Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., questioned Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in an oversight hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.
Watch Schiff and Noem’s remarks in the video player above.
The senator focused on comments Noem made in the aftermath of the killing of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, by federal agents weeks apart in Minneapolis. Noem accused Good and Pretti of committing acts of “domestic terrorism,” despite bystander videos countering the Trump administration’s narratives around the fatal shootings.
READ MORE: Experts question Noem calling Good a ‘domestic terrorist.’ Here’s what the term means
Schiff asked where she got the information from that pointed to both people engaging with domestic terrorism.
Noem, as she did earlier in the hourslong hearing, said those preliminary reports came from agents on the ground, describing a “chaotic scene.”
Schiff asked if there was any basis to her “sensational claim.”
Noem dodged the question, saying the FBI is leading the ongoing investigation.
“How is the public supposed to believe anything your agency says or finds?” Schiff said, noting that the administration is blocking local and state investigators from conducting their own probes into these deadly incidents.
Noem’s agency has been roiled by turmoil and public outcry in recent days. Greater scrutiny by Democrats into the ways the Trump administration has been carrying out his mass deportation agenda led to a lapse in the agency’s funding and partial government shutdown.
Congressional lawmakers have yet to reach a deal to fund the department, though there are areas of bipartisan agreement, such as a body camera requirement for immigration enforcement agents.
Noem will also field questions Wednesday from the House Judiciary Committee.
