Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, one of the fiercest public defenders of President Trump’s immigration crackdown, is leaving the administration.
McLaughlin’s departure was first reported Tuesday by Politico and later confirmed by her boss, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
“She has played an instrumental role in advancing our mission to secure the homeland and keep Americans safe,” Noem wrote on social media. “While we are sad to see her leave, we are grateful for her service and wish Tricia nothing but success.”
McLaughlin was best known for defending Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations no matter the circumstances. Most famously, she claimed Minnesota man Alex Pretti wanted to “massacre law enforcement.”
Pretti, a 39-year-old man shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis, was holding a cellphone in his hand when masked officers tackled him, disarmed him and shot him dead. Several videos from the scene contradicted McLaughlin’s public statements.
“Kristi Noem needs to resign or be impeached, and Tricia McLaughlin should not have the job that she has. She’s a pathological liar,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in January.
McLaughlin was also criticized last year, when ProPublica reported that her husband’s company received a $200 million contract from the department.
Her departure comes at a tumultuous time for the Noem-led DHS, which was depicted as chaotic and dysfunctional in a Wall Street Journal article last week. Funding for the department and limitations on ICE and Trump’s immigration operations are also at the center of an ongoing partial government shutdown.
McLaughlin will reportedly be replaced by one of her deputies, Lauren Bis. McLaughlin has not made any announcement about her next plans, though she didn’t rule out running for office in a recent interview with her hometown paper, the Cincinnati Enquirer.
