Joe Biden’s Own Judge Just Gave a Top Democrat Congresswoman One Brutal Reality Check

August 30, 2026 Cat2, The Media
Towfiqu barbhuiya via pexels

Bob Menendez tried the same move – and it didn't save him either.

Now a Democrat congresswoman who slammed her forearm into an ICE officer is running the same play.

And Joe Biden's own judge just gave a top Democrat Congresswoman one brutal reality check

Biden Judge Delivers the Verdict Democrats Didn't Want

Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey tried everything to make this go away.

She argued that assaulting a federal officer was actually "legislative oversight."

She said the charges were "vindictive."

Her office called it political persecution.

Federal judges appointed by both parties just told her the same thing: no.

Judge Cindy Chung – a Biden appointee who Chuck Schumer personally praised on the Senate floor – wrote the majority opinion rejecting McIver's immunity claim.

"The charged conduct is unambiguously non-legislative," Chung wrote.

Judge Stephanos Bibas, a Trump appointee, joined her because it isn't protected congressional activity.

What She Actually Did at Delaney Hall

McIver didn't just "visit" Delaney Hall in May 2025.

Court documents say she "slammed her forearm" into a federal officer who was trying to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

Then she went back inside the facility and used both forearms to "forcibly strike" another officer.

That's not oversight.

That's assault on federal law enforcement – caught on video.

Baraka was also charged – with trespassing – because he was not a member of Congress and had no legal right to enter the facility.

She physically intervened in the arrest and then claimed the Constitution protected her from prosecution for doing it.

"Like the acts charged in Count One, the acts of pushing past and forcibly striking someone are unambiguously non-legislative," Chung and Bibas wrote.

That's lawyer-speak for: you can't hide behind your congressional badge to avoid criminal charges for hitting people.

Democrats Keep Running the Same Play and Losing

Menendez tried this.

He argued the Speech or Debate Clause – the same constitutional protection McIver is now claiming – shielded him from his bribery charges.

He was convicted and went to prison anyway.

McIver is the second high-profile Democrat in two years to discover that a congressional title is not a get-out-of-jail-free card.

She faces up to 17 years in federal prison if convicted on all three counts.

She told reporters the court "got it wrong."

The next time a Democrat shows up at an ICE facility looking for a confrontation, they'll do it knowing exactly what happens when it turns physical.

The rules apply to everyone.

Even Democrats.

Sources:

  • Elizabeth Elkind, "Trump scores federal court win against House progressive accused of assaulting ICE," Fox News, August 26, 2026.
  • "Third Circuit denies New Jersey congresswoman immunity amid ICE assault charges," Courthouse News Service, August 26, 2026.
  • "NJ Rep LaMonica McIver's immunity defense REJECTED by court," The Post Millennial, August 26, 2026.
  • "Court green-lights most of DOJ's prosecution against Dem congresswoman in ICE clash," The Washington Times, August 26, 2026.
  • "Appeals court opts not to dismiss federal charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver," Yahoo News, August 26, 2026.