Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas lashed out at reporters for asking him how his agency allowed an Afghan terror suspect into the U.S. without proper vetting.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, a former CIA security contractor, was arrested by the FBI in Oklahoma City Monday for plotting a terrorist attack against large crowds on Election Day.
According to the DOJ’s charging documents, Tawhedi was brought into the U.S. on a Special Immigrant Visa, which are given to Afghans who worked with the U.S. in Afghanistan after they pass DHS screening.
But State Department sources familiar with Tawhedi’s arrest contend that the DOJ’s charging document is incorrect, and that Tawhedi entered the U.S. on humanitarian parole.
During a White House press briefing a reporter asked Mayorkas, who appeared remotely from North Carolina, to clarify the discrepancy between his agency and the DOJ.
“How was this man brought into the U.S.? What screening did he undergo? What did he apply for to get here?” the reporter asked.
Impeached DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas REFUSES to comment on the Afghan national — imported into the country by Kamala and Biden — who was arrested for an Election Day terror plot:
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 10, 2024
"Your persistence in questioning can be matched by my persistence in answers." pic.twitter.com/B6oMpwAi6N
A visibly irritated Mayorkas snapped at the reporter and tried to pivot to FEMA’s response to the Hurricane Helene aftermath.
“I’m here in North Carolina, we’re communicating with the individuals who are still conducting search and rescue operations,” Mayorkas responded. “Over 200 people lost their lives in Hurricane Helene. We have reports that at least 10 individuals have lost their lives as a result of Hurricane Milton. I’d be very pleased to answer your question in a different setting, but we’re here to talk about emergencies and the support that we can deliver to people in desperate need. Thank you.”
But the reporter pressed him again to clarify conflicting answers between the DHS and DOJ’s reason for bringing suspected terrorist Tawhedi into the U.S.
“I understand that Mr. Secretary, but we’re getting conflicting answers from your agency and the State Department about a man who arrested for an Election Day terror plot. How do you not have those answers prepared?” the reporter asked.
Mayorkas snapped, “Jackie, that’s not what I said. What I said is I’d be pleased to discuss, uh, this issue at a different time, but I am here to speak about disasters that have impacted people’s lives in real time, and that is the subject that I’m addressing today.”
The reporter then asked, “Can you assure people that appropriate steps have been taken to secure the country against these kinds of threats? Because the outstanding question is whether this man was radicalized before the U.S. government brought him here or afterward. And people should be concerned.”
Mayorkas, losing his patience, again snapped, “Jackie, Jackie, Jackie, your persistence in questioning can be matched by my persistence in answers.”
The fact the head of the DHS, the man tasked with protecting the homeland, was unwilling to lend clarity to how an Afghan national suspected of plotting a terror attack on Election Day — 26 days from now — was allowed into the country is a staggering failure of leadership and should deeply concern the American people.
Watch the full WH press briefing: