Democratic senator asks FBI to investigate DHS secretary

January 19, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. | Updated January 18, 2019 at 10:22 p.m.

by Associated Press

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. speaks to reporters just outside the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 5, 2017, after he ended a 15 hour all-night talk-a-thon as the Senate heads toward a showdown over the confirmation vote for Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. speaks to reporters just outside the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 5, 2017, after he ended a 15 hour all-night talk-a-thon as the Senate heads toward a showdown over the confirmation vote for Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Democratic senator is asking the FBI to investigate whether Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen lied during testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

Sen. Jeff Merkley said in a letter to the FBI that a December 2017 memo shows DHS officials outlined a policy to separate families.

In April 2018, the Trump administration instituted the "zero-tolerance" policy where anyone caught crossing the border illegally was criminally prosecuted. It resulted in the separation of nearly 2,800 children.

Nielsen said at the hearing last December there wasn't a policy to separate families. She said the separations under zero tolerance happened because children can't be jailed with parents.

Homeland Security officials said the secretary rejected the 2017 memo's suggestion and reiterated there was no policy to separate families. The FBI had no comment.

Merkley, of Oregon, is considering a presidential run.

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