Homeland nominee defends self as GOP boycotts

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's choice to be the No. 2 official at the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday strongly denied allegations that he had helped a politically connected company obtain a foreign investor visa, as his nomination got a White House vote of confidence. Republican senators boycotted the hearing on Alejandro Mayorkas' nomination.

Mayorkas, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, told the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee that suggestions of impropriety on the visa matter were "unequivocally false" and that he had overseen the program "based on the law and the facts and nothing else."

"I have never, ever in my career exercised undue influence to influence the outcome of a case," he said. "I have never based my decisions on who brings a case but rather on the facts and the law."

The Associated Press obtained a letter from White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler to the committee stating that the administration has no concerns about Mayorkas' "suitability" for the post. She said the White House followed standard procedures in checking out Mayorkas for the job and urged the Senate to swiftly confirm him.


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