Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) requested that FBI Director Christopher Wray open an investigation into whether Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen committed perjury, after she claimed the administration “never had a policy for family separation.” According to an administration memo released by Merkley’s office Thursday, Trump administration officials worked to create a policy to “separate family units” as early as Dec. 2017. Nielsen, in her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, stated that the administration had no policy for family separation. “In light of these conflicting facts, the FBI should immediately investigate whether Secretary Nielsen’s statements violate.... relevant federal statutes that prohibit perjury and false statements to Congress,” Merkley wrote in a statement.
