October 9, 2014

The Department of Homeland Security has called right wing flamethrower Rep. Duncan Hunter's claim that there have been at least 10 ISIS fighters apprehended at out Southern border "categorically false." That didn't stop his office from telling Rachel Maddow's staff that they stand by his statements and "may release more information tomorrow." As Maddow noted on this Wednesday's show, if he does make true on his promise it will probably be on Fox, just like the interview he gave last night, where even host Greta Van Susteren was skeptical of his assertions.

GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter Claims 'At Least' 10 ISIS Fighters Apprehended On Texas Border:

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) claimed Tuesday that "at least" 10 Islamic State fighters were apprehended while attempting to enter the U.S. at its southern border.

The San Diego Republican said U.S. Border Patrol "sources" told him that "at least 10 ISIS fighters have been caught coming across the Mexican border in Texas."

"If you really want to protect Americans from ISIS, you secure the southern border -- it’s that simple," he said. "They caught them at the border, therefore we know that ISIS is coming across the border. If they catch five or 10 of them then you know there’s going to be dozens more that did not get caught by the border patrol," he said on Fox News’ "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren."

"ISIS doesn’t have a navy, they don’t have an air force, they don’t have nuclear weapons," he added. "The only way that ISIS is going to harm Americans is by coming through the southern border -- which they already have."

Two of the country's top intelligence officials said last month they had no credible evidence to support the theory that militants are operating next door, nor that they are plotting to sneak across the border.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that Hunter's claim otherwise was "categorically false."

"The suggestion that individuals who have ties to ISIL have been apprehended at the Southwest border is categorically false, and not supported by any credible intelligence or the facts on the ground," DHS spokeswoman Marsha Catron told The Huffington Post. "DHS continues to have no credible intelligence to suggest terrorist organizations are actively plotting to cross the southwest border."

This is the same guy who was all in for using nuclear weapons to attack Iran, and who attacked President Obama as a "juvenile foreign policy president," so of course Fox loves him.

Maddow's office actually did a little follow up and they were first referred to Judicial Watch's blog, which, as Rachel noted, left them "with roughly a zillion and four questions." When they tried to get those questions answered, they were presented with absolutely no evidence to substantiate their claims. The Congressman's office said they're standing by their remarks, and as already noted here, said they may release more information this week. It's probably safe to assume that will come in the way of either a press release or another appearance on Fox.

Here's the interview with Van Susteren from her show this Tuesday.

[ad]

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon