Hoo boy, Part Deux. And I thought Pete Hegseth's takedown of House Dem Betty McCallum (MN-04) would be the Congressional Moment of the Week. However, the difficulty level of facing McCallum in a battle of wits is akin to nailing a simple front dive at the Olympics. You may score a 10, but you don't get the bonuses.

Today, Rep. Elise Stefanik competes for the gold in this five-minute torching of New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Granted, she had the home-field advantage as questioner rather than witness, but Stefanik made Hochul look unprepared and uninformed on her own EO establishing New York's status as a sanctuary state. Hochul, who had plenty of opportunity to prepare and should have seen this coming a mile away, was left to claim unfamiliarity with notorious recent violent crimes by illegal aliens previously released under Hochul's policies:

MUST WATCH: @RepStefanik TORCHES @GovKathyHochul for her sanctuary city policies which protect violent and dangerous illegals. Hochul left stammering…

This is a masterclass pic.twitter.com/eUbjH6rnc8

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 12, 2025

Here's a portion of the transcript from Rep. Stefanik's office, which was understandably enthusiastic to get this out as soon as possible:

Congresswoman Stefanik: I would assume you'd know it's executive order one, and this is a continuation of your predecessor's sanctuary state policies. Correct?

Gov. Hochul: I want to be sure we are defining sanctuary state -.

Congresswoman Stefanik: I'll define it for you. "It is the policy of the state that state officers or employees shall not disclose information to federal immigration authorities for the purpose of federal civil immigration enforcement." It goes on to say, "Law enforcement officers may not use resources, equipment or personnel for the purpose of detecting and apprehending any individual suspected or wanted for violating a civil immigration office. Law enforcement officers have no authority in the state of New York to take any policy action solely because the person is an undocumented alien." That's a quote in your executive orders that you extended. Now, do you know who Sakir Akkan is?

Gov. Hochul: I want to get back to the first question.

Congresswoman Stefanik: No, I'm asking this question. Do you know who Sakir Akkan is?

Gov. Hochul: I want to make sure you understand that this simply says that we will cooperate with ICE.

Congresswoman Stefanik: No, it does not say that. I read what it says. And let me talk to you about the results. Do you know who Sakir Akkan is? You should as the governor of New York State? Do you know?

Gov. Hochul: Refresh my recollection.

Good Lord. For the record, Akkan got arrested for the violent rape of a 15-year-old girl in Albany a little over a year ago, the state capital where Hochul (reportedly) works. Akkan, a Turkish citizen, entered the country illegally and had been arrested in other "sanctuary" jurisdictions such as California and Philadelphia. There wasn't any indication at the time that Hochul's policy had played a role in his being at large at the time of the rape, but since Hochul doesn't know anything about the case, Stefanik caught her flat-footed. 

And it only got worse. Hochul attempted to head off more such specifics by claiming, "There are many such cases," which was the point Stefanik was making. Hochul just isn't very good at this, is she?

The next moment proved that in spades. Stefanik raised a case that made headlines across the country:

Gov. Hochul: I'm sure you'll tell me. There's many cases. Whether -.

Congresswoman Stefanik: These are high-profile cases, New Yorkers know about them and you don't? So let's talk about Sebastian Zapeta-Calil. Do you know who that is?

Gov. Hochul: I don't have the specific details at my disposal, no.

Congresswoman Stefanik: Well, this is an illegal migrant in New York because of your sanctuary state policies. Do you know what crime he committed?

Gov. Hochul: I'm not familiar at this moment.

Congresswoman Stefanik: I bet you're going to be familiar when I remind you. He found a sleeping woman on the subway, lit her on fire, and burnt her alive. This is in Kathy Hochul's New York, and as I'm sure you are aware, and I'll remind you, that ICE issued an order to detain this violent criminal, but that was rejected by New York officials due to sanctuary state laws.

The governor of New York didn't know about this case? What does she do with her days? Has she gone into podcasting like her equally derelict poseur colleague, Gavin Newsom?

Democrats are slowly realizing that Donald Trump and the GOP are winning a lot of support with their attempts to enforce immigration law. Politico reports that they want to turn the LA riots into an issue of executive overreach, but ...

As the left watches the clashes in Los Angeles drag on — with images of burning vehicles and protesters brawling with law enforcement proliferating — Democrats are also beginning to fear the imagery could hurt them by highlighting Trump’s hardline positions on immigration that helped propel him to the White House.

“It’s a winner for him. Remember, for (Trump), it’s not California, it’s not Massachusetts, it’s not New York — it’s that slim margin in the battleground states that he’s playing for,” said Kevin de León, the former Democratic leader of the California state Senate. “He’s not going to pull back.”

For Democrats, it’s a concern rooted in Trump’s historic strength on immigration with voters not in Los Angeles, but watching on social media and TV in swing states and districts across the country. ...

In response, Democrats are scrambling to shift the debate away from deportations or immigration policy. Instead, they’re trying to make it about Trump’s use of executive power — and what they argue is the president’s sweeping and unconstitutional overreach. 

The problem with that argument is that the executive overreach is firmly on the hands of Democrats. It's their leadership that issue executive orders to refuse to cooperate with ICE on legitimate enforcement of existing immigration law on the basis that We Don't Like Those Laws. They are declaring, implicitly in Hochul's case and explicitly in Newsom's case, that federal law can't be enforced anywhere that states and local governments don't like it. That is executive overreach and a bald-faced violation of the US Constitution. 

Democrats had better go back to the drawing board. And they'd better look for more competent leadership while they're at it. 

Addendum: Hochul was not the only Democrat governor roasted today. We may get to more of them later.