Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security is Alejandro Mayorkas, who held a lower position at DHS under Obama. While the media is swooning over this choice, they’re leaving out an important part of Mayorkas’s record.
In 2013, Mayorkas was embroiled in a scandal that involved the alleged sale of a U.S. visa to a Chinese executive for the sake of Hillary Clinton’s brother.
The Daily Mail reported in 2013:
Obama’s pick for No.2 at Homeland Security investigated over helping Chinese executive get a U.S. visa for company run by Hillary Clinton’s brotherPresident Barack Obama’s choice for the No. 2 job at the Homeland Security Department is under investigation for his role in helping a company run by Hillary Clinton’s brother Anthony Rodham.Alejandro Mayorkas, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is being investigated for his role in helping the company secure an international investor visa for a Chinese executive, according to congressional officials briefed on the investigation.Anthony Rodham is president and CEO of Gulf Coast Funds Management LLC in McLean, Va.The officials spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details of the investigation.Mayorkas was named by Homeland Security’s Inspector General’s Office as a target in an investigation involving the foreign investor program run by USCIS, according to an email sent to lawmakers late Monday, Associated Press has learned.
The report also contains this little tidbit:
Mayorkas, a former U.S. attorney in California, previously came under criticism for his involvement in the commutation by President Bill Clinton of the prison sentence of the son of a Democratic Party donor.
This 2015 report from ABC News includes the findings of the investigation:
Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tainted the image and integrity of the immigration program he oversaw by fostering “an appearance of favoritism and special access” in how the agency treated projects that would bring visas and Green Cards to wealthy foreign investors, a new report from the agency’s Inspector General says.“The juxtaposition of Mr. Mayorkas’ communication with external stakeholders on specific matters outside the normal procedures, coupled with favorable action that deviated from the regulatory scheme designed to ensure fairness and evenhandedness in adjudicating benefits, created an appearance of favoritism and special access,” the Inspector General’s report concluded.
Senator Tom Cotton mentioned this during a recent appearance on FOX News:
Here’s an example of how the media is covering Mayorkas now. From NBC News:
First Latino tapped to head DHS signals shift from Trump’s hard-line immigration policiesAlejandro Mayorkas, the first Latino chosen for President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet, will head a Department of Homeland Security that is expected to drastically overhaul President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policies, as well as put Mayorkas at the forefront of the new administration’s anti-terrorism strategy.Mayorkas will be the first Latino and first immigrant to head the Department of Homeland Security, if confirmed by the Senate. The highest-ranking Cuban American in the Obama administration, Mayorkas was deputy secretary of DHS under then-Secretary Jeh Johnson, and before that was the director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, a part of DHS that oversees granting citizenship and other immigration benefits.
Buried at the very bottom of the report, the scandal gets a brief mention:
At the time he had been under investigation for a visa program that he managed. He was not found to have committed any wrongdoing, but was criticized for the appearance of exerting undue influence to grant certain visas.Mayorkas also was chastised for calling the Bill Clinton White House to ask for a commutation for convicted drug dealer Carlos Vignali.
This is the swamp, folks. Biden wants to bring them all back, and the media will celebrate and tell us how excited we should all be about it.
Featured image via YouTube.
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