Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano Responds to Judiciary Committee Subpoena

The office of Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano told the Daily Signal that it “produced an additional 2,800 pages of documents on Friday” in response to a subpoena from Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee. Those records had been demanded by Sept. 25.

In a Sept. 16 letter, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the committee chairman, accused Descano of downplaying the number of cases in which his office “considered immigration consequences” when deciding whether and how to prosecute suspects.

Laura Birnbaum, Descano’s chief of staff, noted the most recent turnover of documents, and shared an earlier statement from his office with the Daily Signal:

“We are disappointed by the Committee’s needless escalation of this matter, part of a partisan siege on Fairfax County residents and their values that does nothing to improve public safety,” her statement said.

“For the last eight months, the Office has engaged in good faith with the House Judiciary Committee’s inquiries, providing over 1,000 pages of documents as well as testimony from Commonwealth’s Attorney Descano, who appeared voluntarily to answer the Committee’s questions. We will continue to respond to legitimate inquiries from the Committee. Despite this political sideshow, our office remains focused on keeping Fairfax County one of the safest large communities in the country.”

Descano testified before the committee on May 14. “Fairfax County is one of the safest large communities in the country,” he told lawmakers that day. “My office does not provide sanctuary or safe harbor to undocumented immigrants. In fact, we routinely prosecute immigrants who commit crimes and we will continue to do so.”

However, the lawmakers’ letter claimed that Descano hasn’t been completely forthcoming. “Although you have provided your office’s written policies, limited immigration-related communications, and certain court documents, you have failed to produce all documents and communications referring or relating to the office’s prosecution policies of non-U.S. citizens,” the Sept. 16 letter said.

There have been nine homicides in Fairfax County so far this year. Half of the suspects charged in those cases were in the U.S. illegally.

Descano is in his second term as commonwealth’s attorney. He was elected as a Democrat in 2019 after winning 61% of the vote against Independent candidate Jonathan Fahey. He ran unopposed in 2023 and rang up 77% of the vote against only write-in candidates.

The House Judiciary Committee did not respond to phone calls and an email from the Daily Signal, so it is unclear whether Descano’s latest cache of documents was sufficient to fulfill its subpoena or what the next phase of the investigation might be.

He is currently raising money for a potential 2027 reelection bid.

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