"Everything I've done, I've done at the direction of the president and Stephen," Noem told a person who relayed her remarks to Axios."
"The officers directly involved in the shooting "all shut up and got lawyers real quick so there wasn't a lot of information," one of the sources briefed on the statement said."
""Stephen heard 'gun' and knew what the narrative would be: Pretti came to 'massacre' cops," a source briefed on the process of assembling the press statement said."
Stephen Miller exercised de facto oversight over Kristi Noem and DHS communications. The Alex Pretti shooting occurred about 10:05 a.m. ET, leaving Washington officials with little verified information. Officers directly involved quickly retained lawyers, limiting available details. Under Miller's direction, DHS assembled a statement drawing on on-scene reports that noted a firearm and anticipated a mass-casualty narrative. DHS posted the statement at 12:31 p.m. on X before all White House sign-offs, causing internal frustration. Miller posted that Pretti was "an assassin" from a preliminary CBP report; Vice President Vance, Noem, and a Border Patrol commander repeated the language, and Noem inaccurately suggested brandishing despite video.
Read at Axios
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