As you watch the extraordinary spectacle of Trump's government attempting to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda, let's not lose sight of just how lawless and indefensible Trump's misconduct has been all throughout.
Here's a thread recapping all of it. 1/
DHS Sec Kristi Noem's announcement of this states AS FACT numerous charges against Abrego. But the admin couldn't produce real evidence of MS-13 ties despite trying for MONTHS. He has been convicted of NONE of the criminal charges lodged here. Guilty until proven innocent. 2/
Noem's announcement notes that when he was arrested in 2019, the PG County Gang Unit validated his MS-13 ties. But as we reported, the cop whose testimony this was based on was suspended soon after and indicted for serious professional misconduct. 3/
ICE released declaration that he was "verified member" of MS-13, but proof of this never materialized, either. It was rooted in a judge's declaration that proved to be based on incredibly thin evidence. Trump, Vance used this to smear him for months. 5/
JD Vance, Miller and others lied that Trump couldn't bring Abrego back because his fate was up to Bukele. They defied SCOTUS on these grounds. But the claim was absolute nonsense.
Vance's bad faith has been extraordinary all throughout. 6/
After Trump finally caved and brought Abrego back, the admin moved to prosecute him for trafficking. But don't forget this: A leading prosecutor in the office bringing the case resigned. The reason was plainly that the prosecution stank to high hell. 7/
Now the admin seems to have tried to coerce him into pleading to trafficking (dubious to begin with) by offering a choice: A plea and you go to Costa Rica. No plea and it's Uganda.
That's vile. And @AnnaBower shows it exposes still more bad faith. 8/
@AnnaBower Let's not forget, as @LeahLitman says, that this coercion has been enabled by the Supreme Court allowing deportations to third countries to go forward.
SCOTUS has enabled this "campaign of terror" against Abrego to go forward, Litman writes. /9
@AnnaBower @LeahLitman Trump and Miller had the option AT ANY POINT to simply bring him back and attempt to remove him to a third country or contest his "withholding of removal" status.
That they're doing exactly this now exposes how corrupt this has been all throughout. 10/
@AnnaBower @LeahLitman As @TPM_dk notes, this case has been a test of whether our system can withstand levels of bad faith and abuses of power that seem designed to strain the law's very ability to function.
I hope this thread demonstrates how unfathomably terrible their conduct has truly been. 11/11
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Stephen Miller is employing state terror in service of the open goal of shifting the ethnic mix of the country. In numerous ways he's doing this at the expense of public safety.
First, his grandmother has written an unpublished history of some of his ancestors' immigration to the US. We are publishing it online for the first time. They were attacked in terms similar to those he uses today.
Some news on Trump's doling out of most refugee slots to white South Africans: Two former State Department officials tell us basic protocols designed to determine whether this group actually merits protection have simply been scrapped. It's just whim.
Remarkable how brutal the ruling against Trump on Abrego Garcia truly is: It details malicious abuses of power all throughout. Trump and Stephen Miller were testing their ability to spread lawless state terror. But the court held the line. 1/
News --> The commander who oversaw Pete Hegseth's alleged killing of two boat bombing survivors is now likely to come in and face questions from House Armed Services Committee, ranking Dem Adam Smith tells me.
Pete Hegseth denies he gave the order to kill them all. But even some Republicans now appear to be demanding answers, so Frank Bradley, who oversaw bombings, is in talks with House Armed Services about coming in.
NEWS --> BBC confirms to me that they did edit a line out of historian @rcbregman's speech. It called Trump "the most openly corrupt president in US history."
BBC also confirms this was done on the advice of lawyers. So Trump's threats worked.
Today @rcbregman posted a transcript of his Reith Lecture showing that the version that BBC aired removed the line about Trump's world-historical corruption.
BBC emailed me: "we made the decision to remove one sentence from the lecture on legal advice.”
@rcbregman Trump is the most corrupt president in US history, and the openness of his corruption is an essential feature of it. It's extra bad that this comes as the Defense Department punishes Sen Mark Kelly for correctly warning against breaking illegal orders.
Remarkable: Rep Chrissy Houlahan, one of the Dems Trump called for executing, tells me her office literally filled out a Capitol Police threat report listing "the president" as the person making the threat.
One reason she and other Dems did the video about Trump's illegal orders is that they're hearing from inside the military and intel services of actual live fears that they're being given unlawful commands:
Trump's boat bombings in the Caribbean just got worse. An internal DOJ memo says the victims are waging war on the US, but per NYT, it extensively cites the WH's *own claims* to this effect as evidence!
The memo purportedly justifying these murders also contains a lengthy section that lays out arguments defending the actions of those carrying out the strikes. In short, it *preemptively* defends them from potential prosecution later.
Ever since the bombings began, a big Q has been: Do those carrying them out fear they're being given illegal orders? The official overseeing them recently resigned with no explanation, prompting Dems to ask if he'd concluded bombings are illegal. 3/