NJ Congresswoman McIver Must Face Assault Charges, Judge Rules

US Representative LaMonica McIver must face federal charges of assaulting law enforcement officers outside an immigration detention facility in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey, a judge ruled Thursday.

US District Judge Jamel Semper denied the Democratic lawmaker’s motion to dismiss two of the three charges against her, rejecting arguments that she was selectively or vindictively prosecuted, and that she is protected by legislative immunity.

She was charged after a May 9 congressional oversight visit to the immigration facility, Delaney Hall, that erupted into a scuffle between agents and protesters seeking to halt the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. He was charged with trespassing, but that case was later dropped.

Representative LaMonica McIver

Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg

McIver, a first-term congresswoman, was charged by acting US Attorney Alina Habba after a magistrate judge excoriated prosecutors for failing to conduct a “thorough, dispassionate” evaluation of the evidence before charging Baraka. She is one of several Democratic officials facing criminal charges from President Donald Trump’s administration.

“This case has been about trying to intimidate me, stop me from doing oversight, and keep me from doing my job,” McIver said in a statement. “It will not work. I will keep standing up to protect people, and the court’s denial of my motions does not change that fact.”

Semper said he’ll rule later on whether she’s protected by the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which protects lawmakers from prosecution for performance of their official duties.

Lawyers for McIver argued that she engaged in regular oversight as part of her duties as a congresswoman. Delaney Hall is a 1,000-bed private detention facility used to support Trump’s mass deportation efforts. But Semper said the allegations — that she assaulted immigration officers while they tried to handcuff Baraka — undermined her argument.

“Defendant’s active participation in the alleged conduct removes her acts from the safe harbor of mere oversight,” Semper wrote in his ruling. “Lawfully or unlawfully, Defendant actively engaged in conduct unrelated to her oversight responsibilities and congressional duties.”

The incident took place when McIver visited Delaney Hall with two other Democratic Representatives from New Jersey, Rob Menendez and Bonnie Watson Coleman. They were not charged.

McIver’s lawyers had also argued that Habba engaged in selective prosecution, citing Trump’s pardon of those who attacked the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But Semper agreed with government lawyers that the January 6 defendants’ cases were different because they were pardoned after they were charged or convicted.

As part of McIver’s legislative immunity argument, her attorneys argued that the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling on presidential immunity should be expanded to lawmakers.

Semper wrote Thursday that the “absolute immunity protection for legislative acts” and a president’s presumptive immunity “are two separate immunities applicable to two separate branches of government, scrutinized under two separate legal standards.

Semper hasn’t set a trial date yet.

--With assistance from Celine Castronuovo.

To contact the reporter on this story:
David Voreacos in New York at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net

Anthony Aarons

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