President-elect Donald Trump filed an amicus brief Thursday night in support of a legal effort by Texas and Missouri to “immediately” stop the Biden administration's sale of border wall materials, saying the action is ” possibly criminal.”
Texas and Missouri filed a motion earlier this week in a district court in the Southern District of Texas to hold a status conference to determine whether the government is violating the court's permanent injunction from earlier this year. That court order prohibited the Biden administration from using the funds obligated for the construction of the wall for any purpose other than that.
'PATTERN OF IGNORANCE': RED STATES SEEK COURT ACTION AGAINST BIDEN ADMIN'S 'SHAMEFUL' BORDER WALL REMOVAL
“The Court should issue an order directing the defendants to immediately cease any ongoing sales of border barrier materials to private parties pending the Court's review of the defendant's conduct, and the Court should promptly conduct a thorough examination of the Government's conduct, through formal discovery if necessary, to examine the Government's compliance with the law, the Constitution, and the Court's judicial order,” Trump's amicus curiae brief states.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a press conference at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort on December 16, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The Biden administration has been auctioning off parts of the border wall since at least 2023 with pieces listed for sale on auction markets, after it abruptly shut down most of border wall construction in 2021.
Those auctions have continued, and border officials told Fox that auctions are now held weekly and have been for some time. But the practice made headlines last week when The Daily Wire published a video showing parts being transported and cited Border Patrol agents who said the goal was to clear it before Christmas.
Trump's amicus brief states that if Biden administration officials are “deliberately selling border wall materials at significant financial loss to the Government to obstruct the pro-wall policy of Congress and President Trump, that conduct likely constitutes a criminal act, such as a conspiracy to defraud the United States.”
“At a minimum, the reported conduct raises troubling concerns about potentially criminal behavior,” the document states.
GOP SENATOR MOVES TO STOP FEDS FROM DISCARDING BORDER WALL MATERIALS AMID AUCTION REJECTION
A defense official told Fox News last week that the Pentagon has been clearing excess wall construction in accordance with the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which required the defense secretary to submit a plan to use , transfer or donate all remaining wall material purchased. with Pentagon funds. That plan was presented in March.
The official said border states, including Texas, were first offered that material for purchase before the auction. The official also said the materials no longer belong to the U.S. government, adding that the Department of Defense has no legal authority to remove the material or stop its resale.
“Through our reuse, transfer and donation process, nearly 60% of those materials were transferred to authorized recipients, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the states of Texas and California,” the official said. “The remaining 40% was sold to GovPlanet under a competitive sales contract process that began in June 2024. Material currently sold through GovPlanet's online auctions is no longer owned by the US government and “The Department of Defense has no legal authority to remove the material or stop it from further reselling material it no longer owns.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS
But those statements have not stopped the outrage of Republicans, who see the auctions as a measure to prevent the Trump administration from building the wall. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., introduced legislation this week to stop the auctions.
Meanwhile, Trump said Monday that he had been working with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and others to acquire the materials.
This March 2, 2019, file photo shows a Customs and Border Enforcement agent patrolling on the U.S. side of a barbed wire-covered border wall along the border with Mexico east of Nogales, Arizona. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
“What they are doing is really an act, it is almost a criminal act,” he said. “They know we're going to use it, and if we don't have it, we're going to have to rebuild it. And it's going to cost twice what it cost years ago, and that's hundreds of millions of dollars because you're talking about a lot, a lot of wall.”
Paxton said in a statement that Texas will go to court to “prevent any border security materials from being illegally sold and to uncover the truth about what the federal government may be doing to subvert construction of the border wall.”
'WAITING TO HELP': RED STATE REVEALS PLAN TO BUY AUCTIONED BORDER WALL MATERIALS TO STORE THEM FOR TRUMP
“President Trump has an overwhelming mandate from the American people to build the wall and I will do everything in my power to prevent any acts of sabotage by the outgoing administration,” he said.
Texas has said it intends to do everything it can to help the incoming administration build the wall on the southern border when Trump takes office.
“The Biden administration's latest attempt to block efforts by Texas and President-elect Donald Trump to secure the southern border “It is frankly shameful and demonstrates a continuing pattern of disregard for the safety of Texas and American families in favor of increasingly disastrous open border policies,” Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said in a statement to Fox. NewsDigital.
Officials said this week they intend to purchase the auctioned materials, and Buckingham said he intends to store them on state land for the new administration.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“I promised to use every tool at my disposal from the GLO to secure our border and protect Texans,” Buckingham said in the statement to Fox. “That is why I have offered state leaders and President-elect Donald Trump the opportunity to stockpile any wall panels your incoming administration may acquire on state lands. I will never give up the fight to secure our porous southern border and protect our sons and daughters from violent and criminal illegal immigrants.”
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
