WASHINGTON, March 14 (UPI) -- A U.S. House subcommittee will investigate and hold a hearing into alleged "foreign influence" in the prosecution of two U.S. Border Patrol agents who shot an unarmed Mexican drug smuggler.
Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., chairman of the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told United Press International Tuesday that the hearing would likely be in early May.
He said he had agreed to a request from the subcommittee's ranking member, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.
"It's a priority for him, and we try and work in a bipartisan manner," he said, adding he had agreed to the hearing "out of deference" to Rohrabacher, and as a matter of "legislative comity."
Rohrabacher is one of a number of conservative congressmen who have taken up the cause of the two former agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, helping to make them heroes of a sort to those who favor a tougher -- and perhaps rougher -- form of justice at the border.
Rohrabacher said in a statement the hearing would "explore possible foreign influence in the ruthless prosecution" of the two men, convicted by a Texas jury last year of shooting a Mexican drug courier after he fled his vehicle, and then covering up the incident by collecting shell casings and forging paperwork.
The courier was given immunity from prosecution and free hospital care for his wounds in exchange for his testimony.
Because the shooting, in February 2005, took place on federal land along the Texas border, the men were investigated by federal agents and prosecuted by the local U.S. Attorney's office under federal statutes. They were sentenced to 11 and 12 year prison terms.
"I commend Chairman Delahunt for his willingness to pursue this issue," said Rohrabacher. "This hearing will permit us to conduct an official investigation into aspects of the Ramos and Compean prosecution and others cases where a pattern of questionable foreign influence seems to exist."
Delahunt told UPI he had seen "no evidence whatsoever" of any such influence, but pointed out this was the only aspect of the case that the subcommittee had jurisdiction over.
"These are the assertions that have been made," Delahunt said of Rohrabacher's statement, promising "a respectful and thoughtful review ... (by the subcommittee) to ascertain what the facts are."
He said it was too early say how the inquiry would be staffed.
One issue which has irked many critics of the case is the fate of the drug mule, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila. Having been granted not just immunity and U.S. taxpayer-funded healthcare for his injuries, but a border crossing card to facilitate his visits to U.S. hospitals, Aldrete-Davila is now suing the U.S. government for damages for the original shooting.
Moreover, Rohrabacher has alleged, he continued to mule drugs across the border even while cooperating with agents from the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General and other federal investigators to help them prosecute Ramos and Compean.
"I hope this Administration will more forthright and cooperative than they have been thus far," said Rohrabacher Tuesday. "If a foreign government is having an undue influence on the decisions of our government to make concessions for illegal aliens over our law enforcement officers, the American people have a right to know about it."
Earlier this month, the conservative news and opinion Web site World Net Daily said the Compean and Ramos case was one of a series of prosecutions of Border Patrol agents by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, and suggested they had been brought at the behest of Mexican consular officials.
Delahunt said he had not yet had a chance to study the detail of the case, but added he was aware that several lawmakers had concerns about the case and it behooved him to take them seriously.
Congressional critics were enraged when it emerged that an initial report from the Homeland Security inspector general's office suggesting that the shooting might have been racially motivated proved inaccurate, but remained uncorrected for many months.
