Duckworth Corners Miller in Brutal Senate Clash — 'You Lied to This Committee'

[0:04] four words you lied to this committee not implied not suggested not framed as a question said [0:12] directly on the record into a live microphone by a united states senator and combat veteran [0:18] who had spent three weeks building toward those four words with the methodical patience [0:23] of someone who flew combat missions and knows exactly how much preparation goes into a single [0:28] decisive moment congresswoman tammy duckworth does not grandstand she does not perform outrage [0:34] for cameras she builds cases document by document testimony by testimony and when she finally [0:42] looked across the senate armed services committee witness table at stephen miller on wednesday morning [0:47] and said those four words she had already laid every piece of evidence on the table that made them [0:52] not an accusation but a conclusion if you are new to dc frontline subscribe right now because what [1:00] happened in that chamber on wednesday was not a political clash it was a senator with a combat [1:05] veteran's discipline cornering a witness with his own sworn words and refusing to let him walk away [1:11] from them senate armed services committee wednesday morning 10 17 a.m eastern the hearing was scheduled [1:19] as a review of dhs interagency communication protocols duckworth arrived early she organized [1:26] five documents in front of her in a specific order adjusted her microphone and sat completely still while [1:32] the chamber filled the stillness of someone who has already done everything that needed to be done [1:38] before walking into the room miller arrived with four attorneys more than any previous hearing his team [1:45] had clearly received some signal about what was coming but signals and preparation are two different [1:51] things and what duckworth had in those five documents was not something miller's team could prepare a [1:56] clean answer for because the documents were miller's own words from two separate sworn testimonies saying [2:04] two things that cannot both be true duckworth opened without ceremony mr miller i want to start with [2:12] something simple she pulled out document one this is the transcript of your testimony before the senate [2:18] judiciary committee on february 19th of this year she said it on the evidence table i'm going to read [2:25] you one exchange from that testimony senator blumenthal asked you did dhs coordinate with outside [2:32] contractors to access the national benefits database without congressional authorization and you answered [2:39] no that coordination never occurred under my watch she looked up is that an accurate representation of [2:47] your february 19th testimony miller said that is correct duckworth nodded she pulled out document two [2:57] this is the transcript of your testimony before the house judiciary committee on april 3rd six weeks [3:03] after your senate testimony she opened it congressman lou asked you were any third party contractors [3:11] granted access to federal benefits databases during your tenure and you answered to the best of my knowledge [3:18] no contractor access of that nature was authorized she looked up is that an accurate representation of your [3:26] april 3rd testimony miller said that is correct duckworth set both transcripts side by side on the [3:34] evidence table good she pulled out document three then i want you to explain this she turned to the [3:42] chamber display dhs internal access authorization log date january 18th she read slowly third-party [3:54] contractor credentials issued for national benefits database elevated access authorization level secretary [4:04] she set it down january 18th mr miller seven weeks before you told the senate that contractor [4:11] coordination never occurred ten weeks before you told the house that no contractor access was authorized [4:19] she looked directly at him this log was produced under federal subpoena from dhs's own server it was [4:27] authenticated by the dhs chief information officer and it shows contractor access to the national [4:33] benefits database authorized at the secretarial level on january 18th she paused you told the senate it [4:42] never occurred you told the house it was never authorized the dhs server says it happened on january [4:48] 18th she folded her hands mr miller you lied to this committee which testimony would you like to correct [4:56] first miller's lead attorney was on his feet before duckworth finished her sentence mr chairman the [5:03] characterization being made by the senator misrepresents the nature of the access log and the [5:08] scope of the questions asked in the reference testimonies duckworth did not look at him the access [5:14] log was produced by dhs under federal subpoena the testimonies are verbatim transcripts the dates are not [5:21] in dispute she turned to the attorney are you disputing that the january 18th access log exists [5:27] the attorney said we are disputing the characterization of what it represents duckworth looked at him for one [5:35] full second the log shows contractor credentials issued for national benefits database elevated access [5:42] authorized at the secretarial level on january 18th she turned back to the committee that is what [5:49] it represents she turned back to miller mr miller i asked you a question which testimony would you [5:55] like to correct now dc frontline let me stop for a moment because what duckworth just did is something [6:02] very specific and very deliberate she did not ask miller to explain the access log she did not ask him [6:09] whether contractor access occurred she asked him which sworn testimony he wants to correct because [6:16] both testimonies are already on the permanent record the only options available to miller right now [6:21] are to say the february testimony was wrong or to say the april testimony was wrong or to try to argue [6:27] that neither one contradicts the january 18th access log and that third option is not available [6:34] because the log says exactly what duckworth said it says subscribe to dc frontline right now and share [6:41] this video because miller's answer to this question is about to tell this committee everything miller leaned [6:47] toward his microphone his voice was careful the access log you are referencing reflects a limited [6:53] technical credentialing process that was distinct from the operational coordination described in the senate [6:58] hearing questions duckworth looked at him a limited technical credentialing process she pulled out [7:05] document 4. this is a dhs internal memo dated january 17th the day before the access log she opened it [7:13] it describes what she called in your words an operational coordination framework with third party [7:19] intelligence partners for database access purposes she set it down your words one day before the access log [7:28] describing exactly what you told the senate never occurred and told the house was never authorized [7:34] she looked at him mr miller a limited technical credentialing process does not get its own [7:40] operational coordination framework memo the day before it happens she paused you told two committees [7:47] under oath that this never occurred your own memo from the day before says it did she looked directly at [7:54] him that is not a mischaracterization that is a contradiction in your own documents on the record [8:02] under oath a republican from illinois leaned into his microphone i want to say for the record that i [8:09] have reviewed both testimony transcripts and the access log before this hearing the contradiction is clear [8:16] i do not see how it can be explained away someone needs to answer for it duckworth pulled out document [8:22] five mr miller after identifying the january 18th access log my office subpoenaed the contractor [8:29] credential usage records for the 30 days following issuance she opened it in the 30 days following [8:36] the january 18th credential authorization those contractor credentials were used to run 1 400 separate [8:43] queries against the national benefits database she set it down 1 400 queries in 30 days against a federal [8:52] database containing the records of millions of american citizens authorized at the secretarial level [8:58] after a coordination framework memo you wrote the day before she looked at him and you told the [9:03] senate it never occurred you told the house it was never authorized she folded her hands mr miller [9:10] i am going to give you one more opportunity to answer the question i asked you six minutes ago [9:16] she looked at him steadily which testimony would you like to correct miller's second attorney stood mr [9:23] chairman on advice of counsel my client declines to answer questions that could incriminate him [9:28] under the fifth amendment duckworth turned to the committee the witness has invoked the fifth amendment [9:34] in response to a question asking him which of his two sworn testimonies he would like to correct [9:40] she let that sit for three full seconds she looked at the chairman mr chairman i moved to enter [9:46] all five documents into the congressional record i moved to refer both testimony transcripts and the dhs [9:52] access log to the department of justice for review under 18 usc 1621 perjury before a congressional [10:01] committee and i moved to formally notify both the senate judiciary committee and the house judiciary [10:06] committee that testimony given before each body appears to be directly contradicted by dhs records [10:12] authenticated by the agency's own chief information officer all three motions were seconded immediately [10:19] all three passed unanimously duckworth gathered her five documents without rushing she looked at miller [10:26] one final time mr miller you came into this committee room on february 19th and told the senate that [10:33] contractor coordination never occurred under your watch you came into the house committee room on april 3rd [10:39] and said no contractor access was ever authorized and on january 18th seven weeks before the first [10:46] testimony and 10 weeks before the second your own department issued contractor credentials for exactly [10:52] that access under your own authorization level following a coordination memo you wrote yourself [11:00] she stood you lied to this committee she paused that is not a characterization that is the document [11:07] record i yield back mr chairman the chamber did not erupt loudly it went the kind of quiet that is louder [11:15] than noise the quiet of a room full of people who have just watched something irreversible happen [11:21] miller sat completely still in his seat surrounded by four attorneys none of whom were speaking and [11:27] tammy duckworth walked out of that chamber the same way she walked in without ceremony because she [11:33] had done what she came to do the documents were on the record the contradiction was permanent and the [11:40] referral was already on its way to the department of justice subscribe to dc frontline right now [11:47] and share this video with everyone who needs to see it tomorrow we release the full january 18th [11:52] access log the coordination framework memo from january 17th and the complete 1400 query record [11:59] side by side with both testimony transcripts duckworth said four words you lied to this committee [12:08] the documents prove she was right share this video the record is public and it does not disappear