See below for video and highlights from Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11)’s appearance on MSNOW this morning, during which he said the following:
- “It was a bizarre opening statement from [DHS] Secretary Mullin. Rather than actually speak substantively about his department’s budget request, he launched a tirade in which he justified the president’s reckless war in Iran. He attacked the ranking member who you saw there who happens to be a Black man from Mississippi. He called him a racist. So, it’s been a strange start for Secretary Mullin. I think his inexperience is shining through. This is someone who never ran a large organization, had no experience with respect to the Department of Homeland Security before President Trump gave him this job.”
- “I want to ask about the Gulf Stream. You know, during the shutdown in 2025, Secretary Noem bought two top-of-the-line G700 Gulfstream jets. She then went on to lease a Boeing 737 Max, which they called the ‘big beautiful airplane’. Secretary Mullin said that he was going to assess those planes when he started. We now have reporting based on the flight logs that he regularly uses the top-of-the-line G700 with the leather seats to fly home to Oklahoma after he’s finished a tough work week working Monday through Thursday. I want to ask him why he doesn’t sell those planes, give the money back to the taxpayers, or use it to upgrade the planes that the Coast Guard uses every day to actually protect Americans. Put the money toward that, not so you can sit in leather seats in the Gulf Stream to fly home to Oklahoma.”
- “[Secretary Mullin] sends a message that [Trump and his administration are] not committed to the rule of law. And unfortunately, we already knew that. Look, this administration has violated hundreds of court orders. An it’s not liberal judges saying that. It’s Republican judges saying time and time and time again that they violated the law and violated court orders. It’s absolutely outrageous and unacceptable. Secretary Mullin should be ashamed of himself.”
- “No, it is never acceptable to me for the Department of Justice to say that one man or one family in this case, the Trump family, is above the law. Look, hardworking Americans are out there each and every day working, paying their taxes, following the rules. And this Department of Justice, led by Trump’s former personal lawyer, says that there’s one family in the country that never has to worry about an audit if they lie or cheat on their taxes. That’s the Trump family. It’s another example of this being the most corrupt administration in American history. I feel very confident that the voters are going to reject that and speak soundly about that in November.”
UPDATED 12:30 pm – More from Rep. Walkinshaw, this time in a sitdown with Puck News.
- “I mean, [DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin] just described Benny Thompson, who’s a ranking, the leading Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, accused him of racism, which is an odd thing to accuse a Black man from Mississippi of. So clearly, they don’t have a good relationship. Maybe there are others that where he does have a rapport, but I don’t get that sense.”
- [Q: “What should we expect in terms of how quickly things will move from Oversight Democrats?” if Dems take back the US House in November] “I think it will be aggressive… we already in terms of sending letters, requesting documents, we’ve been doing that. So, ranking member Garcia has sent the administration a series of letters on different issues requesting documents. Obviously, those letters typically go unanswered from this administration, but I think that work that we’ve already been doing, it’s probably the best guidance in terms of the directions that we would head in January if Democrats control the committee. Obviously, for folks who have followed our Epstein investigation closely, there have been a number of instances where we have said we want to subpoena this individual or that individual. Some of the transcribed interviews, which is kind of a more informal process in our view, need to be sworn depositions with cameras. So, I think you’ll see some of those folks being asked to come back in for that purpose.”
- Rep. Walkinshaw asks Mullin whether his department would commit to selling two Gulfstream private jets his predecessor Kristi Noem purchased for more than $170 million. “Actually those planes are inside the Coast Guard, so they were actually purchased for the Coast Guard,” Mullin said. The Coast Guard is under the Department of Homeland Security. Mullin asked why he needed to sell the planes, adding that the Coast Guard needs assets. Walkinshaw asked whether Mullin had flown on a Gulfstream jet to his home in Oklahoma. “Of course I have,” Mullin said. “I’m required to.””
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