Norma Torres Asks Sec. Marco Rubio Point Blank To Share 'Secret' Agreement With El Salvador's Bukele

Forbes Breaking News

At a House Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA) questioned Sec. Rubio about any agreements with El Salvador's Bukele.

Transcript

00:00Thank you Mr. Chairman, Mr. Secretary welcome and thank you for being here

00:08congratulations on your appointments with great power comes great

00:14responsibility the responsibility to our Constitution to the American people and

00:19to the truth you have built a reputation as someone who stood up to dictators

00:25someone who defended our democracy from foreign threats and I know that firsthand

00:31because you Mr. Secretary defended me in the past when President Bukele of El

00:38Salvador targeted me telling his followers don't vote for Rep Torres

00:45endorsing my opponent and unleashing a campaign of vile threats harassment

00:51intimidation and leading an online lynching against me three times your

00:57response Mr. Secretary was clear and direct my home was vandalized with gang

01:04graffiti my husband was confronted in our front yard while we were having a

01:10toddler swim party that child is watching us right now a man filmed himself planning

01:18to shoot me our Justice Department agreed with us in a 2022 court indictment

01:26alleging that Bukele has a deal with MS 13 gang leaders receiving support from MS 13

01:34and strategizing on how to better hide murderers from the public disappearing

01:40them in fact a woman who dared to lead an anti-corruption unit in El Salvador was

01:46just arrested by Bukele's attorney general and no one knows her whereabouts you understood what

01:54was at stake then you called it out you stood with me against this outrageous

02:01dangerous authoritarian I'm a bit confused with what has happened you're now

02:09shaking hands and cutting deals with him and you facilitated what our Supreme Court has

02:15ruled as an illegal rendition a Maryland father sent to a torture prison in El Salvador in

02:23my hand I have evidence here news reports and affidavits that detail the deal you

02:31worked on with El Salvador and Bukele's deal with MS 13 I have here interviews with MS 13 gang members

02:40revealing the truth behind Bukele's gang ties and I ask unanimous consent to enter these documents into

02:47the record without objection done Congress has been very clear the law requires you to share these secret

02:54agreements and let me be clear on which agreements I'm talking about the State Department is usually the

03:02lead agency but at the very least a part of negotiations with foreign countries not the

03:09Homeland Security the State Department the U.S. has an agreement with El Salvador according to the U.S. law

03:16State must share all international agreements with Congress when requested and Congress has requested this

03:25agreement numerous times you've so far ignored us so let me ask you directly

03:31will you commit right now to handing over the requested agreement that the

03:37United States has entered into with El Salvador under your watch as required by

03:43I'm not sure what you're referring to the United States number two things have

03:46happened the first is El Salvador agreed to take back nationals Salvadorian

03:50nationals including the individual you mentioned these are people that were in

03:53this country and lawfully had MS-13 ties and they were repatriated to their

03:58country okay and there was a group of gang members from trained at agua in the

04:01United States and he agreed to take them into his prison system the United States

04:06in addition to that has provided law enforcement funding to El Salvador which

04:10they are free to use any way they want they can use it for their jail system they

04:13can use it for other law enforcement that is not correct well that is when when

04:21but those agreements did include giving MS-13 gang members to El Salvador at their

04:27request right we gate we turned over a gang member who committed a murder in the

04:34U.S. without allowing for our judicial system to try him to give some justice to

04:42that family of that murdered victim but we sent him to El Salvador because Bukele

04:48requested him because it is in his best interest to hide his ties with MS-13 gang

04:55members so do the agreements to send migrants to El Salvador contain

05:00provisions saying that the U.S. retains any future control over the

05:04individuals transferred well those who Salvadorian citizens are citizens of El

05:09Salvador they're here unlawfully gang association is a crime in El Salvador we

05:13send other country nationals to El Salvador would disappear them to a prison that is

05:24known for torture and inhumane dealings with their imprisoned people how much

05:30U.S. taxpayer money did your department send to Bukele's regime?

05:34Mr. Secretary I would ask you to answer very briefly and because we have to move on.

05:37Bottom line is we gave them law enforcement funding as we do for other countries in

05:41Central America and who we sent to them were trained at Agua gang members that

05:45Venezuela won't take so we have to send them somewhere else we don't want them

05:48in our country we don't want these gang bangers in the United States. I agree

05:51with you on that. Yeah, Mr. Alford.

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