The Brief

• Rep. Ray Lopez is demanding a public hearing on the fatal shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez by a federal immigration agent.

• Lopez invoked a House rule for the first time to call the Homeland Security Committee to meet.

• Democrats question the 11-month delay in revealing federal involvement in the case.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - A Democratic state representative is demanding a public hearing of his committee regarding the alleged Texas cover-up of a fatal shooting involving a federal immigration officer in South Padre Island.

Rep. Ray Lopez, the vice chair of the committee on Homeland Security, invoked a new House rule for the first time ever to call for the meeting.

Texas rep calls for ICE shooting meeting

The latest

Lopez, D-San Antonio, is demanding that his committee convene before the public to address the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez. The San Antonio man was fatally shot last March while visiting South Padre Island, and newly revealed records reportedly indicate that it was at the hands of a federal immigration agent.

The letter from Lopez to committee chair Cole Hefner (R-Mount Pleasant) invokes Rule 4, Section 6A of the Texas House Rules. According to Lopez in a Saturday release, this is the first time a vice chair has publicly exercised this designation authority.

Click to open this PDF in a new window.

Lopez is among several state Democrats concerned that the 11-month gap between Martinez' death and the revelation of federal involvement was the result of a cover-up operation by Texas law enforcement.

What they're saying

"When government uses its most serious power, the power to take a life, the facts cannot remain hidden. A young Texan lost his life, and the public was left without full clarity for nearly a year. That is not about politics. It is about trust," said Lopez. "Because of the seriousness of these unanswered questions, I have formally invoked the House Rules to demand a public hearing. It is a rare step taken to ensure the people of Texas see the facts for themselves. When federal agents operate on Texas soil, transparency is not optional. It belongs to the people."

Shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez

The backstory

The Associated Press says they obtained a statement from DHS saying the driver who was killed "intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent," resulting in another agent firing "defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public."

The records are reported to say Martinez was shot through the driver's side window of a car after disobeying orders to exit the vehicle, and instead accelerating and hitting an officer. The AP said they got no answers from DHS about the 11-month silence regarding Martinez' death.

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Martinez’s mother reportedly told the AP her son was visiting the beach for his birthday with his best friend. She said her son was "a typical young guy."

State departments say the case is still active. The AP says the Texas Department of Public Safety declined to add new information.

Texas Democrats, including Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin) and state Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D-Uvalde), vocalized their anger over the alleged cover-up on social media Friday evening.

The Source

Information in this update comes from Rep. Ray Lopez.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is resisting calls, including from within his own ranks, to pressure Rep. Tony Gonzales to resign amid allegations he had an affair with a district staffer who later died by suicide, telling reporters he wants investigations to play out first.

Johnson conceded the accusations were “very serious” and that he has urged the San Antonio Republican to address them with his constituents directly. But the Republican leader insisted ongoing investigations should play out before he would step down.

“There are serious accusations, and it must be taken seriously, and I’ve told him he’s got to address that with his constituents and, and he’s in the process of doing that,” the speaker told CNN.

“It is my understanding there’s an investigation in the state of Texas on these matters and has been going for some time, and the Office of Congressional Conduct has also, it’s been reported, they’ve been looking at it and all of that was news to me. But I … think as in every case like this, you have to allow the investigations to play out and all the facts to come out.”

As the March 3 primary in the state draws nearer, allegations that Gonzales had an affair with a staffer who died by suicide last year have taken new hold. Gonzales has denied the affair and said he’s being blackmailed. But new text messages provided to CNN by the staffer’s husband show that Gonzales sent lewd messages to her, including in one exchange asking for a “sexy pic.”

Johnson had endorsed Gonzales’ bid for reelection to his San Antonio-area seat, which he is defending against Brandon Herrera – a YouTube personality who ran against him in 2024 – in a tough GOP primary fight.

“I endorsed Tony before all these allegations came out. They’re obviously very serious, and I’ve spoken with him and told him he’s got to address that in an appropriate way with his constituents and all of that,” Johnson said earlier Monday when asked if he still supported the congressman.

“So it’s too early for anybody to prejudge any of that, but we’ll see how it develops,” he continued.

Gonzales is facing calls from within his party to step down. Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Tim Burchett of Tennessee have called for his resignation, and still others have urged him to drop his reelection bid.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, meanwhile, echoed Johnson and argued that the investigation into Gonzales’ actions has to play out.

“Look, the accusations are very serious and it’s been reported that the Office of Congressional Conduct is doing an investigation right now and that is a serious process,” Scalise said. “Obviously, I’m watching that closely, want to see where that goes because they are going to be gathering facts and then ultimately if they choose to move it, they go to the ethics committee.”

Top House Republicans have been closely tracking the allegations against Gonzales but are also aware that they cannot afford to have any members leave Congress unless there is a significant reason to do so, multiple people close to leadership have told CNN in recent days.

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Johnson is dealing with one of the House’s smallest margins in history. With full attendance in the House, Johnson and his team can only afford to lose one GOP vote or a measure will fail on the floor. Further complicating matters, there are two GOP vacancies and one Democratic vacancy.

Republicans will fill one of those vacancies after a special election in March, though that race is expected to go to a runoff in April. Democrats will also add one additional member in April after a New Jersey special election. Then the GOP will fill another seat, formerly held by the late Rep. Doug Lamalfa, after a special election in August.

But Republican leaders are also facing an unexpected challenge in Florida, where 73-year-old Rep. Neal Dunn is considering retiring early from the House.

Johnson argued Monday that he’s been “intellectually consistent” on the matter of whether members facing allegations of misconduct should be forced to step down or not.

“You know, I’ve been intellectually consistent about this. Whether you’re talking about Republicans or Democrats, you have to let the system play out. … I was against, for example, the expulsion of George Santos, a while back, because he had been accused of a crime and indicted but not found guilty,” he said.

“If the accusation of something is going to be the litmus test for someone being able to continue to serve in the House, you’ll have a lot of people would have to resign or be removed or expelled from Congress. So, I think you got to allow this to play out,” he added, stressing again the claims against Gonzales are “very serious.”

Attorney Bobby Barrera, who represents Adrian Aviles, said his client’s spouse – Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, who died by self-immolation last year – had confessed that she had been having an affair with the congressman in June 2024.

Gonzales has repeatedly criticized what he called the “personal smears” against him and has also accused Aviles of trying to blackmail him. Barrera has denied Gonzales’ claim, saying that the “assertion of extortion is ridiculous.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Alison Main, Rebecca Legato and Lauren Fox contributed to this report.

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Guillermo Zambrano faced at least 10 years in federal prison if convicted of working with Sinaloa cartel associates — but then ICE sought to deport him last June. Now he faces none.

Zambrano, a Venezuelan citizen in the midst of political asylum proceedings in the U.S., pleaded not guilty to charges of helping conceal drug-trafficking proceeds. For 17 months, he remained free on a $60,000 bond with an ankle monitor while awaiting trial in the Central District of California.

But amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown last summer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers came to Zambrano’s home, removed his ankle monitor and took him into custody. The move surprised everyone, including prosecutors. If convicted, Zambrano would have faced deportation after serving a prison sentence.

When ICE didn't release Zambrano from custody this month, U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee dismissed the criminal indictment with prejudice, barring the government from refiling the same charges. Gee cited "an ongoing violation of Zambrano’s right to pretrial release."

The dismissal underscores how the administration’s aggressive deportation push has begun to collide with federal prosecutions and exposes a clash of priorities between the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. In recent months, immigration authorities have taken undocumented defendants into custody, and in at least one case deported the accused, while criminal proceedings were underway.

That case drew outrage because the deported man was awaiting trial in what authorities called the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history: an estimated $100-million theft of a Brinks semitruck's haul. Prosecutors said they were unaware the defendant had been deported to Ecuador and victims were left indignant, as much of the loot has not been recovered.

Read more: Man charged in ‘largest jewelry heist in U.S. history’ avoids trial by getting deported

“They wanted to deport a million people in the first year and this is how they do that,” said John Targowski, a defense attorney representing Zambrano. “Ultimately we invite the idea that somebody can go out and commit an offense, not be here lawfully and accept pretrial deportation instead of punishment."

Federal defense attorneys have filed motions to dismiss indictments, citing difficulties accessing their clients in immigration detention centers and, in at least one case, struggling to locate them at all.

In December, a federal judge dismissed with prejudice a separate case against Carlitos Ricardo Parias, a TikTok streamer charged with assault on a federal officer after he was shot during an immigration operation. The judge found that Parias had been denied access to counsel while in immigration detention and that the government failed to comply with discovery deadlines. The government is appealing that order.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice told The Times that "those who enter our country illegally and break our nation’s laws will be held fully accountable for their actions, despite the best efforts of activist liberal judges who would rather see violent illegal aliens walk free."

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said it could not release violent criminals from its custody onto the streets.

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"We fight for justice for all victims of illegal alien crime, but never to the detriment of public safety," a Homeland Security spokesperson said. If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will find you, arrest you, and you will never return.”

The U.S. attorney's office in L.A. declined to comment. Prosecutors are appealing Gee's dismissal order. Zambrano remains in custody at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where he is fighting his asylum case.

In past, convicted felons were deported after they served their time

John Sandweg, who served as acting ICE director under President Obama, said there have been cases over the years involving victimless crimes, where authorities opted for deportation instead of a prosecution, finding that “it’s cheaper, easier, it’s better for the taxpayer.”

But historically, Sandweg said, the agency deferred to federal prosecutions.

“There was a perception that a criminal prosecution is more important from a public safety perspective than a deportation,” Sandweg said. “You have victims who want justice, you have people who maybe are entitled to restitution orders, you have all sorts of good reasons to say, ‘Hey, the criminal prosecution takes priority over the deportation.'"

Targowski said he has two clients facing federal charges currently being held in ICE custody. In the past, he said, “DHS would routinely wait until criminal proceedings were over” before taking a defendant into custody.

“By not doing that or selectively not doing that, I think they’re cutting off their nose to spite their face,” he said. “They’re willing to remove somebody before justice is pursued against them, at the expense of victims."

In Zambrano's case, Gee scolded the government over how the detention unfolded.

“This Court joins other District Courts that have concluded that the Executive Branch must choose between taking a noncitizen into custody for the purpose of removing and deporting that individual or temporarily declining to do so while criminal proceedings are maintained against that person,” Gee wrote in her order.

Prosecutors find themselves in unusual common front with defense attorneys

The charges against Zambrano came into question after his ICE detention on June 24. The following month, an immigration judge denied Zambrano’s request for bond.

In November, Targowski filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Zambrano, or order him released, citing the conflict between his client’s immigration and criminal proceedings and the fact that “he cannot effectively prepare for trial while in immigration detention."

In response, prosecutors argued in a court filing opposing dismissal that the law “permits the government to simultaneously initiate removal proceedings and criminal proceedings.”

“The existence of ongoing criminal proceedings is not a basis to require ICE to release an individual from immigration custody,” the prosecutors wrote.

They cited Zambrano’s charges, which include conspiracy to aid and abet the distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. Prosecutors alleged that Zambrano “was observed ferrying bulk quantities of cash drug-trafficking proceeds between co-conspirators."

“In this case, defendant actively worked to launder, transport, and conceal drug trafficking proceeds belonging to the Sinaloa Cartel, whose activities have caused untold devastation in the United States, Mexico, and elsewhere," prosecutors wrote. "In doing so, defendant intentionally facilitated the financial lifeline that makes the Sinaloa Cartel’s nefarious activities possible."

At a Feb. 5 court hearing, Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeremy Keller Beecher told the judge the prosecution team's efforts to undo Zambrano's detention “were unsuccessful.” Beecher argued Zambrano could eventually be granted asylum and “receive a real windfall” if the court were to dismiss with prejudice.

Targowski told the judge it had been "a real Kafka-esque experience for my client in this case from its origin.”

“We have the inability of the DHS and the DOJ, which are both members of the Cabinet, to effectively communicate with each other as it relates to Mr. Zambrano and that has clearly affected my ability to communicate with him, to represent him,” Targowski said.

Judge Gee told the government she would dismiss the indictment with prejudice unless Zambrano was released from custody within seven days under the conditions of the previous bail order.

“This is not a one-off. This is happening repeatedly,” Gee said, according to a court transcript. “The only way that I can see to effect some sort of meaningful change is for both agencies to see that this is causing friction and that this needs to be harmonized in some way. And without some sort of remedy that makes that clear, it's not going to happen."

Gee said she hoped Beecher would "communicate this shot over the bow to those who have the authority to make changes in this regard."

Defense attorneys struggle to locate their clients in ICE detention

The judges are not all aligned in dismissing these cases. On Feb. 12, U.S. District Judge Kenly Kiya Kato denied a motion to dismiss a case against Mandeep Singh, who is charged with wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft.

Singh, a citizen of India who lacks legal status in the U.S., was detained by ICE after a magistrate judge ordered him released on bond. He has been held in Adelanto since November.

Kato found that Singh's placement in immigration detention has not jeopardized the court’s ability to try him. However, she ordered the government to transport Singh to a courthouse to meet with his attorney, Targowski, and warned about the government's need to address access issues.

“I imagine if you continue to have these cases, after the government having been put on notice that this is a problem, dismissals are going to become more frequent and common," Kato said at the hearing in Riverside.

Last Friday, in a downtown L.A. courtroom, Claire Kennedy, a deputy federal public defender, argued for a judge to dismiss the case against her client, Manuel Basmadjian, due to access issues in immigration detention.

Basmadjian was set to go to trial in less than a month on charges including possession with intent to distribute meth and heroin, carrying a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

He was ordered released on bond in August, but was instead picked up by ICE and transferred to Adelanto, where Kennedy said her client's access to counsel "steadily deteriorated."

In her motion to dismiss the case with prejudice, Kennedy told the judge that for weeks no appointments were available through Adelanto's online scheduling system. In January, Basmadjian was transferred to ICE detention in Texas, Kennedy said.

"The amount of time I have spent just trying to find Mr. Basmadjian, keep up with the ever-changing rules, keep track of which state he’s in, which facility he’s in — I have spent more time doing that than on the substantive work that needs to be done on his case," Kennedy told the judge at the Friday hearing.

U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera pressed the prosecutor on why Basmadjian had been transferred out of state. Assistant U.S. Atty. Brenda Galván said ICE planned to deport Basmadjian, but Armenia was unwilling to accept him.

"So the government basically has no interest, or at least DHS didn’t have any interest, in having him prosecuted for this crime?" Vera asked.

"The prosecution team in this case is very interested in prosecuting Mr. Basmadjian," Galván said.

"I’m sure you are, you’ve put in a lot of work for it," Vera said.

But he questioned why he shouldn't dismiss the case, given the fact that Kennedy couldn't meet with her client. "And that’s not her fault, it’s the government’s fault for moving him," he said.

At the end of the roughly hourlong hearing, Vera said he was granting Kennedy's motion to dismiss with prejudice, finding a violation of Basmadjian's right to counsel. Vera stressed that he was not placing the blame on Galván personally, "but the circumstances here are beyond unacceptable."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are investigating whether the Justice Department purposefully withheld materials in its release of the Jeffrey Epstein files that included sexual assault allegations against President Donald Trump.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the panel, said in a statement Tuesday that such an act by DOJ would violate the law Congress passed in November, which required the administration to publicly release all files in its possession related to the federal case against Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

Garcia also said it also would run afoul of the subpoenas the Oversight Committee separately transmitted to DOJ last summer as part of its own Epstein investigation.

“For the last few weeks, Oversight Democrats have been investigating the FBI’s handling of allegations from 2019 of sexual assault on a minor made against President Donald Trump by a survivor,” Garcia said in the statement. “Oversight Democrats can confirm that the DOJ appears to have illegally withheld FBI interviews with this survivor who accused President Trump of heinous crimes.”

A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately provide comment to POLITICO regarding whether the administration is withholding incriminating materials.

The Justice Department, on social media, called on Oversight Democrats to "stop misleading the public while manufacturing outrage from their radical anti-Trump base," asserting that "NOTHING has been deleted."

"If files are temporarily pulled for victim redactions or to redact Personally Identifiable Information, then those documents are promptly restored online and are publicly available," the DOJ X post continued. "ALL responsive documents have been produced unless a document falls within one of the following categories: duplicates, privileged, or part of an ongoing federal investigation."

Trump has denied wrongdoing in relation to the Epstein allegations, and no evidence has suggested that Trump took part in Epstein’s trafficking operation. Many of the materials released by the Justice Department also lack substantiation or context.

Congressional investigators identified missing materials after matching public files with case files listed in the evidence manifest provided to the legal team of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s co-conspirator who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence, said Sara Guerrero, a spokesperson for Oversight Democrats.

One of those files include an allegation from a redacted individual that Trump sexually assaulted a minor. The accusation appears in a slide deck presentation featuring a list of powerful men who had been at one point connected to Epstein, including Trump.

In that slide deck, a person, whose name has been redacted but was estimated to be between 13 and 15 years old at the time of the alleged incident sometime in the 1980s, accuses Trump of forcing her head down to his penis, then reacting violently when she resisted.

An investigative report by NPR, published Tuesday, found that DOJ withheld “what appears to be more than 50 pages of FBI interviews, and notes from conversations with a woman who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago when she was a minor.” The report also notes that DOJ “removed some documents from the public database where accusations against Jeffrey Epstein also mention Trump.”

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POLITICO did not independently verify the NPR findings.

Garcia said he viewed unredacted files on a DOJ computer Monday, per privileges afforded to members of Congress.

“Covering up direct evidence of a potential assault by the President of the United States is the most serious possible crime in this White House cover up,” he added.

The Democrats’ probe, which will lack subpoena power given the party’s minority status, comes as party operatives see political advantage in drawing attention to DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files, alleging the administration is working to hide information that could be damaging to the president and not making enough efforts to bring justice to Epstein's accusers, a charge that the DOJ denies.

Separately, two House Democrats are asking deputy attorney general Todd Blanche to appoint a special counsel to investigate whether the nation’s top prosecutor, Pam Bondi, lied to Congress during her recent testimony before the House Judiciary Committee regarding Trump’s involvement with Epstein.

At that hearing earlier this month, Bondi said there is “no evidence” in the Epstein documents made public by her department that shows Trump committed a crime. In a letter to Blanche, Reps. Dan Goldman of New York and Ted Lieu of California pointed to the unsubstantiated claim in the Epstein documents that Trump allegedly forced himself on the young girl.

Lieu accused Bondi of lying to Congress during the hearing about whether Trump was accused of committing crimes in the Epstein files, without specifying details. Bondi responded, “don’t you ever accuse me of a crime.”

A spokesperson for House Oversight Republicans, in a statement, accused Democrats of “playing politics instead of seeking justice for survivors.”

“In the course of their witch hunt, they’ve cherry-picked and doctored documents to mislead the public and released images with no context to create a false narrative,” she continued. 

She also noted Democrats have “refused to condemn their own colleague,” Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.), who was found to have been a close associate of Epstein, texting and speaking on the phone with him and trying to set up a visit to his private island.

All Democrats voted against a Republican-led resolution in November that would have formally reprimanded Plaskett and kicked her off the House Intelligence Committee.

“Democrats have no credibility on this issue,” the spokesperson said.

Plaskett has not been found guilty of wrongdoing and has described Epstein as her former “constituent.”

“The partisan attack on the congresswoman is a pathetic and deliberate distortion of the facts," a Plaskett spokesperson said in a statement. "The Congresswoman has never visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island and has been clear in condemning his abhorrent behavior and has a long history of fighting against the sexual exploitation of women. It is imperative that we do not allow politically motivated distractions to pull the focus away from the actual bad actors who perpetrated and enabled these crimes.”