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Pam Bondi are engaged in one
02:16of the greatest cover-ups that we have seen when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein and protection of people
02:20that are in power and close to power. It is horrifying. My thoughts are with the victims. But what I am
02:26encouraged by is the House Oversight Committee's continued pursuit in their subpoenas against Lex Wexner
02:32and others. And we will continue the fight for justice for victims of these crimes.
02:41Do you think Bill Clayton should be subpoenaed by the Oversight Committee?
02:43I'm sorry. I know he's got a...
02:44Yeah. What would you say to your Republican colleagues? Just the fact that they say that
02:48if these people would follow the law and not get involved with ICE and try and disrupt them,
02:55collecting people who are here illegally, what would you want to tell those people?
03:00Sorry. Could you repeat that?
03:01Yeah. Some of the Republican colleagues are basically saying that ICE is doing its job and that people
03:08are there to disrupt them and to stop them. What would you want to tell them?
03:12I would not say that assassinating a young mother of three in the street is part of ICE's mandate. ICE
03:22specifically has a mandate that has nothing to do with going after U.S. citizens. Watch the video for
03:29yourself. You don't have to worry about the food, you know, the politics with me or what I'm going to say
03:35or what anyone else is going to say. Watch that video for yourself and you will see a woman trying
03:41to back up her vehicle and leave a volatile scene. And she was met with three bullets to the face.
03:52You tell me and any law enforcement officer in the country worth their salt can tell you that that is
03:59not how you handle that situation. And so the fact that ICE receives less training, they were, I mean,
04:06it is, I, it, it is, this started with Patriot Act post 9-11 violation of American civil liberties
04:15and it continues in that strain. Thank you. Thank you.
04:28Get in the motion.
04:33Okay. See you later.
04:38Yeah, we're, I think we're good.
04:39We're going.
04:40Is he still talking?
04:41Yeah.
04:41Yeah.
04:41Let's get him.
04:42Let's get him.
04:45We need to see what other options are out there. Why do you see any ideas that Senator Murphy has put
05:11forward and do you have any thoughts on those when it comes to ICE reform?
05:14Well, a lot of people are talking about different reforms and that's their prerogative. But I think
05:19at this point, as a committee of jurisdiction, we have to look at what the facts are if we can get
05:28ICE officials before us. If they choose not to come or the committee chair chooses not to hold
05:35hearings, then obviously just a straight legislative process that's being offered by other people
05:42is something that we can look at.
05:44Mr. Thompson, it seems as though some of the Democratic leaders,
05:47when I pressed both Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer,
05:49about why not using this funding round to do something about ICE and or DHS, they seem reluctant.
05:55Is it because there's a kind of a tenuous agreement on government funding,
05:59there's a reluctance to shut down the government or use that as a tool after what happened this fall?
06:03That's above my paper.
06:05What do you think? What do you think? I mean, you're the ranker on that committee.
06:08But that hadn't come up. Look, I appreciate the question, but that's a decision that the leadership,
06:17from my perspective, I think there's always an opportunity to look at whatever's going on.
06:23And I'm just not privy to, you know, any of the perceived.
06:26Would you like to see that used as a tool this time?
06:28Mr. Well, I want to stay in my lane as a ranker on the committee
06:34and look at the authorizing opportunities that we might have. But I want to do that in the spirit
06:40of looking at oversight. And there's nothing that any federal agency is doing that a member of Congress
06:47shouldn't be able to look at and render opinions. And it's in that spirit that Democrats on the
06:53committee sent the letter. What would you want to tell your Republican colleagues who were saying
06:58that if these people would just follow the law and not break it, then they wouldn't put themselves
07:03into this situation? Well, look, we support our law enforcement people. But I think there are certain
07:14circumstances that in the performance of our duties, if there's a question, you can always review it.
07:22I don't see any person in a position of responsibility not to have that responsibility looked at me. So
07:32what's wrong with looking at what happened in Minneapolis or Portland or other places
07:37from an oversight perspective and let the facts generate the answer and not let people
07:47like one person made a statement. And when they told them, well, there's video. And they said,
07:54well, we didn't know there was video. But you've already taken a position in support of the ICE
08:00officials without having viewed the video. And I think part of what we're trying to do
08:04is get something on the record from the agency so members of Congress can make intelligent decisions.
08:12And to bring change?
08:13Potentially, you know, but we have to we have to look at the facts.
08:17Let me ask kind of 60,000 people a question here. Do you think that there sometimes is,
08:22and we've all seen the video, we understand what's in the video, but that there is an
08:26over-reliance on the body cams and things and that sometimes the video does not represent what went
08:33down? For instance, you know, everybody saw it as a Pruder film. We really don't know what happened
08:37in Dallas in 1963. In other words, is that, is there an over-reliance on the video sometimes when we
08:42get into these situations? Well, video is important. It's one part of the investigative step.
08:48And I think from what we've seen, it's now raised questions about what really happened. So I think
08:57it's incumbent upon all of us to get all the facts available and then render a decision. But video is
09:03important. Every time a situation occurs, no matter what it is, the first thing people always say is
09:13their video. So video takes a prime position in any action that stands to be reviewed.
09:22Forgive me if you've answered this question for us coming in late, but just wanted to find out is
09:26is taking away money from ICE part of the answer for Democrats? Well, a lot of people are saying a lot
09:33of things. From our perspective on the committee, the best thing we can do is bring the ICE officials
09:40to us and let us ask questions about facts and circumstances that have occurred in different
09:47situations. And we've not been able to get them before the committee. So Democrats on the House
09:53Homeland Security Committee, we've written Chairman Garbarino saying we'd like to have an oversight
10:00hearing on what's happening with ICE. That's a reasonable request. Until the Trump administration
10:07came in the office, that was a matter that was considered routine. Now it's virtually nonexistent.
10:15What makes you think, though, you can get sufficient answers? I mean, she left a hearing just a few
10:19weeks ago. You had problems with Chad Wolf and other people. I mean, what makes you think,
10:24you know, when you say this is your committee, this is your lane oversight, you haven't had that
10:27success with this administration or when they were in office last time? Well, but you don't quit
10:32because you don't have success. And I think part of the challenge now is members of Congress need
10:39to assert their authority that the people and the Constitution have given them. And there's a reluctance
10:47since the Trump administration is in office to do that. And so that's what we're just trying to do.
10:52This is not an unusual circumstance. Oversight is paramount for committees of jurisdiction.
10:59And your thoughts of Pam Bondi and others are already known basically saying that he's innocent
11:06and it was a justified shooting. Look, that's even more reason, given the video,
11:14for people to say, well, I saw some things with my own eyes that perhaps need further review and
11:22explanation. And that's why we asked for the oversight here. Thank you very much. Thank you.
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