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From the Washington Examiner: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas shut down questions on how an Afghan man charged with planning an Election Day terrorist plot was permitted into the country even as lawmakers raised concerns about national security ahead of the November contest.
Mayorkas brushed off questions about how the man was allowed into the United States and details on what screening he underwent during the White House press briefing on Thursday. Instead, he redirected questions to the department’s hurricane relief efforts.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, along with a teen co-conspirator, was arrested on Monday in Oklahoma, and has been charged with plotting an ISIS terror attack in the US on Election Day, targeting “large gatherings of people.” Tawhedi had arrived in the U.S. on September 9, 2021, just days after Joe Biden’s bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan concluded.
NBC News reported Wednesday evening that the man had worked as a security guard in Afghanistan for the CIA.
The DOJ criminal complaint says Tawhedi entered the U.S. on a Special Immigrant Visa, which is given to Afghans who worked with the U.S. in Afghanistan after they pass DHS screening.
However, State Department officials have claimed the DOJ complaint is incorrect, and say Tawhedi entered the U.S. on ‘humanitarian parole,’ which normally involves far less screening than a Special Immigrant Visa.
Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich tried to get to the bottom of the mystery Thursday morning, and asked Mayorkas about it during the press briefing. But Mayorkas was having none of it, and quickly cut her off.
“I’d be very pleased to answer your question in a different setting, but we are here to talk about emergencies and support that we can deliver to people in desperate need,” Mayorkas retorted.
Heinrich tried again, saying, “We’re getting conflicting answers from your agency and from the State Department about a man who was arrested for an Election Day terror plot! How do you not have those answers prepared?”
Mayorkas cut her off again, and Heinrich tried a third time. Then Mayorkas snapped, “Jacqui, your persistence in questioning can be matched by my persistence in answers.”
Watch below:
Yikes! Ali Mayorkas @SecMayorkas just got super cranky and rude when asked a reasonable question by @JacquiHeinrich about the vetting for a documented terrorist entering our country via the Afghan SIV program.
He refused to even affirm that Americans are safe from this threat. pic.twitter.com/j8WFNfjiOf
— Meara (@MillennialOther) October 10, 2024
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin commented, “Wow. Mayorkas refuses to answer reasonable, pertinent questions about vetting from colleague @JacquiHeinrich re: the Afghan national arrested by the FBI for an Election Day terror plot after he was paroled into the U.S. by DHS days after the disastrous Afghan withdrawal.”
Wow. Mayorkas refuses to answer reasonable, pertinent questions about vetting from colleague @JacquiHeinrich re: the Afghan national arrested by the FBI for an Election Day terror plot after he was paroled into the U.S. by DHS days after the disastrous Afghan withdrawal. https://t.co/hwCvrPAUCY
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 10, 2024
Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) slammed Mayorkas, writing, “It’s unthinkable that Biden-Harris let unvetted Afghan nationals into the U.S. after the disastrous withdrawal. The threats we face—both known and unknown—are a chilling reminder of the dangers our country faces. Mayorkas’ refusal to assure Americans is unacceptable.”
It’s unthinkable that Biden-Harris let unvetted Afghan nationals into the U.S. after the disastrous withdrawal.
The threats we face—both known and unknown—are a chilling reminder of the dangers our country faces.
Mayorkas’ refusal to assure Americans is unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/nMe2AckrvF
— Congressman Kevin Hern (@repkevinhern) October 10, 2024
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre didn’t want to discuss it either, claiming she couldn’t comment because it is an “ongoing investigation.”
QUESTION: Does the admin believe there was adequate vetting considering the Afghan national they imported into the country, who was plotting a terrorist attack, was a security guard for the CIA?
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: “What I can say is I cannot comment.”
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 10, 2024
NEWS ALERT: Afghan accused of plotting terror attack worked as CIA guard
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