ICE agents in trouble as under the bus goes Bovino

**David Pakman** (0:00)
We're starting with something that should make everybody nervous, including the people enforcing Donald Trump's policies. ICE agents believe that they have total impunity right now. People have been killed, no serious consequences and a system that is mostly protecting them. But authoritarian systems don't protect people out of loyalty. They protect people until the optics flip. And we're seeing Trump quietly backpedal and throw people under the bus. We're seeing Tom Homan say if the ICE agents or CBP break the law, they will be held accountable. And so ICE agents do need to be careful. Then Jerome Powell says no to Donald Trump, drops bad jobs news and insists the Fed won't be bullied. They did not change the federal funds rate. And then we see the real Trump derangement syndrome. Her name is Nicki Minaj and she was on stage with Donald Trump in a particularly incoherent moment. We're also going to cover Republican infighting, Fox hosts quietly realizing they are getting screwed. And Kristi Noem is trying the Nuremberg defense just following orders. I don't believe it will work. And I will tell you why all of that today.
Right now, if you are an ICE agent or a Border Patrol officer that has been deployed to Minneapolis or other places where there are operations taking place under Trump's deportation agenda, you probably feel like you have total impunity. You can do whatever you want and get away with it. People have been killed. Agents have been reassigned. No charges, no serious investigations, and the system closes ranks. The administration defends them and the message is you are protected. And that protection is very real for now. But the problem is that these things have a tendency to reverse. Let me explain what I mean. The thing about authoritarian leaning political systems is that they don't protect people out of loyalty. They protect people out of convenience. Trump isn't defending the officers who have been involved in these killings because he believes that they are the most upstanding people who behave perfectly. He's defending them because of the political math around it. And if the political math changes, the rules all of a sudden change. Now today, you will see this happening in real time before your eyes. In Minnesota, multiple civilians have been killed by federal immigration agents. Just in the last month, we've seen the protests, we've seen the calls for impeachment, we've seen threats to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Video evidence directly contradicts the narratives from this administration in multiple cases, which is exactly the kind of thing that makes the whole operation politically radioactive. Now we are seeing Bovino out and Tom Homan in. I'm going to play some clips for you in a moment from Tom Homan. But we are seeing a shift because Trump's people are defending the agents for now. But the pressure is building. And at some point, they may decide they need to prove that checks and balances still exist, even if only for show. So what's the easiest way to prove that checks and balances exist? You don't go after the policy makers. You don't go after the people who ordered and orchestrated the operations. You go after a sacrificial lamb. You find one agent or a few to throw under the bus. You hold a dramatic press conference where you say, we've identified a rogue individual or a couple of rogue individuals. We are restoring account of bill accountability and you throw the book at them. And next thing you know, they end up in prison. It won't change the system. Big picture. Mostly they are still operating with impunity. But if you are the agent or agents that become the scapegoat, the sacrificial lamb for accountability, all of a sudden the system that protected you is using you to protect itself and you end up in prison. So these ice agents have to be very careful. Now, this is not hypothetical. This is how authoritarian and semi authoritarian regimes operate. They rely on the security forces to go in and do the dirty work. And then they scapegoat those forces when it becomes politically useful to them.
Scapegoating is a core feature of authoritarian politics. And authoritarian leaders love to use scapegoating to deflect blame, to preserve power and to go. We've taken care of it. We've taken care of that problem. Tom Homan, who is replacing Greg Bovino on the ground in Minneapolis, is already alluding to this, where he says ICE and CBP officers, if they aren't working with professionalism, we are going to deal with that.

**Tom Homan** (4:50)
ICE and CBP officers are performing their duties in a challenging environment under tremendous circumstances. But they're trying to do with professionalism. If they don't, they'll be dealt with.