Sen. James Lankford asked Democrats on Monday to delay a planned vote this week on President Biden’s pick to lead ICE after accusations of domestic violence surfaced.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez of Harris County, Texas, was investigated by police after his wife said she he became “physical or violent” because she was having an affair with a supervisor at her job, according to a sworn affidavit from one of the officers who responded to investigate.
Mr. Lankford said senators should get to the bottom of the accusation before voting on confirming the sheriff to the top job at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“It would be irresponsible for the Senate to vote on the confirmation of Sheriff Gonzalez to be Director of ICE until we determine whether the allegations outlined in the attached affidavit are true,” the Oklahoma Republican wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Sen. Gary Peters, Michigan Democrat and chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
As of now, the Senate is expected to hold an initial vote Tuesday to head off a GOP filibuster, then will likely proceed to a final confirmation vote later in the day.
Neither Mr. Schumer’s office nor Mr. Peters’ office responded to requests for comment about the allegations or scheduling.
The Washington Times reported earlier Monday on the allegation, which was made by a police officer in a sworn affidavit filed as part of a tangential sexual harassment case.
The sheriff’s office referred questions about the allegation to the White House, which has not responded to multiple inquiries from The Times.
Mr. Biden, searching for a critic outside of ICE to take the reins, tapped Sheriff Gonzalez for the job last April.
The domestic violence report surfaced in the court case in Texas in July, though Mr. Lankford’s letter suggests it wasn’t made known to senators on the committee charged with vetting the nomination.
The three-page affidavit says an officer responded to a call from Mrs. Gonzalez’s home and found her and her boss, Houston Community College Chancellor Cesar Maldonado.
“The chancellor spoke up and said that Mrs. Gonzalez wanted to file a complaint against her husband, Sheriff Gonzalez, because of suggested violence she had experienced at her home at the hands of the sheriff,” the officer recounted.
The gist of the complaint was “the sheriff allegedly becoming physical or violent with Mrs. Gonzalez because of her romantic relationship with the chancellor,” the officer wrote.
The accusation was lodged in court about two weeks after Sheriff Gonzalez sat for a confirmation hearing with the Homeland Security Committee last summer. A few days after the accusation, the committee approved the nomination in a party-line vote, sending it to the full Senate.
But senators took no action and the nomination expired at the end of 2021.
Mr. Biden renewed the nomination this year and the committee again voted along party lines to advance it, without holding a new hearing.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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