Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, is demanding that his Republican counterpart, Chairman Jim Jordan, investigate an incident in which a Department of Homeland Security agent handcuffed one of Rep. Jerry Nadler’s staffers at his Manhattan office.
Raskin and Nadler sent the letter to Jordan on Tuesday, demanding that he “condemn this aggressive affront to the separation of powers and the safety of Members of Congress, our staff, and our constituents.” They also asked him to call DHS Secretary Kristi Noem before the committee to ask questions about the incident.
DHS agents handcuffed the staffer last week, which was first reported by the Gothamist. Nadler’s New York office is within a federal building that also houses an immigration court office. Nearly two dozen demonstrators were arrested hours after the standoff in Nadler’s office because NYPD said they blocked traffic outside the building, according to the Gothamist.