Thread: 39 congressmen ask accounting in BP agent's death

39 congressmen ask accounting in BP agent's death
July 10th, 2008 @ 2:44pm
by Associated Press

Thirty-nine congressmen wrote President Bush and Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Thursday asking if the government had asked Mexico to extradite a now-freed suspect in a U.S. Border Patrol agent's death.

Justice Department officials have refused to say what steps they may have taken to have Jesus Navarro Montes returned to this country.

A Mexican government spokesman said Navarro was released last month after the U.S. government failed to issue an arrest warrant, provide evidence or contact Mexican authorities to seek extradition.

U.S. authorities allege Navarro's Hummer struck and killed Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar on Jan. 19 as the agent tried to stop suspected drug smugglers by setting spike strips on a road.

He was later arrested in Mexico, but a judge released him June 18 after he was cleared of an unrelated migrant smuggling charge.

The letter from California Rep. Brian Bilbray noted the congressmen's concerns over Navarro's release and Mexican Embassy spokesman Ricardo Alday's statement. The lawmakers want an accounting of communications between U.S. and Mexican officials.

Bilbray is a Republican who heads the Immigration Reform Caucus, a group of lawmakers who support tougher immigration laws.

The letter noted that the spokesman ``stated publicly that the U.S. government has not issued an arrest warrant, provided evidence or contacted Mexican authorities regarding extradition either formally or informally. Mexican officials publicly claim that the mistake was made on the U.S. side of the border.''

Bilbray said he and the executive director of the caucus have ``received absolutely no information from the Department of Justice or the White House'' in response to numerous requests made since June 27.

The U.S. Attorney's office in San Diego, which has been in charge of investigating Aguilar's death, has refused any comment, and calls Thursday to that office's spokeswoman were not returned immediately.

Nor was a call to the White House office of media affairs.

Bilbray requested ``a full report of all activities and correspondence the U.S. government has had with the Mexican government'' in the case.

The letter also asked:

``Has the U.S. government issued an arrest warrant?

``Has the U.S. government contacted Mexican authorities regarding extradition either formally or informally?

``If the U.S. Department of Justice failed to contact Mexican authorities, who was responsible for that failure''?

Alday said last month that Mexican federal officials were surprised to learn of Navarro's release and that authorities were looking for him.

Calls on Thursday to Alday seeking to find out whether Mexican police had been able to locate Navarro were not immediately returned.


http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=893833

Go Bilbray

ONLY 39? Why don't they all demand an answer to this incompetence?

Perhaps the Attorney General wants to offer the murderer amnesty in return for testimony against the Border Patrol................

Or maybe someone negotiated for the murderer's release in return for freeing a kidnapped relative?

I won't deny that our trusted government is capable of such things.

this is about to be reported on Dobbs tonight, also.
Brian Bilbray is on the show to talk about this

something to hide?? are the words appearing under a clip of jorge boosh walking up to the nicrophone

I just saw Bilbray on Lou Dobbs. I wish more reps would stand behind Bilbray and DEMAND THE ANSWERS!

There is NO QUESTION that illegal immigrants are being treated like "extra special people" by the Bush administration and every other corrupt politician and big business pigs.

Something very ugly is happening to America right now. DOL Secretary Chou is catering to the whims of illegal hispanics, and Mexican murderers are getting off scott free. And Americans are losing their homes, jobs, and rights as citizens on a daily basis.

Saw Bilbray on Lou's show also.

What boggles my mind is only 39 reps have signed on????? Hello..... where are the rest of you?

Originally Posted by jean

Saw Bilbray on Lou's show also.

What boggles my mind is only 39 reps have signed on????? Hello..... where are the rest of you?

They are Pandering to all the Illegals hoping they will get their ILLEGAL votes ! Thats where they are

Originally Posted by PatrioticSandra

Originally Posted by jean

Saw Bilbray on Lou's show also.

What boggles my mind is only 39 reps have signed on????? Hello..... where are the rest of you?

They are Pandering to all the Illegals hoping they will get their ILLEGAL votes ! Thats where they are

better yet, who are the 39 so that we can call them and say THANKS

DOBBS: Well, a lot of Americans tonight want to know why a Mexican judge released the number one suspect in the killing of one of our Border Patrol agents, and Americans want to know what the heck U.S. government is going to do about it. Border Patrol agent Luis Aguilar was brutally run over and killed back in January trying to stop suspected drug smugglers from fleeing back in Mexico.

Mexican police later arrested the suspect on an unrelated charge and then he was released last month. Mexican officials say the United States didn't even attempt to extradite him. Congressman Brian Bilbray, like many of us, is simply outraged at the release, and he is leading the fight to get some answers. He joins us tonight from Washington.

Congressman, good to have you with us.

REP. BRIAN BILBRAY (R), CALIFORNIA: Nice to be with you, Lou.

DOBBS: You know, I think this is one of the sorriest episodes in this country's history when it comes to border enforcement. But this may -- I mean, we've got two border patrol agents sitting in prison. We have a government that can't even come to terms with how to deal with a suspected killer, and didn't apparently act to get him extradited. What is going on here?

BILBRAY: And we're talking about a federal officer performing his sworn duty being killed by a criminal. And for this not to be the top priority, to bring this guy to justice here in the United States, just really raises concerns. And that's why there are 39 of us have asked the president for the answers of how did this happen? Who let it fall through the cracks? And who is to blame? We want to make sure this doesn't happen again.

DOBBS: In your letter to the White House and to the attorney general, Michael Mukasey, you say the following: "Has the U.S. government issue an arrest warrant? Has the U.S. government contacted Mexican authorities regarding extradition either formally or informally? If the U.S. Department of Justice failed to contact Mexican authorities, who was responsible for that failure?"

DOBBS: Now, I'm going to just take a wild guess. I'll take a wild guess and say no one in this administration has responded to you.

BILBRAY: They haven't. I've have even made -- you know, had conversations with the White House that says we'll try to find out. Well, frankly, you know, Lou, there's a lot of things the federal government is involved with that the Constitution doesn't give us that job. There's a lot of things we stick our nose into that's none of our business.

But border control, law enforcement, and fighting criminals, and immigration, and drug fights, those are our constitutional responsibilities. These are the minimums that we ought to be doing that are not being done. And maybe if we spent less time doing the things that are not our business and concentrate on getting the job done like protecting our borders and protecting our neighborhoods, everybody would be a lot better off.

But this one is one of those outrageous -- that there's a dead officer, serving his country, serving his constitutional responsibility, and nobody is asking the right questions or at least going through the paperwork to make sure the bad guy doesn't get released.

DOBBS: Well, we talked with the Mexican government. And in a statement, obtained by LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, the Mexican government's U.S. spokesman, Ricardo Alday, told us: "The United States, to this date, has not presented to Mexican authorities either a provisional order of arrest for Mr. Navarro Montes, nor a formal extradition request."

BILBRAY: That's why our letter is saying, is this true? And if it is, who didn't get the job done? Who allowed this? And what's being done to make sure it is corrected?

DOBBS: I mean, can you tell me, Congressman, why should any man or woman serving in the United States Border Patrol believe for one second that their leader, David Aguilar, their next level of leader, the secretary -- the Department of Homeland Security, and their president, why should they have any faith in them? Why should they risk their lives with this kind of support coming from their leadership while two of their former colleagues have been railroaded into prison?

They've been there for a year-and-a-half, they're still waiting a decision by an appellate court. I mean, what in the world is the message here to our men and women serving this nation, protecting our borders?

BILBRAY: In fact, I think the message to all of us is that the chain of command doesn't stop with the president. It ends with us, as the electorate, the people. And what are we doing -- not only what the administration, but what are we doing about the fact that they're not being supported in their efforts?

They're giving their all to defend us. And we're standing by and watching them being prosecuted and persecuted, and we allow those who commit crimes and attack them to not only be allowed off, but to be allowed to be rewarded.

I mean, you've got men and women -- you've got two gentlemen that are prison today and being sued by the smuggler who actually...

DOBBS: The illegal alien drug smuggler.

BILBRAY: Absolutely. And that's how absurd the system is going on. And it's a miracle that we're able to get men and women willing to stand in harm's way and protect us along border.

DOBBS: I'll tell you what, to me, the miracle is? That the folks in Washington, D.C. can sleep at night, I mean, you've got colleagues in that House of Representatives, in that U.S. Senate, and certainly in that White House, I have to say, they have to be men and women of absolutely no principle whatsoever to permit this kind of travesty to occur.
And I want to commend you for trying to make it right.

BILBRAY: Thank you very much.
DOBBS: Congressman Brian Bilbray.
BILBRAY: Thank you, Lou.
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Seperate post with Bilbray's letter and names who signed
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-122980.html

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-3350--0-0.html