A federal judge on Thursday declined to toss assault charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), who faces charges of assaulting federal agents outside an immigration detention facility in May.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper allows McIver’s prosecution to proceed closer to trial.

“Defendant has failed to offer clear evidence that the charges in this case had a discriminatory effect, thus her claims of selective enforcement and prosecution must fail,” Semper wrote, according to The Hill.

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Semper’s 41-page ruling also largely rejected McIver’s arguments that she is immune under the Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause, which protects lawmakers for things they say or do as part of their legislative activities. But the judge said he’d rule on the defense later for one of the three counts.

“I am disappointed in today’s decision,” McIver said in a statement. “From the beginning, this case has been about trying to intimidate me, stop me from doing oversight, and keep me from doing my job. It will not work.”

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“I will keep standing up to protect people, and the court’s denial of my motions does not change that fact. I am not in this fight only for myself, and I am concerned that this decision will simply embolden the administration. This case is not over. I am committed to protecting my community, our people, and our country,” she added.

Alina Habba, the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey and President Trump’s former personal attorney, indicted McIver over a scuffle when she traveled to Delaney Hall in May for an oversight visit. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses the privately owned facility in Newark, N.J., as a detention center.

“Defendant’s active participation in the alleged conduct removes her acts from the safe harbor of mere oversight,” Semper wrote, according to POLITICO.

“Lawfully or unlawfully, Defendant actively engaged in conduct unrelated to her oversight responsibilities and congressional duties,” he added.

Semper is an appointee of Joe Biden.

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POLITICO noted:

Her attorney, Paul Fishman, said McIver and her legal team are “evaluating next steps” in response to legal decisions they believe “are wrong.”

McIver is accused in a three-count indictment of slamming a federal agent with her forearm, “forcibly” grabbing him and using her forearms to strike another agent. Allegations of physical violence by a sitting member of Congress are rare.

The alleged assaults occurred during a 68-second span in the midst of a three-hour oversight visit to the Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey, when McIver and fellow Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez were part of a chaotic scene as immigration agents moved to arrest city Mayor Ras Baraka on a trespassing charge that was later dropped.

 

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