Ken Cuccinelli: Dems' 'Nazi' and 'stormtrooper' labels for fed officers may be libelous

Libel lawsuits might be appropriate for Democrats who use Nazi and "stormtrooper" labels when referring to federal law enforcement agencies, Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of homeland security, said Friday.

Cuccinelli's comments to host Lisa Boothe on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" followed remarks by such lawmakers as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, both California Democrats.

"When you see such libelous, slanderous comments from people who know better -- Let's not kid ourselves, the speaker of the House knows that she is using Nazi allusions to refer to correct, professional law enforcement officers," Cuccinelli said.

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"If I was a CBP agent or ICE agent, or FBI agent -- and if I was an FPS agent -- I might sue for libel," he said.

Cuccinelli was referring to personnel from Customs and Border Protection; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the Federal Protective Service.

Pelosi had referred to federal law enforcement officers deployed to Portland, Ore., as "stormtroopers" in remarks and Twitter messages earlier this month.

"The use of stormtroopers under the guise of law and order. It is a tactic that is not appropriate to the country," Pelosi told reporters July 16. She followed up with a Twitter message the next day.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler further claimed that "nonviolent Americans are going to be killed for doing nothing other than standing up for American democratic principles."

Waters claimed FPS agents were acting in a way that one would "see in countries where you have dictators."

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Earlier in the week, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., compared the agents to the Nazi-era Geheime Staatspolizei, or "Gestapo."

Cuccinelli noted that federal law enforcement officers have simply been carrying out the jobs they have been hired to do.

"[W]e have a federal mission at the Department of Homeland Security, governed by statute -- [but] we have also heard people say this isn't constitutional," he said. Cuccinelli then quoted the excerpt of federal code that requires such agents to protect federal property.

"So we are not only within the boundaries of the Constitution, we have a statutory charge. That is the mission we are pursuing there," he said.

Cuccinelli went on to explain that the left wing of the Democratic Party views a key constituency as those who believe "violence is an acceptable way to achieve your goals."

"And you know, we saw Mayor Wheeler go out last night. He is way out there -- radical left. ... He has basically turned much of the city over to these violent criminals, and he has tied the hands of his own police department," Cuccinelli added.

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Cuccinelli said that when he saw Wheeler go mingle among the violent protesters and get blindsided by boos, jeers and calls for resignation, it reminded him of pre-Soviet Russia.

"The right historical analogy has nothing to do with Germany but it has to do with the Bolsheviks. Last night, that mayor was a Menshevik -- the socialists who thought they can control that revolution and the bloodthirsty Bolsheviks came in and killed them all," he said. "This mob is out for blood. They are not there to protect the First Amendment or exercise First Amendment rights."

The Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks were competing factions of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party of the early 1900s.