Nov. 13 (UPI) — Two of the three charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver can go forward, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
McIver, D-N.J., was charged after a confrontation on May 9 at the Delaney Hall Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark, N.J. McIver and two other U.S. representatives from New Jersey visited the detention center to tour it.
McIver, Rep. Rob Menendez, D-N.J., Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat, were allegedly in a physical confrontation that included demonstrators and ICE agents. Baraka was arrested on the scene and charged with trespassing, but his charges were later dropped.
U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba alleged that McIver “assaulted, impeded and interfered with law enforcement,” and “that conduct cannot be overlooked.” She also said she has “persistently made efforts to address these issues without bringing criminal charges,” and has given McIver “every opportunity to come to a resolution, but she has unfortunately declined.”
McIver was indicted on the charges in June.
On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Jamel K. Semper released a 41-page ruling denying McIver’s legislative immunity. He also dismissed her claims of selective prosecution.
“Defendant has not met her burden of establishing that her predominant purpose in physically opposing the mayor’s arrest was to conduct oversight or gather information for a legislative purpose. No genuine legislative purpose was advanced by Defendant’s alleged conduct,” Semper wrote.
Semper said two of the three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding, and interfering with a federal officer may proceed. He said he needs more time to decide if the third charge will stay.
A trial hasn’t been scheduled.
Habba is President Donald Trump’s former lawyer who also participated in his campaign. When she was appointed U.S. attorney, she said she hoped to use her office to “turn New Jersey red,” The New York Times reported.
Josh Chafetz, a law professor at Georgetown who studies separation of powers, told The Times that the decision to bring charges should be “really worrying to all of us.”
“You have members of the opposition party doing something that is central to their role — things we want them doing — and then we have executive branch officials bringing charges against them,” Chafetz said.
“It’s not to say that opposition members should be above the law,” he said. “But I think we should all be very worried any time you see a member of Congress being charged with anything.”