Senior editor, Lawfare. Journalist. Ex-Fortune staff. Published in ProPublica, NYT, New York, New Yorker, Yahoo Finance, Air Mail, etc. rparloff on BlueSky.
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The motion relies on allegations of both a pattern of obstruction & specific responses inconsistent with NYT reporting & the timing of Abrego Garcia's indictment. Here, e.g., attys allege 60 days of obstructive conduct *after* SCOTUS ruling ordering facilitation of his return:
... Melgar-Salmeron was appealing an adverse asylum ruling. On 4/17 govt told USCA2 it would remove him unless court stayed his removal by 5/8. On 5/7, at 9:52am ET, USCA2 stayed his removal. But at 10:20am ET he was removed anyway. ... 
It’s a claim under the so-called Westfall Act, which Trump/DOJ litigated before—from Sep 2020 to July 2023—but which seemed to have died then. My unofficial chronology is below. ...
Here’s the timeline. Trump tried to remove the case to federal court twice. Once before trial—denied & then Trump voluntarily dropped the appeal—and once after SCOTUS decided the immunity case, by which time the jury had already convicted. ...
... As Holcomb notes, his is the most deferential-to-the-president ruling yet. He concludes that “the AEA’s grant of authority to the President is close to ‘unlimited.’” He is 2d to uphold Trump’s invocation of the AEA, but the only one to take this hands-off approach. ....
... Melgar Salmeron contends he’ll face torture, corporal punishment, or death in El Salvador. The Bureau of Immigration Appeals denied his claim & he appealed to USCA2 in Nov 2023. At *govt’s* request, his case was then paused for 482 days while ... 
Fixing that policy won’t be easy without vastly reducing the value of the AEA to the Trump Adm. The main reason to invoke it, as AG Bondi explained in her once-secret 3/14 memo below, was to remove aliens without *any* process. That effort has failed. ... 
... Abrego Garcia says Rubio’s declaration is “vague & boilerplate” and belied by public statements galore by Rubio, Bukele & others. (State secret can be invoked when compelling evidence would “expose military secrets” compromising “national security.”) ... 
... Under Judge Gallagher’s earlier orders (4/23 and 4/30), the govt was supposed to tell Judge Gallagher what steps they’ve taken to facilitate Cristian’s return at a status conference tomorrow (5/6/25). ...
Without a blue tic, I can’t even fit all the constitutional violations into one tweet. I count 9: (1) free speech (1st Am); (2) free association (1st Am); (3) right to petition govt (1st Am); (4) right against compelled disclosure of confidential associations (1st Am);...
She also finds that DOJ's current 24 hr notice is insufficient. Must provide at least 21 days notice. 
