SALON

Thursday, Apr 18, 2013 7:15 PM UTC

GOP Rep. embraces Boston conspiracy theory

And DHS Secretary Napolitano calls the rumor "full of misstatements and misapprehensions" VIDEO

By

Topics: Video, Boston Explosions, Boston, Boston Marathon, Jeff Duncan, Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano,

GOP Rep. embraces Boston conspiracy theorySouth Carolina state Rep. Jeff Duncan, R. (Credit: AP/Mary Ann Chastain)

It didn’t take long for a lawmaker to pick up the latest right-wing conspiracy theory about the Boston Marathon bombings. Just hours after controversial terrorism expert Steve Emerson reported last night on Sean Hannity’s show that unnamed “sources” told him the government was quietly deporting the Saudi national who was initially suspected in the bombing, South Carolina GOP Rep. Jeff Duncan grilled Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on the rumor at a hearing this morning.

Duncan, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency, harangued Napolitano for the alleged deportation, which he asserted as fact. “Now we have someone being deported for national security concerns and I’m assuming he’s got some sort of link to terror or he wouldn’t be being deported,” Duncan said. “And yet we’re going to deport him? We’re going to remove him from the scene?”

Napolitano fired back sharply, dismissing the premise of his question. “I’m unaware of anyone who is being deported for national security concerns at all related to Boston. I don’t know where that rumor came from,” she said.

As secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Napolitano oversees the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which is responsible for deporting people, and would thus likely be aware of such a deportation, if it existed.

Duncan responded by acknowledging that while the deportation may not be related to Boston, “He is being deported.” Napolitano interrupted him, saying, “No. Like I said, I don’t even think he was technically a person of interest or a suspect, that was a wash.”

But the congressman wasn’t ready to concede. “Wouldn’t you agree with me that it’s negligent for us as an American administration to deport someone who was reportedly at the scene of the bombing?”

“I am not going to answer that question, it is so full of misstatements and misapprehensions that it’s just not worthy of an answer,” the Homeland Security secretary shot back, prompting murmurs in the room as Duncan took a moment to respond before ending his questioning.

Duncan’s willingness to embrace Emerson’s charge highlights how quickly theories can go from the fringe to the mainstream in an environment when the political opposition is desperate to score political points against the president, and less concerned about getting facts right.

Here’s a video of the exchange, which Duncan’s office posted on their official YouTube channel, suggesting they think he came off looking pretty good:

UPDATE: CNN’s Jake Tapper rains on the conspiracy parade by reporting that the Saudi is not a suspect or person of interest, but that there is a second Saudi national from Boston being held by immigration authorities on a routine visa matter that is completely unrelated to the Boston Marathon bombings. The second person is presumably whom Emerson’s sources told him about. Even the Daily Caller reports the same.

Alex Seitz-Wald

Alex Seitz-Wald is Salon's political reporter. Email him at aseitz-wald@salon.com, and follow him on Twitter @aseitzwald. More Alex Seitz-Wald.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
    Reuters/Jason Reed

  • Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
    AP/A.M. Ahad

  • Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
    AP/Elise Amendola

  • Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
    AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani

  • Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
    AP/Manish Swarup

  • Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
    AP/Jeff Roberson

  • Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
    AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel

  • Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
    AP/Liu Yinghua

  • On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
    AP/Rogelio V. Solis

  • The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
    AP/David J. Phillip

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 10 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult

Recommendations