#WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) released the following statement after the Department of Defense Inspector General announced a new investigation into the Trump Administration’s deployment of thousands of U.S. military troops to the southern border. Blumenthal has previously raised concerns about the politicization of the military directly with the Pentagon, specifically requesting “legal justification for the expanding mission of active duty troops deployed to the southern border,” and “training and legal guidance provided to servicemembers deployed to the border.”

“I welcome this investigation – accountability is long overdue,” Blumenthal said. “I have long held serious concerns about the politically motivated, potentially unlawful deployment of our servicemen and women to the southern border. Over the last two years, the Trump Administration has manipulated our military for partisan gain in a dangerous disservice to our men and women in uniform, and a threat to military readiness and our national security.”

In May 2019, Blumenthal led a group of nineteen senators in writing to then-Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan raising concerns over the expanding mission of active duty servicemembers deployed to the southern border. In the letter, the senators demanded a legal justification for increased military activities at the border, including a loosening of restrictions on contact between servicemembers and migrants. The full text of the Blumenthal-led letter is available here.

In November 2018, after of active duty troops were sent to the U.S.-Mexico border in the days before the midterm elections, Blumenthal led a group of twelve senators in writing then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis to raise concerns regarding the “the overt politicization of the military and the lack of evidence to justify the deployment of active duty troops to confront the migrant caravan before the midterm elections.”

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