Amongst the many absurd aspects of Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-MD) trip to El Salvador in search of Abrego Garcia, the wife-beating alleged member of MS-13 who was deported to El Salvador by President Donald Trump was that he was caught on camera having a margarita with the gangster, which he claims was planted by El Salvador. Rep. James Comer (R-KY) has said no more such trips will be taxpayer-funded.
Such is what Rep. Comer tweeted about in a letter posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, April 18, saying that if Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-FL) want to travel to El Salvador to meet with Garcia, they can do so on their own time, as he won’t let Congressional funds be used to pay for it.
Beginning the letter, Comer slammed the two Democrats for requesting that Congress use taxpayer dollars to pay for their trip to El Salvador, noting that Garcia is suspected of horrid crimes in addition to being an MS-13 gangster and that it is abhorrent that they would take his side.
Doing so, Comer said, “Dear Representatives Garcia and Frost: I write in response to your letter of April 15, 2025 requesting that I approve, from the Committee’s budget, official travel for you both to visit the country of El Salvador to meet with a foreign MS-13 gang member whose wife accused him of crimes and who is strongly suspected of human trafficking.”
Adding to that, Comer sounded off on their lack of concern about the utter invasion America saw under Biden and their concern for an MS-13 gangster, saying, “It is absurd that you both displayed active hostility for over two years toward the Committee’s oversight of the Biden Border Crisis and the consequences of millions of illegal aliens entering the country, yet now, you are seeking travel at Committee expense to meet with foreign gang members.”
Comer then hammered Sen. Van Hollen for the margarita incident, saying, “You may be pleased to know that a Democrat Senator, Chris Van Hollen, was photographed just yesterday in El Salvador enjoying margaritas garnished with cherry slices with the foreign gang member your letter references.”
Concluding his letter by completely denying their request in quite terse fashion, Comer said, “If you also wish to meet with him, you can spend your own money. But I will not approve a single dime of taxpayer funds for use on the excursion you have requested. Your request is denied.”
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Captioning his post, Comer said, “If Democrats wish to travel to El Salvador and meet with a foreign illegal MS-13 gang member, they can spend their own money to do so. I will not approve a single dime of Oversight Committee taxpayer funds for use on the excursion Democrats have requested.”
What appears to have really set Rep. Comer off was that Sen. Van Hollen, when asked, “Who did pay for this trip?” said, “This was an officially cleared congressional trip, yes, like every other trip.” Captioning the clip in which he said so on X, the Trump Rapid Response 47 X account said, “🚨 @ChrisVanHollen confirms taxpayers paid for him to fly to El Salvador and sip margaritas with a deported illegal immigrant MS-13 gang member.”
Watch him here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video