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Inspector confronted on Capitol Hill, says promised 'proof' does not exist A Department of Homeland Security official admitted today the agency misled Congress when it contended it possessed investigative reports proving Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean confessed guilt and declared they "wanted to shoot some Mexicans" prior to the incident that led to their imprisonment. The admission came during the testimony of DHS Inspector General Richard L. Skinner before the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, according to Michael Green, press secretary for Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas. Culberson was questioning Skinner about a meeting DHS...

Long-awaited incident reports regarding the case of two convicted El Paso Border Patrol agents were delivered to Congress on Monday evening but have been classified secret from the general public. The Homeland Security Subcommittee on Management, Investment and Oversight obtained the report after submitting an emergency Freedom of Information Act request for the documents. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, said he will not review the classified documents until they are made available to the public. Poe expects a redacted version will be made available soon. "I want to read what the public will get to read," Poe said. "The real question...

A spokesman for Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the former chairman of the House Subcommittee on Management, Investigations, and Oversight, said the committee received the redacted report on the investigation from the DHS inspector general late Monday afternoon. Lawmakers have been waiting months for the report. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, filed a Freedom of Information Act request last week to get the document. Last March, McCaul — then chairman of the subcommittee —- convened a meeting with the inspector general and three other members of Congress for an official briefing on the report. During that meeting, said his spokesman, Jack Hirschfield,...

The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday apologetically retracted staff members' comments that two Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a Mexican drug smuggler had told investigators they intended "to shoot Mexicans." The department's inspector general issued the retraction at a congressional hearing as the department released a previously sealed report into the conduct of the two agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. Congressional pressure to remove the two agents from prison - either through presidential pardons or by releasing them on bail pending appeal - intensified Wednesday after reports that fellow inmates assaulted Ramos over the weekend. The case...

Department of Homeland Security officials told four House members last month that two Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a drug smuggler admitted to supervisors that they were "out to shoot Mexicans" the day of the shooting, but have yet to provide proof the agents made such statements. In an effort to convince four concerned congressman that the El Paso, Texas ,trial, conviction and sentencing of Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were warranted, representatives of the Homeland Security Office of Inspector General met privately with the congressmen to assure them of Ramos' and Compean's guilt. The agents...