Rep. Nancy Mace Puts Charleston County Sheriff on Notice: Comply with Records Request or Face Subpoena
Washington, D.C. – November 1st, 2024 – The House Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano’s refusal to provide crucial ICE detainer records, citing willful obstruction. These records, detailing her handling of ICE requests and the termination of the County’s 287(g) agreement, have significant public safety implications. Rep. Nancy Mace, Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation, demands transparency, calling the Sheriff’s deflection of a congressional inquiry as a FOIA request a clear attempt to avoid accountability. If the Sheriff’s office fails to comply, Rep. Mace, alongside the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, will issue a subpoena.
"Documentary evidence of these facts was submitted for the record by Representative Mace at a September 25 hearing entitled, ‘The Border Crisis: The Cost of Chaos,’ held by the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs. To better understand why your jurisdiction is refusing to facilitate custody by ICE of illegal aliens who have committed crimes—including violent crimes—we request that you provide the following information, covering the time period January 4, 2021 to the present unless otherwise indicated, by November 15, 2024," the letter continues. "If you fail to produce the requested documents by November 15, 2024, the Committee will consider additional measures, including use of the compulsory process, to gain compliance and obtain this critical material.”
“Our message is simple: hand over the documents or prepare for a subpoena,” Mace continued. “Stonewalling Congress won’t fly, and I won’t stand by while public safety is put at risk. Graziano needs to answer for her actions, and we’re going to do whatever it takes to make it happen.”
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