U.S. House of Representatives Office of Photography
Jamie Raskin is a Democratic United States representative from Maryland and a constitutional-law scholar. He serves on the House Judiciary Committee and previously taught constitutional law.
DI has documented statements by Jamie Raskin on 2026 Midterm Elections, Arts and Culture, and Free Speech, among other topics. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.
Role at the time: Ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, in a joint letter with Rep. Jim Himes
Condemned
Response to this claim
FBI Director Kash Patel is scheduled to visit Russia on October 14 and 15, 2026, first stopping in Moscow and then St. Petersburg, with the FSB likely to host him.
“In the interest of national security, we ask you to reconsider. Call off this trip.”
Read the original text (opens in a new tab)Letter from Reps. Jamie Raskin and Jim Himes to FBI Director Kash Patel about his reported Russia trip · Jamie RaskinFull letter, pages 1-5
Why we used this label
The case centers on Patel's reported trip to Russia hosted by the FSB. Raskin asks Patel to cancel it on national security grounds, so we used condemns.
Role at the time: U.S. representative and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee
Condemned
Statement summary
Jamie Raskin joins a letter alleging that the Trump ads misuse public funds and requesting GAO and OSC investigations.
“These ads constitute an illegal use of taxpayer funds”
Read the original text (opens in a new tab)Raskin and Whitesides request investigations of taxpayer-funded Trump adsPages 1-3: legal allegations; page 4: investigation requests and signatures
Why we used this label
The co-signed letter condemns public payment for the ads and seeks accountability.
Role at the time: U.S. representative from Maryland, posting on his official account
Condemned
Statement summary
Raskin accused Trump of banning news organizations that would not lie for him and said media organizations should boycott the White House if the president continued violating press freedom.
“After illegally bulldozing half of the White House, Trump bans media that won’t lie for him from the other half. Every self-respecting media entity in America should boycott what’s left of the White House if he keeps violating press freedom.”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Jamie Raskin calls for a media boycott if Trump continues violating press freedom · Jamie RaskinPost by @RepRaskin, September 18, 2026, 4:28 PM EDT
Why we used this label
Raskin characterizes the exclusions as a violation of press freedom and urges collective action against them.
Role at the time: U.S. Representative from Maryland, in a quote-post on his official X account (@RepRaskin)
Condemned
Statement summary
In a post quoting an Associated Press report that fencing had gone up around the main Kennedy Center building after the board voted to close it, Raskin calls closing the center an affront to President Kennedy's memory, an attack on Congressional power and an assault on the livelihoods of the artists and workers who operate and perform there. He adds, 'We're demanding it remain open and free from the President's graffiti, vandalism and desecration.'
“Closing the Kennedy Center is an affront to President Kennedy's memory, an attack on Congressional power and an outrageous assault on the livelihoods of the artists and workers who operate and perform in our cultural center. We're demanding it remain open and free from the President’s graffiti, vandalism and desecration.”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) on X, 16 Sep 2026: "Closing the Kennedy Center is an affront to President Kennedy's memory..." · Jamie RaskinFull post text (long-form note); posted 2026-09-16 18:34:33 UTC (2:34 PM ET)
Why we used this label
Raskin's own words call closing the center 'an affront to President Kennedy's memory' and demand that it 'remain open and free from the President's graffiti, vandalism and desecration', which rejects the closure and condemns the President's conduct toward the building without mentioning recognition by name. The closest competing label is “Challenged the characterization”, because part of the post recasts the President's conduct in its own labels. That loses because the passage goes on to express a clearer substantive condemnation of the closure, which the label guide places under condemns.
Role at the time: U.S. Representative, Maryland 8th district
Condemned
Statement summary
Jamie Raskin voted Yea on H.Con.Res. 93, the House resolution directing the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran.
“On Agreeing to the Resolution: Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran.”
A yea vote supported directing the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran, opposing continued U.S. involvement in the war without congressional authorization.
Raskin calls the dispute a distraction and expressly says it will not be worked out before the election, redirecting to domestic priorities. Criticism of Hamas and Netanyahu is not a mixed stance on Piker’s inclusion.
Role at the time: U.S. representative for Maryland and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee
Condemned
Statement summary
Jamie Raskin and Pramila Jayapal wrote to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and acting ICE Director David Venturella on July 30, 2026 that DHS made false and unsubstantiated allegations about people its agents shot, including Ruben Ray Martinez, and that later evidence contradicted DHS's claims that they were attacking officers. They asked DHS to equip every agent with a functioning body-worn camera and to hold agents accountable who do not turn them on.
“DHS and its component agencies have consistently made false and unsubstantiated allegations about people its agents shot, including Renée Good, Alex Pretti, Ruben Ray Martinez, and Marimar Martinez. DHS initially claimed these U.S. citizens, all of whom they either killed or maimed, were attacking law enforcement officers. In each case, evidence later emerged that definitively contradicted the government's claims, showing that DHS made false or misleading statements.”
Read the original text (opens in a new tab)Raskin and Jayapal demand functional body cameras for ICE agentsJuly 30 letter, page 2 paragraph naming Marimar Martinez; requests on pages 2-3 and signatures on page 3.
Why we used this label
The case asks whether Stevens was justified in shooting Martinez. The letter says DHS claimed Martinez and other U.S. citizens its agents killed or maimed were attacking officers, and that evidence later definitively contradicted those claims. That rejects the justification offered for the shooting, so we labeled it Condemned. Challenged the characterization is the closest competing label; it loses because the letter goes beyond disputing a description and treats the killing as resting on claims it calls false.
Andy Harris told reporter Cat Murphy that recording him could lead to a prosecutor referral. He cited Maryland's consent law during a press briefing. Journalists and Jamie Raskin disputed his interpretation and criticized the threat.
The White House calls its Trump-featuring television spots public service announcements and paid for them with taxpayer money. Critics in both parties object, and on October 5 Trump said he would pay with his own and MAGA Inc. money.
Trump announced a White House ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico over their coverage. Read his original post, the outlets' responses and their accounts of reporters being refused entry.
After a judge barred two recognitions of Trump, he tied Kennedy Center renovation to recognition. Compare his remarks, the ruling and the White House's response.
Networked automated license-plate cameras can assemble searchable records of vehicle movements. Candidates and officials disagree over whether to ban the systems, keep them with limits, or defend them as investigative tools. This tracker separates outright bans from narrower restrictions.
Reps. Jamie Raskin and Jim Himes urged FBI Director Kash Patel to cancel a reported FSB-hosted trip to Russia. MS NOW then reported he had landed there and corrected the report after the FBI showed him in Virginia.
Hasan Piker said he preferred Hamas over Israel in a hypothetical, using lesser-evil reasoning. Jon Favreau and the ADL rejected the comparison; Piker later acknowledged Hamas war crimes while maintaining that Israeli occupation was his overriding concern.
An issue tracker recording where members of Congress and 2026 midterm candidates stand on the unauthorized Iran war, based on their votes on war-powers resolutions, campaign statements, and public remarks.
HSI agent Jack Stevens fatally shot U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez on South Padre Island in March 2025, saying Martinez's car struck a fellow agent. A grand jury declined to indict him, but body-camera footage shows the car moving very slowly, leaving the shooting disputed.
Republicans say Jack Smith's team improperly obtained members of Congress's phone records and texts and used nondisclosure orders to hide it. Smith and Democrats say the toll records were approved and lawful; Smith says the texts came from White House phones. Member counts differ.
Congressional Democrats and ethics groups say Jared Kushner's investment firm, Affinity Partners, conflicts with his role in Middle East negotiations. Kushner, his lawyers and the White House dispute that. CNN found no indication his diplomacy directly affected the investments it reviewed.
