in-town pool report #2 - Noem gaggle (partial transcript + Ottr)

Sec. Noem gaggled in the White House driveway following a television hit, contending the Trump administration's actions in Minneapolis and other cities related to its mass deportation program have been conducted "according to the law."

Your pooler joined in-progress, and the below Ottr audio is sometimes inaudible due windy conditions here in the nation's capital and the secretary addressing reporters with her back to your pooler. Some highlights:

"Every single action that our ICE officers take is according to the law and following protocols that we have used for years, that this administration has used, that the previous administration used. They are doing everything correctly, and over and over again in litigation, in the courts, we've proven that they've done the right [thing]," she said.

Sec. Noem said she had discussed using the Insurrection Act to address the situation in Minneapolis with President Trump, but she later said she did not know if he would invoke it.

She declined to comment on what oil-carrying ships the administration might be tracking, re: Venezuela. Noem: "I can't speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet ... moving. And I'm very proud of our Coast Guard and how they partnered with the Department of War to do unprecedented actions in bringing these flags under jurisdiction that often are these ships under jurisdiction that in many instances, aren't flagged, or they're affiliated with a country, moving this unauthorized oil to avoid our sanctions."

Sec. Noem said she "absolutely" watches videos of various DHS components carrying out their missions. DHS, she said, "is very busy."

Noem was asked why Americans are being asked on the street to show proof of US citizenship, and whether that was targeted enforcement, as well as whether she would advise Americans to carry proof of citizenship. Her response: "In every situation we're doing targeted enforcement. If we are on a target and doing an operation, there may be individuals surrounding that criminal that we may be asking who they are and why they're there, and having them validate their [inaudible]. That's what we've always done, and asking people who they are so that we know who's in those surroundings. And if they are breaking our federal laws, we

will detain them as well until we run that process."

Sec. Noem contended DHS ran deportation operations in Louisiana and Florida "exactly how we are running" the one in Minneapolis. "We had a very different response because we had leaders that were working with us," she said. "We would wish that Gov. Walz would take an example from the governor of Louisiana, the governor of Florida and work with us to do the right thing."

Noem also contended federal officers involved are "very highly trained and skilled, specific for the operations that they're doing. They're utilizing the most gifted individuals on these operations to go out and to do enforcement. Because many times they're going after murderers, they're going after professionals and gangs and terrorists that are here in our country illegally."

She also blamed the Biden administration: "And I'll remind you, the only reason we're in this situation is because the Biden administration allowed 20 million people to come into this country. Unvetted. Unvetted. My every day is spent thinking about the known terrorists that are in this country that I just haven't found yet, the suspected terrorists, the criminals, the murderers, the pedophiles that are out there on the streets that we need to find and get off the streets because Joe Biden opened up our borders and allowed that invasion to happen."

"If you can imagine the kind of dysfunctional criminal gangs and organizations that use that open border as an opportunity to infiltrate America, it's overwhelming at times," Noem said. "And that's why President Trump is so strong in taking action and making sure he's in every single state, following through on his commitments to

every single citizen."

Ottr link: https://otter.ai/u/dh4NufV8dP3lvgVtc4cUkU9ofrE?tab=chat&view=@@POOL_LINK_0@@

More TK.

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John T. Bennett

White House Correspondent & Editor-at-Large

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Online: rollcall.com

X: @bennettjohnt