During the confirmation hearing for Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) nominee Terrance Cole, Sen. Lindsey Graham produced a photo of deported alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia and asked Cole to essentially translate the man’s controversial tattoos.
“Are you familiar with MS-13? Briefly, what are they?” Graham asked.
“They’re a terrorist organization,” Cole replied.
“[They’re involved in] extortion, kidnapping, drugs, intimidation, money laundering…”
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Graham then asked whether MS-13 members have “membership cards” or anything similar for the public to identify them, given disputes about what Garcia’s knuckle tattoos really mean.
“Not necessarily the membership cards, but they are well recognized based on tattoos and different [things],” Cole said.
Producing a photo of the tattoos, Graham asked Cole to translate each of them in the fashion of a Rebus puzzle.
“Based on your time and experience and expertise in the DEA, what does that photo or those markings suggest to you?” he asked.
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“Well, they suggest that he’s an MS-13 member – that those are his markings. That’s his brand.”
When asked what the leaf on his first knuckle stood for, Cole said it was marijuana, which starts with “M.” The second finger was a “smiley face,” he said, which starts with “S,” followed by the number “1” and what “looks like a backwards 3, from here.”
“So based on your time as a DEA agent in the field, particularly in Mexico, these tattoos are consistent with MS-13 associations,” Graham asked.
“Yes sir, that’s correct,” Cole replied.
To dispel further criticism, Graham went on to ask if there might be any other organizations that would use that series of symbols.
Cole responded in the negative.
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On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., was asked by the outlet “The Bulwark” about Democrats’ recent trips to El Salvador to meet with Garcia.
Democratic aides later told the outlet that Jeffries had reportedly discouraged any more visits.
The controversy over Garcia’s tattoos also boiled over during a recent interview between ABC News’ Terry Moran and President Donald Trump.
“Wait a minute, he had ‘MS-13’ on his knuckles,” Trump said, before Moran countered that there were “some tattoos that were interpreted that way.”
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