In a bombshell development, newly released bodycam footage shows a top Trump Justice Department official directly ordering federal agents to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka during a protest at an ICE facility — a move legal experts are calling unprecedented, politically motivated, and potentially illegal.
The video, made public by the U.S. District Court for New Jersey on September 29, captures Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Ricky J. Patel ending a phone call and telling fellow agents they’re moving in: “Per the Deputy Attorney General of the United States.”
That official? Todd Blanche, the current U.S. Deputy Attorney General and a longtime Trump loyalist. His alleged role in orchestrating the arrest had previously only been referenced in legal filings. Now, it’s on tape.
Shortly after Patel’s call, ICE agents are seen moving to handcuff Baraka, sparking a scuffle caught on camera.
“This story, which is all captured on tape, is about law enforcement officers on the phone with the second most powerful law enforcement official in the United States of America, saying, quote, ‘Turn off your body cams, we’re walking out of the gates and arresting him,’” said Kristy Greenberg, a former federal prosecutor, on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House.
“And not only that, they then had to drop those charges because the whole thing was bogus,” she continued. “Now you have the mayor of Newark bringing a malicious, you know, vindictive prosecution lawsuit against … Alina Habba. But maybe after seeing this, he has to add Todd Blanche to the lawsuit.”
The footage not only confirms that Blanche authorized the arrest — it also shows how high up the chain this directive came. According to Greenberg, that’s a massive breach of protocol.
“It’s coming all the way from the top, the number two at the Department of Justice,” she said. “It shows [Alina] Habba really wasn’t the one leading the show here.”
Anchor Nicolle Wallace didn’t hold back either.
“I wish I could have this thing people talk about, being numb or not being shocked anymore. This is shocking to me,” she said. “The deputy attorney general of the United States is on the phone with law enforcement, not just talking about an arrest, but stagecrafting it.”
The video isn’t just explosive politically — it’s become central to Congresswoman LaMonica McIver’s defense in a high-stakes criminal case.
McIver, a Newark Democrat representing New Jersey’s 10th District, was indicted in June on three felony counts for allegedly assaulting and obstructing federal officers during the May 9 incident at Delaney Hall — the same confrontation where Baraka was detained.
Her legal team says the video clearly shows McIver was performing an official oversight visit and stepped in only to prevent what they say was a politically driven and unlawful arrest.
Her lawyers are leaning heavily on the Speech or Debate Clause of the U.S. Constitution — a safeguard that protects members of Congress from prosecution for actions taken as part of their legislative duties.
“The indictment threatens the separation of powers by criminalizing official duties,” her attorneys argue in court filings.
Was This About Policy — Or Payback?
A recent New York Times article may help explain why Blanche, a supposed neutral law enforcement official, would get directly involved in something so politically fraught.
According to that report, Blanche “understands that Donald Trump still sees him as his personal attorney” and that “he knows his client wanted revenge and not a legal lecture, and so he knew it would be futile to protest too much.”
Greenberg didn’t mince words: “Not only is this a complete abdication of any responsibility that he has,” she said, “but it could expose him to legal liability when the political officials he tries to order prosecuted come after him.”
A Lawsuit Could Be Next
With the video now part of the public record, Mayor Baraka’s previously announced lawsuit against Alina Habba — another Trump-aligned attorney — may now expand to include Blanche himself.
The initial charges against Baraka were quietly dropped not long after the incident, fueling speculation the arrest was more about optics than justice.
At its core, this case is testing the limits of legislative protection, the independence of law enforcement, and the integrity of the Justice Department under President Trump.
McIver’s defense team — led by former U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman and ex-special prosecutor Lee M. Cortes Jr. — has filed motions alleging selective and vindictive prosecution, and accused the Department of Homeland Security of using social media to smear their client before trial.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey has yet to comment on the video. And Blanche? Silent so far.
Watch the footage below.
