The breaking news: the Trump administration is refusing to provide a federal judge with any additional information about last week's deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act, arguing the disclosure of the information would “pose reasonable danger to national security and foreign affairs.” This is ABC reporting.
In a court filing and in a series of sworn affidavits by three top cabinet officials, the Trump administration invoked the state secrets privilege to attempt to stop U.S. District Judge James Boasberg from learning more information about the flights as the judge tries to determine if the government willfully violated a court order last week.
This news is so fresh that it's a great pleasure to welcome John Yoo. John is a distinguished visiting professor at the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin, is the Emanuel S. Heller Chair in Law and Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. Most importantly, he is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute as well as a Fellow at the Civitas Institute.
Writing for Civitas, he anticipated exactly this breaking news.
We charge immediately into the mechanics of what is happening. Judge Boasberg has issued a temporary restraining order and is asking for more information. This has to do with the deportation of what we're told are Venezuelan nationals. We're also told that they are (or are suspected of being) members of an international criminal organization called Tren de Aragua originally out of Venezuela.
We're also told that Venezuela may or may not take them back. Some of them at least, certainly the ones that judge is concerned about, were sent to El Salvador, where there is said to be an arrangement between Bukele, the president of El Salvador, and the Trump administration to accept Venezuelan suspect gang members if Venezuela will not.
I stop there because the the Alien Enemies Act is what the Trump administration is invoking. John has a new essay up that identifies this problem. Now we have this idea of state secrets privilege as well, and the Trump administration combating the courts.
What I read from his essay is that these contests were anticipated by the founders. I believe one of the founders in the Federalist Papers said, “Ambition versus ambition brings the best out of us,” or something to that effect.
Is this going to bring the best out in the courts and in the administration, this firefight?
Watch the full conversation above, or listen to an audio version below:
LINKS:
“Trump’s Risky Reliance on the Alien Enemies Act” by John at Civitas Institute
The John Batchelor Show on Apple Podcasts:
The opinions expressed on this website and on The John Batchelor Show are those of John Batchelor and guests, and not those of CBS News.
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