Hawley Calls For Mayorkas, Wray to Testify About New Orleans Attack

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) speaks during a Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight on Capitol Hill in Washington on Aug. 3, 2022. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has called for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Chris Wray to testify about the New Year’s Day truck ramming attack in New Orleans.

Hawley raised his demands in a letter to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who is due to begin chairing the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at the start of this month’s next congressional session.

“When the 119th Congress convenes next week, and you assume leadership of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, I urge you to immediately call Mayorkas and Wray to publicly testify prior to their departure from office,” Hawley wrote.

The truck-ramming attack began at around 3:15 a.m. local time on Jan. 1, as a driver smashed through a crowd of people on Bourbon Street, New Orleans, before exiting the vehicle and opening fire. At least 14 people were killed and dozens more were wounded.

Responding law enforcement officers shot and killed the suspect, whom they’ve since identified as a 42-year-old U.S. citizen and Army veteran named Shamsud-Din Jabbar.

Investigators subsequently found an ISIS flag and explosive materials in the suspect’s vehicle.

“This apparent terrorist attack is horrific,” Hawley wrote.

If Paul does call for Mayorkas and Wray to testify, it may be their last congressional hearings before they leave office. Wray has already announced he would resign at the end of the Biden administration later this month.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee had called on Mayorkas and Wray to testify at a Nov. 27 hearing, but both men did not attend the meeting. Hawley noted this canceled hearing in his letter to Paul.

“I urge you to make clear that on their way out the door, Secretary Mayorkas, Director Wray, and other administration officials cannot shirk public accountability. The American people deserve the truth,” Hawley wrote.

The Missouri senator posed several questions he hopes Mayorkas and Wray will answer, including whether the suspect was previously known to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the FBI, whether he acted alone or with help, and the suspect’s potential motives for the attack.

Paul has already joined in expressing his condolences for those injured and killed in the New Year’s Day attack. Still, it’s unclear whether he will pursue testimony from Mayorkas and Wray.

The FBI is leading the investigation into the ramming attack. Mayorkas has said DHS is also assisting in the effort.

Neither Mayorkas nor Wray have responded to Hawley’s public call for their testimony.

The Epoch Times reached out to DHS and the FBI for comment, but neither office responded before publication time.