BREAKING: ICE chief makes MAJOR confession

This is Democracy Watch. Mark, we just. got a bombshell confession by the. director of ICE. I'm going to put that. on the screen right here. >> So, ma'am, we're a civil obviously we do. civil enforcement and criminal law. enforcement. There's no reason for us to. deploy to a polling facility. >> So, if the president of the United. States. gets Christy Gnome on the phone and she. gets you on the phone and she says, "We've heard there's a problem in. Georgia or in Michigan or somewhere. else. Um, I need you to go and and.

physically deploy around polling. locations. You will say no. >> There's no reason for us to play now. >> Well, you say then you should say no, right? >> Yes. But. >> so Mark, that was uh Senator Elise Lkin. speaking with the director of ICE that. is uh Todd Lions basically admitting. here that there is no reason to deploy. ICE to the polling places, which is. exactly what uh Steve Bannon had. promised. So, can I have your reaction. to the fact that, you know, he's come. out and basically g given up the game. here? >> Well, he gave up the game and then he. stammered and stammered and stammered.

when asked what would happen if Donald. Trump told his boss Christy Gnome to. deploy ICE at the polls. I mean, he gave. up the game in that he said the truth, which is there is no reason, there is no. legitimate reason why ICE would be at. the polls or surrounding the polls or, you know, in proximity to the polls. And. kudos to him for saying that. But don't. sleep on the second half of that, which. is there may be no reason. There may be. no good reason. There may be no lawful.

reason, but that doesn't mean Donald. Trump won't insist to Christ that it. happen anyway. And when it came to that. question, I didn't hear Mr. Lions say. unequivocally that he would uh refuse. that order. No, I heard him do a whole. lot of stammering and stuttering and not. really sure where to go with it. So, you. know, good that he told the truth, bad. that we don't have the assurance that. anyone in this administration will stand. up to Donald Trump if Donald Trump tells.

them to break the law. If and when the. potential ICE deployments to the polls. is challenged in court, will the. plaintiffs be able to use the words of. Todd Lions here during this hearing to. be able to to to bolster their own case? >> Absolutely. I mean, the court has in it. in their federal rules of evidence uh. the idea of an admission and also. something else called a statement. against interest. both of them basically. saying similar things which is that if. an adverse party says something that.

undermines their legal argument it is. admissible right it's admissible as. proof that what they are now saying is. not true right so if you said you know. it is a sunny day outside and then you. know 6 months later uh you know you're. in litigation and your defense for a car. accident is it was raining they can. admit into evidence the fact that you. said it was sunny outside, right? And. that's effectively what's happened here.

is the ICE director has said there is no. reason why ICE should be deployed at the. polls. And he would be in a position to. know because after all, he's the. director of ICE, but that is great as. far as it goes. But but here's my. question, Brian. Where's the courage? Yeah. Where's the courage coming from? Where where in this, you know, in this. whole administration when Donald Trump. is sitting in the Oval Office with with, you know, uh, Steven Miller whispering. in his ear and Pam Bondi, you know,

taking stenography and Christome, you. know, just yes siring, yes siring like, where is this? Where are the people who. are going to say no, you cannot do it? Not that it's not allowed, but it's not. allowed and we're not going to do it. Well, clearly I think the answer to that. is is nowhere. I mean, these people. these people do not exist. Mark, it's. worth asking here um because I think a. lot of people are going to see this and. not not understand why it's a big deal. if ICE is deployed to the polls. Can you. offer some some background on why Trump.

is so hellbent on doing this even. though, as Todd Lions uh explained here, it's not even necessary. >> Yeah. So, you got to go back in time. I. represented Joe Biden and the uh. Democratic party in the post-election. litigation that Donald Trump and his. allies brought uh after the 2020. election. And when they were getting. their asses kicked, which they were from. the beginning, they got to a point in. which there was a meeting in the Oval. Office with Donald Trump and a bunch of. electioners and representatives of the.

White House Council's office and the. Department of Justice. and the election. and asked him to sign an executive order. that would uh force the Pentagon, direct. the Pentagon to seize ballots and voting. equipment. And that executive order. ultimately didn't get signed because the. Department of Justice was like, "This is. nuts and not legal." And the. White House Council's office was like, "This is nuts and not legal.". And so it didn't get signed. Um, now.

here we are in 2026 and none of those. safeguards are in place. But what has. happened in the interim is that Donald. Trump has figured out that actually the. military may be too disciplined. Like it. may be that the military will not carry. out uh an attack on democracy, a seizure. of ballots or a wides widespread voter. suppression. So, Donald Trump needs an. alternative and he has found it in a. paramilitary force that has been in. Minnesota and in Minneapolis uh you know.

violating civil rights and civil. liberties um shooting people to death, right? Like like he has found the people. willing to do the thing and that. includes ICE, right? It's ICE and CPB. It's it's this paramilitary group of. federal agencies. And so the reason why. people like me focused so much on the. threat that ICE will be around the. polls, the reason why when Steve Bannon. fueled this fire, he said, you know, ICE. will be surrounding the polls or be. around the polls is because everybody on.

all sides of this issue understand that. this is the agency that if Donald Trump. needs the dirty work to be done, this is. likely the group of people he will call. on to do it. So, it's a really big deal. if ICE is like, "Yep, we will surround. the poles. We will block off the. streets. We will, you know, rip people. out of their cars. We'll break car. windows. We'll we'll shoot people, right?" Like, like these are the people. who Donald Trump would rely on for those.

kinds of things. If anyone was going to. do it, it'd be them. And so, to hear the. director of ICE say, "There's no. legitimate reason to do this. There's no. reason for them to be there." That's a. blockbuster admission. That is. absolutely blows the lid off of the big. lie that Donald Trump will rely on when. we get close to 2026, you know, in. November, that they are needed, that. they're necessary. And we've seen these. big lies, Brian, from the parking lots.

in the Home Depots in Los Angeles where. this all kicked off all the way through. the terrible lies that they spread about. Renee Good. uh about Alex Prey and about. scores and hundreds of of American. citizens exercising the First Amendment. rights in Minneapolis. And we cannot. have that kind of activity uh uh around. elections. >> And I just got to note, you know, no one. has been blowing the whistle about this. stuff louder than you and fighting back.

against this stuff harder than you. a. small step that everybody watching right. now can take to support the invaluable. work that Mark is doing not just in the. media space where again he's making sure. that we all know what's going on but. also in the courts in ground zero where. he's fighting 80 cases uh right now. against this administration including 24. cases um where he and his firm are the. only thing standing between your voter. data including your social security. number being sent over to the federal. government. So a step that everybody can. take right now to support Mark's work is. to sign up for democracy docket. I'm. going to put that link right here on the.

screen and also in the post description. of this video. It's an outlet that I use. on a daily basis. Could not recommend it. highly enough. Mark, my concern here is. is if ICE is indeed deployed to the. polls so that they can intimidate voters. into not showing up that when this stuff. is litigated, it'll be too late. Because. unless you can get out on election day. and have a judge rule fast enough and. then have ICE and the federal government. comply in time, you know, the the.

toothpaste will be out of the tube. And. yeah, a judge can can hand down a ruling. the next day, but like election day is. election day. And so, is there anything. that can be done to serve as some. injunction against ICE being deployed. before they actually do it? Meaning. before there's actually any harm? Like, do you have standing to bring a lawsuit? >> Yeah. So, a couple of things. First of. all, you're exactly right. I mean, forget about a decision the next day. Every minute of election day is. precious, >> right? >> Every minute of election day, you cannot. get back. So, even if it takes a judge 2.

hours, you know, two hours in a voting. day that is only 10 hours, that's 20% of. the voting day lost. And sure, you can. add it on at night, and you'll see that. sometimes my law firm and I, we go to. court, others go to court to say, "Look, the polls open late or there were these. problems." So add on time at the end of. the day, but honestly when you lose the. morning shift, you know, people going. before work or the lunch shift, sure you. can add it to the end of the day, but it. doesn't quite make up for it. Right. So,

so time is absolutely of the essence. And I want to emphasize the point you're. making just how critical it is to not. have to go through all of these. minations where ICE does the thing. We. get the evidence. We find the judge. We. argue the case. We get even a relatively. fast decision. Now we've got the. decision. We go back to ICE on scene. We. give them the order. The people there. are like we don't know what this is. They have to go ahead grow right. And. meanwhile the clock is ticking and. voters are being turned away. So So I.

just want to emphasize that point. Now, in terms of what to do about this, I. want to I want to say a word for the uh. attorneys general because, you know, look, yes, my law firm and I, we do a. lot of really important voting rights. litigation, including those cases you. mentioned. Uh, and I'm proud of that. work. We also work with the state AGS, the Democratic AGs who are oftentimes. fighting alongside of us in a lot of. these cases, including these voter file. cases. And they are oftentimes in the. best position on election day to go.

before there's a trouble before those. people are sent away and say, "We are. the law enforcement. Stop it. Get out of. the way." Number one. Number two, we. will create a a safe zone or a corridor. using state police to make sure people. can get in and also they can go to court. really quickly. So they have tools, governors have tools, state agencies. have tools that private litigants don't. have that don't necessarily involve the. court but involve other you know other.

personnel or other sighting requirements. or you know street openings or parking. waiverss that can remedy these. situations. So, you know, something I've. written about for democracy docket is. how blue states today as we sit here can. be passing laws if there's a Democratic. governor and a Democratic legislature to. make sure that we do have free and fair. elections, including that we don't. allow, you know, Donald Trump and. Republicans to subvert these elections.

So whether you're Gavin Newsome in. California or you're Janet Mills in. Maine or you know you are Mikey Cheryl. like if you're a Democratic governor and. you have a Democratic legislature my. strong advice is take a look at what. I've I've suggested and implemented in. your state now because that will give. you additional tools uh when we get. closer to the election. >> And finally let's finish off with this. You know, we've spent a lot of time. rightfully, I think, talking about ICE, but are there still other ways that even. aside from ICE, that DOJ under Pam.

Bondi, that FBI, under Cash Patel, that. they can be problematic as we head. toward this next election? >> Oh, wait, Brian, don't tell me you think. that Pam Bondi and Cash Patel are not on. the up and up. [laughter]. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Of course, we have to worry about. that, >> right? I mean, like, in some ways, I I. mean, Brian, I'm going to answer your. question, but I'm just going to ask you. a question back. like as between Patel. who wrote the book that actually had a. literal enemies list and a children's. book that in which Donald Trump was a.

king. >> Yeah. >> Okay. [laughter] Pam Bondi who was an. election denier in 2020 lying about the. elections and now basically you know. prosecutes whoever it is Donald Trump. wants that she gets tweets about or. Christine Gnome. Okay, the head of DHS. who's the boss of this guy at ICE. Who. do you think you'd put your your uh your. your trust in? >> Yeah. Yeah. It's a it's a it's gonna. take a little bit of time to figure out. that one. You know, not exactly not. exactly an up a group that's on the.

level. >> Yeah. So, that kind of answers the. question, right? Which is that the. problem is it's not just an ICE problem. >> It's not just a DHS problem, >> right? And frankly, it's not it's not. the person at at like at the top of ICE. who is somehow acting independently of. Trump. Like the fish rots from the head. >> Correct. And so, yeah, we also have to. worry, if not ICE, we have to worry that. it'll be the FBI. I mean, after all, it. was the FBI that raided Fulton County, right? And it was a US attorney in, wait. for it, Missouri who oversaw that raid.

in uh Georgia. >> So, like, you know, do we have to worry. about the Department of Justice? Sure. Because they what they will do is they. will find a US attorney someplace in the. country willing to do something terrible. in some other part of the country. Cash. Patel's in for the ride. Like he's not. gonna say no. Pam Bondi's, you know, gonna be like, "Yes, Mr. Trump. We're. we're we're all all on it." And by the. way, did you see that bizarre. performance she did before the uh before.

the before Congress? >> Well, hold on, hold on, hold on. Are you. suggesting that she wasn't in the right. to say that there's no grounds to talk. about the Epstein files or a pedophile. ring when the DAO is over 50,000? because I think that's a perfectly. perfectly legitimate excuse for the DOJ. to stop doing law enforcement once the. Dow hits 50,000. >> Right now, she did say it hit $50,000, >> just to be [laughter] clear. >> She's also a student market observer. >> Yeah. I didn't even I didn't even catch. that. As if as if the the notion that.

the Dow hitting 50,000 wasn't bad. enough. She also thinks the Dow that the. Dow hit 50,000 bucks. >> Yeah. So, look, I mean, it's it we we. joke about it everyone because it is so. terrible. We are less than nine months. away from the most important midterm. elections of our lives. Okay? I have. been a lawyer doing this work since uh. since 1993. And so I have seen a lot of. midterm elections including the big, you. know, 1994 revolution, the Gingrich. revolution where Republicans took the. House for the first time in 40 years. I.

remember the 1998 midterm elections when. Bill Clinton looked to be on the ropes. and, you know, won a a big re-election. in in uh in 1996. And then uh you know. we had the 1998 midterms. I remember you. know after gaining uh 60 Senate seats in. 2008, the the midterm elections that. threatened the Obama agenda in 2010. So. like look, I've been through all the big. midterms, but this one is the most. important midterm elections of of our.

lifetimes. And so everybody listening to. this, you need to understand the. challenges. need to understand that ICE. and and Christine Gnome and Cash Patel. and Pam Bondi are not going to stand up. and fight for you. They're going to do. everything that Donald Trump tells them. to do. And Donald Trump has told them. that he wants them to subvert the. results of the election. He has said. that he wished he had seized ballots in. 2020. He has said that he wish there. wouldn't be midterms uh at all. uh he. has said uh that uh that he believes.

that Republicans need to take over uh. voting and that the vote counting uh and. tabulation by the states are done as his. agents. So we know like all of that is. true but we can't let that paralyze us. We have to make it inspire us. We have. to make it something that we use to to. motivate us to make sure everyone is. registered to make sure everyone has a. right to vote, everyone understands the. stakes and everyone votes. And the one. of the ways we do that is by doing this. series. So Brian and I do these videos.

because it's a way to explain to you. what these threats are, but also to. explain to you that we are not. powerless. Also to explain to you what. we all can do to make sure that in these. most important midterms of our lifetime. that we are ready to fight back, that we. are armed with good information. So. right now, this second, I need you to do. me a favor. And there is a button in. front of you that says subscribe. And I. want you to hit that button because. subscribing to this channel gives you.

that information that you need to be. actively engaged and to understand the. threats, but also to understand what we. can do to fight back and what we can do. to win. So, hit that subscribe button. and then hit the bell because what that. will do it means because what that will. do is give you an alert every time that. there's new content, including the. content that that that Brian and I do. And given the pace of things that are. going on, it's important that you are.

kept up to date on what is happening, if. not real time, in regular in regular. intervals. So, that's my request. Subscribe to this channel, hit the bell, and then finally, leave us a a comment. I read the comments and I love to see. what you guys think Brian and I are. doing right, what we can do better, and. what you think we're doing wrong. So, those are my final requests. Well, >> I appreciate that. I'm going to put the. link to this channel right here on the. screen, and I'm also going to put the. link to Democracy Docket right on the. screen as well. again a small step that. everybody can take to support the. invaluable work that Mark and his team.

are doing both in the media space. highlighting these issues and also. fighting these battles on the front. lines in the courts making sure um that. there is a fighter on our side who's. doing the work of protecting democracy. So those links are right here on the. screen. I'm Brian Taylor Cohen. >> I'm Mark Elias. >> This is Democracy Watch. >> [music].