Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver is urging a judge to dismiss the federal charges against her following a scuffle with immigration officers — and using the dismissed cases of the Jan. 6 rioters as the basis for her argument.
“This case charges Congresswoman LaMonica McIver, a sitting Democratic Member of
Congress, with violating the same federal assault statute” as over 160 Jan. 6 rioters whose charges were dismissed, McIver’s attorneys wrote in a court document filed over the weekend. “But the similarity ends there.”
“Unlike the January 6 rioters, Congresswoman McIver had every right to be on those premises. Indeed, she was there to do her job,” the attorneys continued.
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In May, McIver and two other members of Congress went to inspect an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in New Jersey in an oversight capacity. The visit ended in a scuffle with immigration officers, and McIver was charged with assaulting a federal officer. She has previously said that she was “simply doing my job” and that the charges against her are “a brazen attempt at political intimidation.”The attorneys argue that the Trump administration’s prosecution of McIver, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, is “unconstitutionally selective” and that the government is targeting her because she has been outspoken about her opposition to President Donald Trump’s policies.
The government “cannot pursue charges against her because she is a Democrat who conducts oversight of Executive Branch immigration policy, while dismissing charges brought under the same statute against those whose views they share and who engaged in conduct far more egregious,” the attorneys argued in the filing.
Ultimately, the government “circumvented safeguards designed to prevent legislators from baseless prosecutions like this one,” the attorneys concluded.
Multiple Democrats in Congress told NOTUS in June that because of the charges against McIver, they have started taking out liability insurance in case they are prosecuted by the federal government. At the time, Rep. Eric Swalwell said that since “Trump is prosecuting his political enemies … it’s better to be prepared.”
In the filing, McIver’s attorneys point to multiple instances where Trump administration officials have spoken kindly about the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, including the president himself, who called them “people that actually love our country” and pardoned 1,500 of them. Trump officials have referred to actions by McIver and other Democratic members of Congress as “just another case of Democratic lawmakers labeling political stunts as oversight while they endanger the safety of ICE personnel,” per the filing.
“Executive Branch officials may be entitled to hold and express these views or opinions. But the U.S. Constitution forbids those same officials from relying on those views or opinions as the bases for criminal enforcement and prosecution,” McIver’s attorneys wrote.
“Courts find prosecutions unconstitutional when a defendant ‘is similarly situated to a
person against whom the law was not enforced,’” the attorneys continued. “The Department of Justice’s dismissal of prosecutions arising from the January 6 attack on the Capitol … is robust evidence of unconstitutional differential treatment.”
In a different filing, McIver’s attorneys also argue that she cannot be prosecuted because she was just doing her job when inspecting the detention center: “The U.S. Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause guarantees Members of Congress that they ‘shall not be questioned’ for their legislative acts.”
“I have full confidence in the arguments we’re making — the briefs speak for themselves,” McIver said in a statement to NOTUS.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to NOTUS’ request for comment.
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