Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) has asked that the FBI open an investigation into Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen committed to determine whether she perjured herself while testifying under oath about the department's policy of separating children from their parents at the border.
Merkley's request comes after a CNN report that a 2017 memo from senior officials in the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice stated that included plans to separate parents from children at the southern border.
While testifying before Congress in 2018, Nielsen said under oath that her department "never had a policy for family separation."
Read Merkley's letter in its entirety below.
I’m formally requesting that the @FBI investigate whether @SecNielsen committed perjury during her testimony under oath before @HouseJudiciary. The memo I released yesterday flat-out contradicts her statement that there was no child separation policy. https://t.co/Bj6FDsACv6 pic.twitter.com/KJBxp5A06O
— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) January 18, 2019
