Senator Manhandled by DHS Agents Says ‘Of All People, Corey Lewandowski’ Told Them to Stop: ‘One of the Most Surreal Things’
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) said Friday that former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski intervened after federal agents removed him him during a press conference in what he called one of the most “surreal” moments of his life.
Padilla was forcibly escorted away from a Department of Homeland Security news conference in California on Thursday.
Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem was delivering remarks about ICE raids in Los Angeles when Padilla interrupted, identified himself as “Senator Padilla,” and said he had questions.
Agents brought him into a hallway, put him on the ground, and placed him in handcuffs. The senator was briefly detained and accused of not identifying himself as a member of his state’s congressional delegation.
According to Padilla, agents with DHS manhandled him as he approached the podium, pushing him aside and grabbing his arm.
Speaking to The Bulwark on Friday, Padilla said the agents relented only after Lewandowski, a longtime Trump ally, intervened and told them to stand down.
“Of all people, Corey Lewandowski,” Padilla told The Bulwark. “He’s the one trying to rein in the agents telling them to stop, to release me, to remove the handcuffs, offering me a cup of coffee.” It was, he added, “one of the most surreal things that’s ever happened in my life.”
The incident has sparked a partisan backlash. Republicans accused Padilla of “storming” the event, while Padilla and his allies insist he was simply asking questions about overreach in the executive branch.
Padilla told MSNBC he spoke up to correct the record when Noem addressed attempts by the White House to “liberate” California from activists.
“The folks that were escorting me in the building walked me over,” he said. “I didn’t even open the door. The door was opened for me. And I spent a few minutes in the back of the room just listening in until the rhetoric, the political rhetoric got to be too much to take. So, I spoke up.”
