McIver Moves to Dismiss Federal Charges

[struggle4progress]

By Jacob Knutson
August 19, 2025

Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) is moving to dismiss the federal charges against her by invoking President Donald Trump’s mass pardons for those who attacked the Capitol in his name on Jan. 6, 2021.

A grand jury indicted McIver in June on a three-count charge of “forcibly impeding” officers during a chaotic confrontation between federal agents and elected officials outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark earlier this year. The charge is a felony, and the three counts carry a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison.

McIver, the first sitting member of Congress to be criminally prosecuted by the Trump administration, pleaded not guilty.

In new filings late last week, McIver asked a court to dismiss the charge because, she argues, she is being selectively and vindictively prosecuted by the government and because she cannot be charged for official acts ...

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/lamonica-mciver-dismiss-federal-charges-citing-trump-jan-6-pardons/

[struggle4progress]

1. I've been treated worse than Jan. 6 rioters

By Colleen Murphy | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Attorneys for U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver say felony charges against her are part of a politically motivated effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to punish her for overseeing immigration enforcement.

In a series of court filings submitted late Friday, McIver’s legal team called the charges unconstitutional and accused federal prosecutors of trying to silence congressional oversight of immigration policy ...

McIver’s legal team says the situation escalated only after ICE and Department of Homeland Security agents entered a crowd of civilians to detain Baraka, triggering a scuffle.

They argue McIver was performing her constitutional duties and reacted defensively in a chaotic scene instigated by federal agents. No officers were injured ...

https://www.nj.com/essex/2025/08/nj-lawmaker-facing-2-decades-in-prison-says-shes-been-treated-worse-than-jan-6-rioters.html

[struggle4progress]

2. Can Jan. 6 dismissals stop DOJ from prosecuting a Democrat?

Aug. 18, 2025, 2:02 PM EDT
By Jordan Rubin

President Donald Trump began his second term by ordering blanket pardons and dismissals for his supporters who were charged for their actions on Jan. 6. But in doing so, did the president effectively end the subsequent prosecution of a Democrat before it even started?

The question arises in a court filing from U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J. She was charged in the spring with allegedly assaulting federal officers at an immigration facility in Newark, New Jersey, while she was conducting oversight with other Democratic politicians amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

McIver invoked the Jan. 6 dismissals in her motion to dismiss the case for being selectively enforced and prosecuted, as well as vindictive. “The Department of Justice’s dismissal of prosecutions arising from the January 6 attack on the Capitol — including those of more than 160 defendants charged with violating the same statute upon which the indictment relies here — is robust evidence of unconstitutional differential treatment,” her lawyers wrote.

They observed that the congresswoman’s alleged conduct was “manifestly less egregious than storming the Capitol, throwing explosives, beating officers with bats and riot shields, and spraying them with pepper spray” ...

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/doj-lamonica-mciver-assault-case-jan-6-pardons-rcna225562