Border Patrol Chief Belonged to Online Group She Criticized

Earlier this month, Border Patrol chief Carla Provost condemned newly unearthed racist and sexist posts by agency employees as "completely inappropriate." Now, the Intercept reports a twist on the story: Provost herself once belonged to the private Facebook group in which they originated. She did not post anything controversial herself in the "I'm 10-15" group, and she has since left. The Intercept has an archived comment she made in November 2018 in response to a post about her showing up in a Jeopardy! question. Still, Provost did not acknowledge her own participation in the forum in her earlier condemnation of the offensive posts. The existence of the group was first brought to light by ProPublica.

"This is why I have requested a full investigation into this matter," Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson tells the Intercept after being told of Provost's participation. "We need to know who in CBP leadership knew about these deplorable groups, when did they find out, and what action they took, if anything." Provost herself did not respond to a request for comment. The earlier reports detailed racist jokes about migrant detainees, along with racist and misogynistic jokes about members of Congress such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (AOC's tour of migrant detention facilities got tense.)