CBP Nominee Appears Headed for Confirmation as Democrats Zero in on Potential Coverup
President Trump’s nominee to lead U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) faced the Senate Finance Committee at his confirmation hearing.
If confirmed, Rodney Scott would lead an agency that will play a key role in carrying out President Trump’s plans to aggressively ramp up arrests and deportations of illegal migrants.
Scott, who served as chief of U.S. Border Patrol during the first Trump Administration before he was pushed out by President Biden, said he would focus on CBP personnel and ensure that they have the training, resources, and policies to succeed in their positions.
“I will leverage my experience to empower the men and women of CBP to do what they were hired to do – safeguard every American by securing our borders and keeping trade and travel moving,” said Scott in his opening statement.
Scott also said he wants to improve morale in the agency and ensure that CBP officers have access to the most up to date technology.
Scott’s Role in Inmate Death Investigation Questioned
Democrats quizzed Scott on his role in the investigation into the death of inmate Anastasio Hernández Rojas in 2010 in federal custody, when Scott was a top border patrol official in the San Diego sector.
According to ranking member Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Scott may have impeded the investigation and engaged in a coverup.
“Rather than following the agency’s own policy and immediately referring the incident to outside investigators, the San Diego CBP office began its own investigation,” said Senator Wyden. “In the course of that investigation, the CBP officers taped over the only video copy of Hernández Rojas’s death and tampered with physical evidence, according to court documents.”
While the federal government paid a $1 million settlement to Hernández Rojas’s widow, the Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to pursue criminal charges.
Republicans on the committee stood by Scott, with Senator Ron Johnson calling it a “smear campaign.”
Scott appears to be on the path to confirmation as Republicans on the committee voiced their support.