WASHINGTON (AP) — A Democratic senator is asking the FBI to investigate whether Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen lied during testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Jeff Merkley said in a letter to the FBI that a December 2017 memo shows DHS officials were secretly outlining a policy to separate families.
In April 2018, Attorney Jeff Sessions instituted the “zero-tolerance” policy where anyone caught crossing the border illegally was criminally prosecuted. It resulted in the separation of nearly 2,800 children.
Nielsen said at the hearing last December there wasn’t a policy to separate families. She said the separations were a result of the zero-tolerance policy because children can’t be jailed with their parents.
FBI and Homeland Security officials had no immediate comment.
Merkley, of Oregon, is considering a presidential run.
