Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said Friday that the heads of U.S. Customs and Border Protection lied to Congress when asked if they were aware of a Facebook group where current and former employees had shared offensive material.
Ocasio-Cortez, whose image was used in obscene and misogynistic images posted to the Facebook group, tweeted on Friday: “When members of Congress asked CBP if they knew about violently racist & sexually disturbing secret Facebook group w up to 10,000 CBP officers, they told us they just learned about it.”
She added, “Looks like CBP lied. Reporting shows they knew about it for *years.* This is a big deal.”
ProPublica first reported the secret group on Monday, prompting Matthew Klein, the assistant commissioner of the CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility, to announce: "Today, U.S. Customs and Border Protection was made aware of disturbing social media activity hosted on a private Facebook group that may include a number of CBP employees. CBP immediately informed DHS Office of the Inspector General and initiated an investigation.”
However, Politico reported on Wednesday that CBP officials have known about the secret Facebook group since 2016, when agents first reported it. An unnamed Department of Homeland Security official told Politico that CBP’s public affairs office used the group “as a source of intelligence,” checking in on it periodically to find out “what people are talking about.”