There comes a point when lying feels like swallowing a sharp-edged rock. If you lack a conscience, your ability to choke the lie down, to not gag, to endure the pain as that deceit descends your gullet, improves.

Republican lawmakers and conservative voters across the country find themselves, in the wake of a second U.S. citizen’s senseless death at the hands of federal immigration agents in Minnesota, with a jagged rock in their mouths and a decision: Do you swallow this lie or spit it out? Do you still have a conscience, or not?

There are early signs that some Republicans might view the killing of Alex Pretti, 37, as a bridge too far. Among them is Republican New York Rep. Andrew Garbarino, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, who released a statement Jan. 24 calling for testimony from the heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: “I take my oversight duties for the department seriously, and Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect.”

That's good, but many more need to start asking questions.

Pretti, 37, was an intensive care unit nurse who cared for veterans. There’s a video of him reciting a Final Salute ceremony over the flag-covered body of a veteran who had just died in the hospital, then pushing the gurney on the man’s walk of honor.

On Jan. 24, Pretti was using his phone to record the federal agents'........

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