DHS secretary Nielsen says she doesn’t recall Trump vulgarity

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Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen testifies during a hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Committee January 16, 2018 in Washington, DC.

The secretary of the Homeland Security Department is testifying under oath that she “did not hear” President Donald Trump use a certain vulgarity to describe African countries. But she says she doesn’t “dispute the president was using tough language.”

Trump has been accused of using the word “shithole” to describe African countries during an Oval Office meeting Thursday with a bipartisan group of six senators, according to people briefed on the conversation.

Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., asked her specifically if she heard the vulgarity used or a “substantially similar word” to describe certain countries.

Nielsen says the conversation was impassioned and the president was using tough language. She says “others in the room were also using tough language.”