Kristi Noem ignores a question she was asked 6 times during the hearing

WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem repeatedly refused Wednesday to admit that she was wrong when she called two Minneapolis residents killed by federal immigration agents, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, “domestic terrorists.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, untied Noem while testifying before the panel. He pressed her on why she in public and falsely defamed Good and Pretti after their fatal shootings. They were both American citizens and, as video images As an example, none of them seemed to be doing anything illegal when federal agents killed them. Other federal officials have since acknowledged that there was no evidence that either man was involved in any type of domestic terrorism.

“I want to give you the opportunity before the entire country to correct your false and defamatory statement,” Raskin told the secretary. “Based on what you know today, Madam Secretary, were Renee Good and Alex Pretti domestic terrorists?”

Noem called their murders “an absolute tragedy,” but ignored the question.

“Were they domestic terrorists, like you told the country?” Raskin asked again.

“I send my deepest condolences to their families, because I know that their lives will never be the same after what happened,” he responded.

The increasingly angry Maryland congressman repeated his question four more times: Were Renee Good and Alex Pretti domestic terrorists? Each time, Noem changed the subject, either vaguely referencing “ongoing investigations” or claiming that federal agents “risked their lives” to protect evidence at the scene of Pretti’s murder while confronting “violent rioters.”

That’s not true either. News themezone was on the scene after Pretti’s murder on January 25 and spent hours reporting there. There was there are no violent rioters; Instead, hundreds of residents came out together, angry and devastated that ICE killed another of their neighbors. In sub-zero temperatures, they stood there peacefully as federal agents, irritated by their chanting, fired tear gas, rubber bullets and threw stun grenades at them.

“You told a lie about them!” Raskin charged, referring to Pretti and Good. “You said they were domestic terrorists. Do you regret that?”

“I offer my deepest condolences to those families,” Noem responded.

Raskin pressed the Homeland Security secretary on why she couldn’t simply admit she was wrong, pointing out that her acting ICE director, Todd Lyons, recently testified before Congress that he had no knowledge that Pretti or Good were domestic terrorists.

“Why don’t you admit it?” asked.

“As we learn more,” Noem began.

“Don’t you want to say anything to their families?” -Raskin intervened-.

“I did it,” he said. “I said my deepest condolences…”

“So that!” the congressman said. “How about an apology for what you said about his loved ones?”

“My heart goes out to them,” Noem responded.

Heather Diehl via Getty Images

Noem also faced brutal, bipartisan grilling Tuesday during a similar Senate oversight hearing. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) criticized her for her “failure of leadership” and Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) scolded her for spending $220 million of taxpayer money on DHS ads that feature her “prominently.”

During Wednesday’s hearing, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) demanded to know why Noem has not responded to his letters raising concerns about her deportation of people who have not committed crimes. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) raised more questions about his $220 million ad campaign, citing an explosive report about a company he has ties to that received $143 million of that money. DHS previously said it had “no involvement” in the selection of subcontractors.

“It was incorporated eight days, eight days, before this contract was signed,” Neguse said of the company that received that money, noting that it has no headquarters or website and had never worked for the federal government before. “Do you want the American people to believe that all of this is correct?”

“Yes, I do,” Noem responded.

The Colorado Democrat brought up Tillis’s angry tirade from the previous day about DHS blocks an independent inspector general in 11 different investigations it is trying to conduct. Neguse wondered aloud if the mysterious company that received $143 million in taxpayer money is the focus of one of those investigations.

“I don’t know if this will be one of them. I certainly hope it is,” he told Noem. “Because eventually the facts will become public.”