Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing was momentous from the start as it addressed only part one of "The Biden Border Crisis." The craziest moments came not just from Democratic members, like Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) for his selective take on the border crisis, or Ranking Member Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who cried racism. Outrage over the hearing and points that Republican members made came from Democratic allies in the mainstream media as well.
The Washington Post's Nick Miroff claimed over Twitter that he was "catching up on" the hearing that morning and then proceeded to exclusively attack points made by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) regarding very real concerns the congressman and many others have with fentanyl coming across the border.
Miroff's tweets gained considerable attention.
Republican members of the committee and even the committee's official Twitter account chimed in.
Miroff eventually did post the clip of Roy's remarks, but only to continue to bash the congressman.
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So, what got Miroff so fired up against Roy?
The congressman began his remarks by "clarify[ing] the record" regarding "the idea that the fact that fentanyl is caught at ports of entry and that that is the only place that's coming from is belied by the facts, and is belied by the facts that border patrol is now distracted processing human beings, just as the judge from El Paso just described, but just ignores the impact of what that does to the actual border, the border patrol can't possibly catch all the fentanyl at the ports of entry, nor catch the fentanyl between the ports of entry."
When being questioned by the congressman, one of the witnesses, Sheriff Mark Dannels of Cochise County, Arizona, said that he agreed with the assessment, pointing out, "We've had a depletion in Border Patrol because they've been taken to other areas where processing's more important." Upon further questioning, Dannels, from his own experience, also agreed with Roy's assessment that "fentanyl pours in between the points of entry and that fentanyl does in fact get into our communities in mass quantities today due to our open border."
Later in his remarks, Roy highlighted how the issue at hand comes down to that fentanyl is coming over at all.
The congressman spoke with Brandon Dunn, co-founder of the Forever 15 Project, about young lives lost in Hays County, his home county, due to fentanyl. One student has already died this year.
"Do you care, precisely, whether or not fentanyl is coming through ports of entry or between ports of entry, or was your family directly impacted because fentanyl is flooding into our community one way or the other?" he asked Dunn, who offered, "however it gets here, is--it's here."
Roy then tied how the fentanyl crisis and the tragedy affecting families in Hays County, around Texas, and the country is further worsened by the way Border Patrol is being used.
He asked Dunn if other affected families in the community and law enforcement personnel felt that "the overwhelming flood at our borders distracting border patrol from being able to carry out the flow between the ports of entry or do inspections at the port of entry, is resulting in more fentanyl pouring into our communities that is then resulting in the deaths of Americans, and in fact the death of migrants in the process?"
Answering in the affirmative, Dunn explained that a common theme fathers of the young victims want the public to know is that "it's a border issue. It's not an immigration issue, it's flooding across the borders because there's a problem at the border."
Dunn also answered he believes, including after speaking to these victims' families, that "it is an imperative that this country's federal government, who has a constitutional obligation to secure the border of the United States, do so in order to ensure that we stop the flow of fentanyl and dangerous and illicit narcotics into the United States, resulting in the death of Americans."
Through a final question, Roy and Dunn raised the point that fixing the border crisis by stemming the number of people coming over could help the fentanyl crisis as well. "If this country adopted policies that enabled us to restrict and stop the flow of fentanyl, and that that includes ensuring that we no longer have a flow of human beings at our border, while still maintaining asylum laws and protecting people who are being persecuted, under actual threat of persecution for their religious and political beliefs, do you believe that stopping the flow of individuals, enabling border patrol to stop fentanyl, that that is a critical imperative, and if that were adopted, would help save lives?" Roy asked. Dunn answered he believes that and expressed that most others he's talked to believe it as well.
When examining the congressman's remarks, which included points backed up by a sheriff, it's puzzling to think of the issues Miroff could have had with Roy's line of questioning – other than a thoroughly nuanced and partisan bone to pick. Further, most of the congressman's remarks in the clip touched upon consulting with the co-founder of an organization that works with families who have known the real pain of losing loved ones due to fentanyl.
What concessions Miroff did make, perhaps to save face, make his going after Roy and his points that the congressman made more of a partisan agenda than anything. Further, that Miroff responded to Roy's remarks arguing that "This claims a theoretical thing is happening while ignoring CBP data showing what is *actually* happening," brings into question if he actually did watch it at all, given that Roy spoke to those who have been in contact with those directly impacted.
Other Twitter replies and quoted tweets to Miroff and Roy's remarks included more families sharing how they or someone they know lost a young person to fentanyl.
Further, Miroff seeking to address Roy's remarks leaves out a key issue that is also at the heart of underscoring how serious the immigration issue and crisis at the border is. A crux of the issue, which Miroff appears to completely ignore, lies in whether or not fentanyl coming over the border is actually being caught.
As Roy and Sheriff Dannels touched upon, it's pretty much an understatement to say that border patrol is overwhelmed. There are at least 1.3 million illegal immigrant gotaways, that we know of. For honest people, it goes without saying that there is fentanyl being missed at the border. Yet Miroff only focuses on what was seized at the border in his tweets above.
Miroff tried to engage in back-and-forths about being called out. He even replied to Rep. Bigg's tweet, acknowledging that "This is a national crisis." However, he doubled down on going after Roy, claiming he and other mainstream media journalists "are too aware of the immensity of the devastation brought by fentanyl to see a debate sidetracked by false claims." Acknowledgments aside, Miroff showed his true colors, as well as what the mainstream media's agenda has been for some time now, no matter the issue.
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, this isn't the only time the media has downplayed concerns about the fentanyl crisis in order to attack Republicans. Last October, Mia slammed Rolling Stone for dismissing concerns from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) about fentanyl during Halloween, with Mia rating such concerns from the DEA "mostly true."
