Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said Tuesday that she still has not been able to confirm whether she is under federal investigation for a “Know Your Rights” immigration webinar she held in February.
“I’ve asked them, they haven’t responded to me, but you know, I was once again fully using the First Amendment to inform people of their constitutional rights. They say a lot of things, but I’ve written a formal letter, and they won’t respond,” Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News Digital.
When asked what the fallout might be from the potential arrest of a lawmaker by the Trump administration, Ocasio-Cortez said that detention “without any actual grounds” would be a “tremendous sea change and escalation in what this administration is willing to do to bend laws, norms, et cetera, and how a normal functioning democracy works.”
Ocasio-Cortez also considered how America’s allies would think of an “authoritarian development” like the U.S. arresting one of its own sitting congress members.
“I sure hope that for all the saber-rattling that this administration is doing, that they really think about the global consequences of what it means for the United States,” she said.
In February, Ocasio-Cortez dared Trump “border czar” Tom Homan to follow through on a suggestion he would refer her to the Justice Department for prosecution in response to essentially advising illegal immigrants on how to avoid deportation.
“I’m using my free speech rights in order to advise people of their constitutional protections. To that I say: Come for me, do I look like I care?” she said at a town hall in Queens shortly after the webinar.
Homan said after the event, “I’m working with the Department of Justice and finding out where is that line … So maybe AOC is going to be in trouble now.”
Homan told FOX Business that Ocasio-Cortez needed to read federal statutes and understand that entering the U.S. illegally is a deportable crime.
In her letter to Attorney General Pamela Bondi, Ocasio-Cortez asked for clarity on whether the DOJ has “yielded to political pressure” and weaponization attempts to confront elected officials they “disagree with.”
“Tom Homan has gone on multiple forums threatening political prosecution against me, citing resources I distributed informing my constituents and the American public of their constitutional and legal rights,” she said.
“On February 13, 2025, Mr. Homan announced that he had asked the deputy attorney general to open an investigation, and that I will be ‘in trouble now’… I am sure you aware of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the letter went on.
“Educating the public about their rights, especially in a time of rising uncertainty, is a key part of our responsibility as elected officials,” she wrote.
“A government that uses threats of DOJ investigations to suppress free speech is a threat to all, regardless of political ideology.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s response Tuesday appeared to indicate the DOJ had passed the March 5 deadline the lawmaker imposed in the missive.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
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