Due Time
One of the sad ironies of this era is that due process gave Trump enough time to become president and take due process away. Yesterday, I led with the Trump administration’s defiance of the Supreme Court, refusal to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia home from an El Salvadorian prison, and plans to try to send American citizens to prisons abroad. What’s important to remember is that there’s more than one innocent person who was sent to that prison under an act that hasn’t been used since WWII. Maybe a lot more. NYT (Gift Article): ‘Alien Enemies’ or Innocent Men? Inside Trump’s Rushed Effort to Deport 238 Migrants. “Most of the men do not have criminal records in the United States or elsewhere in the region, beyond immigration offenses, a New York Times investigation has found. And very few of them appear to have any clear, documented links to the Venezuelan gang. As they were being expelled, the detainees repeatedly begged officials to explain why they were being deported, and where they were being taken, one of their lawyers told the courts. At no point, the lawyer said, did officers indicate that the men were being sent to El Salvador or that they were removed under the Alien Enemies Act. The Alien Enemies Act gives the U.S. government broad powers to detain people during times of war, but Supreme Court rulings make clear that detainees have a right to challenge the government, and are entitled to a hearing, before their removal.”
+ Why is the Kilmar Abrego Garcia getting all the attention? Because one Justice Dept lawyer told the truth. These days, even for a lawyer who has defended Trump policies, that’s a firing offense. This Lawyer Defended Republicans and Democrats. His Candor Cost Him His Job.
+ As they usually do, Reveal went a little deeper into this story. The Real Reason El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele Cozied Up to Trump. “If the trial in New York proves Mr. Bukele’s deals with them, it could potentially be very damaging since it would mean that he had illegal deals with a terrorist organization and also illegally freed some of the terrorist organization leaders.”
+ Returning Kilmar Abrego Garcia wasn’t the only judicial decision being flouted by Trump during Monday’s Oval Office presser. Despite a court order, White House bars AP from Oval Office event.
