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Il panel wants Trump officials to testify about Operation Midway Blitz
Angry reaction from the White House tonight to plans by Illinois officials to investigate abuses by federal agents during the "Operation Midway Blitz" last year.
CHICAGO - A state commission investigating Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration enforcement campaign in the Chicago area last year, is requesting to hear from multiple current and former administration officials during upcoming hearings.
What we know:
The Illinois Accountability Commission announced it sent letters to eight officials requesting their testimony as it probes "widespread federal misconduct and reckless tactics deployed by federal agents across Chicago and Illinois."
The letters were addressed to:
- Gregory Bovino, former "commander at large of Customs and Border Patrol
- Tom Homan, White House "Border Czar"
- Tricia McLaughlin, former assistant secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs
- Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy
- Kristi Noem, former secretary of Homeland Security
- Corey Lewandowski, former Homeland Security special government employee
- Todd Lyons, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
- Rodney Scott, commissioner at Customs and Border Patrol
BROADVIEW, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 27: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel, and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino stand together amidst a tense protest outside the ICE processing fa …
The commission said it aims to "examine the roles and responsibilities of key Trump Administration officials, and seek further answers related to the statements, policy decisions, and roles that contributed to the escalation of aggressive and unlawful enforcement tactics displayed throughout Operation Midway Blitz."
Gov. JB Pritzker established the commission to create a public record of alleged misconduct by federal agents during the campaign.
The commission will hold two hearings on April 27 and 28 and provide its final report on April 30.
"These officials should answer directly to the people of Illinois for the chaos and violence they unleashed," said Gov. JB Pritzker in a statement. "Regardless of whether these officials are still in their roles or not, the people of Illinois demand accountability from them all."
Earlier this year, the state sued the Trump administration alleging that it used "unlawful and dangerous tactics" during Operation Midway Blitz, including the shooting of two people, one fatally, and during a "military raid" on a Chicago apartment building in which dozens of people were arrested.
The other side:
Spokespeople from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security did not say whether they would comply with the requests for testimony, but criticized the commission in statements given to Fox Chicago.
"JB Pritzker is a total slob who would rather dream up political stunts for his doomed-to-fail Presidential campaign than actually help Illinois residents. If this slob spent half as much time addressing crime and public safety concerns in Chicago as he did pandering to radical leftists, Chicagoans would be much safer. The Trump Administration, and our heroic ICE officers, will unapologetically remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens from American streets whether Pritzker likes it or not," said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman.
DHS said in a statement: "Governor Pritzker continues to refuse to do his job to protect his citizens from illegal alien crime and instead chooses to smear our law enforcement. Where is his investigation into his own policies that allowed Sheridan Gorman's killer to be released from jail to go on and commit her heinous murder?"