All day long on Tuesday the big news was the CNN report that said the Mayor of El Paso was asked by the White House to not declare an emergency over the flood of illegal immigrants flowing into the city. It was scandalous, if true. And, a hugely political story, too, given that the request was framed around the midterm elections. Now Mayor Oscar Leeser denies he was asked to hold off on such a declaration until after the midterm elections.

Mayor Leeser was interviewed by FNC’s Dana Perino and she asked him point blank if anyone in the White House asked him not to declare an emergency and he said no. That sounded newsworthy to me. My ears perked at that point because of the story from Tuesday. Unfortunately, Dana didn’t follow up on that by asking about the CNN reporting.

The CNN reporting said the White House was in touch with Mayor Lesser last month.

El Paso, Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser said in a public meeting late last month that the White House asked the city to hold off on declaring a state of emergency over the increase in migrants at the US-Mexico border, but said he also didn’t think it was necessary at that time.

“The White House has asked, at this point, for us not to do that, and they’ll continue to work with us and continue to give us supply money through (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) and reimbursements as we continue to move forward,” Leeser said at the meeting, adding that he didn’t recommend doing that either, and he “wouldn’t support it.”

A White House official confirmed that they spoke with El Paso but denied any request.

“We did not make any such request, but we did make clear that the Federal Government stands ready to support the city of El Paso is every which way it can,” the official said.

Part of the story, besides the raw politicization of the White House trying to keep an unfavorable story at arm’s length until after the mid-term elections on November 8, is that Democrats have been demonizing Texas Governor Abbott, a Republican, for sending buses of illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities. Well, as it turns out, the federal government is working with El Paso and reimbursing the city of the buses of illegal immigrants it is sending to other cities. And, El Paso is sending a hell of a lot more people to sanctuary cities than Governor Abbott is. Yet, El Paso’s buses don’t make the news. Imagine that. Could it be because Mayor Leeser is a Democrat and Governor Abbott is a Republican? Not to mention that Abbott is up for re-election in November. Nah. I’m sure that has nothing to do with anything.

If Mayor Leeser declares a state of emergency or issued a disaster declaration, the City of El Paso would shore up additional resources. That action would also make glaring headlines, which is the last thing the Biden administration wants. Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and DHS Secretary Mayorkas are busy declaring the border is closed, not open as those lying Republicans and other critics are trying to say. The story of Leeser and the reimbursement he is receiving from the federal government for bussing illegal migrants out of Texas has been hush-hush until just recently. I wrote about it at the end of August. FEMA covers the travel costs for the city.

Then after the story came out about White House pressure being exerted, suddenly Leeser said that yes the White House asked and there was agreement. What?

“I don’t take the pressure; I do what’s right for the community,” Leeser said in an interview with KTSM 9 News on Tuesday.

Leeser said during a City Council meeting on Sept. 27 that the White House did ask that an emergency declaration not be issued.

“The White House has asked at this point for us not to do that,” Leeser said during the council meeting.

KTSM asked Leeser about the comment he made last month.

“They’ve asked me not to do it, yeah, because that’s what we agreed on doing, you know. Like I said, if someone knows me, they know that someone wouldn’t pressure me to do something because I wouldn’t do it,” Leeser said.

“It’s unfortunate. Politics keeps coming back into it, and what is the gain for them to pressure the City of El Paso to do something like that, none. But there is a lot of gain in working together,” Leeser said.

Leeser told KTSM that not issuing the declaration was the right choice.

To be frank, Mayor Lesser either sounds incredibly naive in today’s political atmosphere or he’s flat-out lying. You be the judge. The gain for the White House is the absence of an embarrassing headline just three weeks before the mid-term elections. Border security and the humanitarian crisis the Biden border crisis has produced is a big concern with voters, especially in Texas and other border states. Add on top of that the fentanyl pouring into the country from the southern border by drug cartels and it quickly becomes clear why Team Biden wants to keep people like Lesser under control. It’s all about power and the White House plays hardball.

So, the mayor is now saying the White House didn’t ask him to not declare an emergency.

El Paso city council member Claudia Rodriguez appeared on Fox & Friends Wednesday morning and confirmed that the White House told Mayor Leeser not to declare an emergency. She said the mayor told her the White House asked him not to do it. Rodriguez is up for re-election.

So here we are. Democrats do exactly what they accuse Republicans of doing. Democrats slam Abbott for playing political games over the Biden border crisis and look at this. Abbott has been transparent all along. He announced he was going to start the migrant buses and send them to sanctuary cities. That’s exactly what he is doing. The Mayor of El Paso kept his program with FEMA quiet until it was uncovered. Now this kerfuffle. It’s pathetic. Believe them when they tell you who they are.

*Editor’s Note: Mayor Leeser’s name has been corrected. – Karen