Trump pick to lead CBP accused of 'cover-up' over death of man at California border

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s nominee to pb U.S. Customs and Border Protection is facing scrutiny for his relation successful an probe into the decease of a migrant who was brutally beaten by Border Patrol agents successful 2010.

Critics allege Rodney Scott participated successful a cover-up and is unqualified to pb the agency. His defenders accidental helium acted appropriately and called him a good prime to caput 1 of the largest national agencies with much than 60,000 employees, including the Border Patrol and agents astatine ports of entry.

Rodney Scott, who led the U.S. Border Patrol until 2021, faced questions astir the decease from senators Wednesday during a Senate Finance Committee proceeding to see his nomination.

“Today’s proceeding is to find whether Rodney Scott possesses that experience, on with the spot of quality to beryllium trusted with 1 of the astir indispensable jobs successful government,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). “The grounds shows that helium falls short.”

Scott was acting lawman main patrol cause of the San Diego Border Patrol Sector erstwhile agents preparing to deport Anastasio Hernández Rojas bushed and tased him successful a walkway astatine the San Ysidro Port of Entry until helium stopped breathing, tribunal records show. He died successful a infirmary 2 days later, leaving down a woman and 5 children.

Federal officials said Hernández Rojas, 42, fought with the agents attempting to region him from the country.

Last week Wyden sent a missive to the Department of Homeland Security seeking documents related to the decease and investigation. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s effect Tuesday did not see documents. She called Wyden’s “uninformed” relationship of Scott’s alleged relation successful the probe “infuriating and offensive.”

Noem said Scott was not astatine the country erstwhile the incidental occurred, had constricted engagement with an interior investigative squad that reviewed the case, and didn’t impede outer investigations oregon conceal facts.

“No little than 7 section and national investigatory bodies reviewed the circumstances of Mr. Hernández Rojas’ death, and nary recovered grounds of actions that were inconsistent with law, regulation, oregon policy,” Noem wrote.

Roxanna Altholz, manager of the Human Rights Clinic astatine UC Berkeley Law, which represents the household of Hernández Rojas, said successful a connection that the household has ne'er received a afloat accounting of however the probe was handled.

“His household has spent years asking the aforesaid question: How tin 17 agents of the nation’s largest instrumentality enforcement agency, Customs and Border Protection, bushed to decease a antheral successful nationalist successful beforehand of dozens of eyewitnesses connected videotape without consequence?” she wrote.

In 2017, the authorities settled a national suit with Hernández Rojas’ household for $1 million.

In a landmark determination Wednesday, an planetary quality rights committee recovered that the U.S. is liable for Hernández Rojas’ sidesplitting and that a cover-up followed. The Inter-American Commission connected Human Rights — an autonomous judicial assemblage wrong the Organization of American States — called connected the U.S. to reopen the transgression probe of the agents involved.

During the hearing, Wyden called retired Noem for not producing the documents helium requested.

“The caput responded with a missive that said Mr. Scott was fundamentally a cleanable angel and each the allegations against him are false, but produced zero documents that I requested to backmost it up,” Wyden said. “In the archetypal 100 days of this medication it seems similar this bureau is practically allergic to the truth.”

Before Wednesday’s hearing, James Wong, a erstwhile lawman adjunct commissioner of CBP’s bureau of interior affairs, wrote to Wyden with interest astir Scott’s handling of Hernandez Rojas’ death.

Units known arsenic captious incidental teams (CIT), which were disbanded successful 2022, investigated use-of-force incidents successful the Border Patrol. They were “designed to mitigate liability for Border Patrol elder absorption and to contiguous Border Patrol successful the champion imaginable light,” Wong wrote.

The squad utilized an administrative subpoena, which Scott signed, to get Hernández Rojas’ aesculapian records. Wong said that “was blatantly unlawful” due to the fact that “such subpoenas should lone beryllium utilized for the precise constricted intent of examining imports and exports, not for the postulation of aesculapian grounds oregon to hunt a premises.”

“By virtuousness of his position, Mr. Scott would person overseen each CIT operations connected the lawsuit and each CIT accusation would person filtered done him to CBP headquarters,” Wong wrote. “This was not an investigation, it was a cover-up — 1 Mr. Scott supervised.”

Noem, successful her missive to Wyden, wrote that “Mr. Scott’s signature, and the execution of the administrative subpoena helium signed, were accordant with instrumentality and bureau policy.”

According to tribunal records, officials astatine the country erased photos and videos from witnesses’ phones. The captious incidental squad declined to springiness San Diego constabulary Hernández Rojas’ aesculapian records. Footage of the country was written implicit with caller recordings.

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) asked Scott whether helium did “anything successful that lawsuit to interfere with the investigation.”

“Absolutely not,” Scott replied.

Wyden besides took contented with different incidents successful Scott’s past, saying helium has not learned from his mistakes.

One of those was Scott’s rank successful a backstage Facebook radical for Border Patrol agents with much than 9,000 members that contained racist and sexually convulsive posts.

Wyden besides cited Scott’s effect to a erstwhile Border Patrol cause and subsister of intersexual battle who posted disapproval of Scott connected X.

Scott responded with a station of his own:

“I investigated each your allegations. Not a crumb of grounds could beryllium recovered to enactment immoderate of them. But I did find retired a batch astir you. Lean back, adjacent your eyes and conscionable bask the show.”

A justice called Scott’s station “a classical rape threat” but recovered it fell abbreviated of being an imminent menace of violence.

Scott defended his record, saying helium has been transparent passim his career. He said helium apologized to the erstwhile cause for his post, calling it “a anemic moment” that wasn’t meant to beryllium threatening.

“Everybody makes mistakes,” helium said. “I judge the ones I’ve made were precise minor. We larn from them and determination forward.”

The Biden medication forced Scott retired of his relation astatine Border Patrol successful 2021 aft helium objected to directives to halt utilizing presumption specified arsenic “illegal alien.”

On Wednesday, some Democrats and Republicans congratulated Scott connected his nomination. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) suggested that the effort to forestall his information from moving guardant wouldn’t succeed.

“I apologize for the smear campaign,” helium told Scott.