Federal indictment charges Rep. LaMonica McIver with three counts of assaulting or impeding federal officers at Delaney Hall in May 2025; Third Circuit let two counts proceed and remanded the third, Aug. 2026; no trial or conviction yet

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A federal indictment filed June 10, 2025 (U.S. District Court, D.N.J., No. 2:25-cr-00388) charges Rep. LaMonica McIver with three counts under 18 U.S.C. 111(a), the third a misdemeanor per the House Ethics Committee, over events on May 9, 2025, when she and two other House members made an oversight visit to Delaney Hall, a federal immigration detention facility in Newark, and federal agents moved to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka outside the security gate. Count One alleges she slammed her forearm into a Homeland Security Investigations official and tried to restrain him; Count Two alleges she pushed past an ICE deportation officer and struck him with her forearms; Count Three alleges no separate act and relies on the indictment's background paragraphs, which the government said at oral argument covers essentially all of her efforts to hinder the mayor's arrest. She moved to dismiss on Speech or Debate Clause, separation-of-powers, and selective and vindictive prosecution grounds, and the district court denied the motions. On Aug. 26, 2026 a divided Third Circuit panel affirmed as to Counts One and Two, ruling that prosecuting them would not require her to answer for legislative acts; vacated and sent Count Three back to the district court to consider whether it reaches protected legislative conduct; and dismissed the rest of her appeal, including the selective and vindictive prosecution claims, for lack of appellate jurisdiction. Judge Ambro, concurring in part and dissenting in part, agreed on Count One but would have sent Count Two back for additional fact-finding. The Third Circuit decided only the immunity question; the case has not gone to trial and she has not been convicted. The House Ethics Committee said on June 20, 2025 that it had not established an investigative subcommittee and would continue to review the matter, adding that an investigation does not itself indicate a violation occurred. McIver said after the ruling that the court got it wrong, that she will not fold to this administration, and that she is exploring every possible option, and she said elected representatives must be able to conduct oversight of the executive branch without fear of retaliation. Her office said she is innocent, and her counsel said the administration's goal is to chill members of Congress from overseeing it.

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