DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Confidently Bombs Question About Habeas Corpus in Shocking Hearing Exchange

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) grilled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a Tuesday Senate hearing over the possibility of President Donald Trump suspending habeas corpus to continue mass deportations without due process, something his top aide Stephen Miller has suggested doing.

“So, Secretary Noem, what is habeas corpus?” Hassan began her line of questioning.

“Well, habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their right to–” Noem replied as Hassan jumped in to clarify.

“Let me stop you, ma’am,” Hassan said as Noem continued.

“Habeas corpus, excuse me, that’s, that’s incorrect,” Hassan declared as Noem insisted that “President Lincoln used it.”

“Excuse me, habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people,” Hassan explained, adding:

If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason. Habeas corpus is the foundational right that separates free societies like America from police states like North Korea.

As a Senator from the ‘Live Free or Die’ state, this matters a lot to me, and my constituents, and to all Americans. So, Secretary Noem, do you support the core protection that habeas corpus provides, that the government must provide a public reason in order to detain and imprison someone?

“Yeah, I support habeas corpus. I also recognize that the President of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not. Let us be clear, though, that this President–” Noem continued as Hassan jumped to add:

It has never been done without approval of Congress. Even Abraham Lincoln got retroactive approval from Congress.

Hassan went on to ask Noem if the Trump administration would follow court orders reestablishing habeas corpus in the event Trump moved to suspend it. Noem replied that the Trump administration follows all court orders and will continue to do so, which Hassan disagreed with — referencing recent rulings to help bring back migrants deported and imprisoned in El Salvador without due process.

Watch the clip above.