Judge blasts Trump, Noem for saying Abrego Garcia won’t ‘return’ to US:
The federal judge working to un-deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia unloaded on the Trump administration Friday, saying statements that the MS-13 gang suspect won’t “return” to the U.S. suggest the government is defying the court’s orders.
Judge Paula Xinis said the administration has been ducking answers on Mr. Abrego Garcia’s condition and the steps the government has taken to “facilitate” his return, as the Supreme Court has ordered.
And she said top officials, including President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, have said they could bring him back but will not.
“You’ve done nothing and now you tell the world you’re not going to do anything,” she said in a hearing Friday.
Judge Xinis called a hearing to talk about the ongoing fight over answers to Mr. Abrego Garcia’s March deportation to El Salvador, his current status in El Salvador, and what the government is doing now.
She had approved legal discovery and depositions where the government was supposed to reveal details of its activities.
The judge said she’s been disappointed by how little the government has shared.
She said the government invoked the state secrets privilege 246 times to shield information, and cited the deliberative process protection some 1,400 more times. --->READ MORE HERE
In unsealed declaration, Rubio claims disclosing some information about Abrego Garcia case would cause 'significant harm' to national security:
DOJ lawyers say providing info about the case would "damage" foreign relations.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio's "declaration," frequently cited as the basis for the Trump administration's invoking of the rarely used state secrets privilege to withhold certain information about the removal and detention of wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia was finally unsealed late Friday night.
The declaration was unsealed under an order by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, following a lengthy hearing in Maryland in which she pressed Justice Department lawyers on the basis to shield information about the Trump administration's handling of the matter.
In the declaration, which is dated May 5, Rubio said that "after careful and actual personal consideration," he concluded that the disclosure of certain information requested by Abrego Garcia's attorneys "could be expected to cause significant harm to the foreign relations interests" and national security interests of the U.S.
"Compelled disclosure of any sensitive communications or discussions with the Government of El Salvador regarding Abrego Garcia's removal and confinement in CECOT and Centro Industrial threatens significant harm to the United States' foreign affairs and national security interests," Rubio said, referring to two prisons in El Salvador.
The secretary of state went on to say the same is true for information regarding the steps the U.S. "has or has not taken" to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return.
Rubio claimed the U.S. government being forced to disclose certain information to third parties "simply because a lawsuit has been filed or a judge asked for the information" would "erode" the credibility of the United States, adding it could cause foreign states to be "less likely to work cooperatively with the United States in the future."
In addition to unsealing Rubio's declaration, the judge also ordered the government to supplement Rubio's declaration "to support the State Department's assertion of the state secrets privilege," after the government earlier that day discussed the possibility of submitting additional declarations from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi, submitted in another case.
Xinis also granted the plaintiffs' request to take three additional depositions from Trump administration officials.
The unsealing of the declaration came after a protracted court hearing during which Xinis reprimanded the government for not providing enough basis for her to determine whether certain information in the case should be privileged, as Justice Department attorneys had claimed.
DOJ attorney Jonathan Guynn pointed to the then-sealed declaration by Rubio that said that some of the information the Abrego Garcia's lawyers would impact national security interests and foreign affairs.
"We think that Secretary Rubio's declaration is sufficiently detailed to explain what the nature of the material is and why it is state secret -- why its production, why its sharing could reasonably harm the United States foreign affairs," Guynn said.
"Why is it national security as well as foreign relations?" Xinis asked. "What about national security is at issue? There's simply no detail. This is basically, 'Take my word for it.'" --->READ MORE HERE
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