Trump DOJ Launches New Secret Gambit In Abrego Garcia Case
INSIDE: Paula Xinis ... Bill Owens ... Tina Peters
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Something Is Afoot But It’s Not Clear What
The big news of the day in the case of the mistakenly deported and wrongfully imprisoned Kilmar Abrego Garcia was U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis lambasting the Trump administration – and DOJ lawyers – for their ongoing and willful defiance of her orders in bad faith.
I covered Xinis’ scathing intervention in the discovery process extensively here, so I won’t rehash it in full except to reiterate one point: While we may have envisioned the constitutional clash between President Trump and the judicial branch as a dramatic sumo match played out on the steps of the Supreme Court, it’s actually been taking place day by day over the past month in Xinis’ court with repeated unprecedented defiance, non-responsiveness, and disrespectful stonewalling from the Trump DOJ.
It is against that backdrop that the Trump DOJ has in the past 24 hours submitted two new filings in the case under seal.
The first sealed filing was Tuesday’s daily status report in the case. Xinis had previously ordered the Justice Department to file daily reports in response to the Trump administration’s refusing to answer basic questions from her about what it had done and planned to do to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release. Until yesterday, all of the daily status reports have been filed publicly. One recent status report, for example, conveyed that Abergo Garcia reported he was no longer being held at CECOT but had been transferred to the “Centro Industrial” detention facility in Santa Ana. Yesterday’s report wasn’t just filed under seal but ex parte, too, meaning Abrego Garcia’s attorneys didn’t get to see it either.
Then this morning, the Trump DOJ filed a motion under seal seeking to delay the case for a week. Specifically, it asked Xinis to pause two of her orders: the one requiring daily status reports and the one that scheduled two weeks of expedited discovery.
Because the Trump DOJ has filed under seal, it’s not clear what is up. But there may be a clue in the government’s very limited answers to some of the discovery questions posed by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys. The administration’s response to five different questions included this same phrasing:
Before the Fourth Circuit’s decision of April 17 clarifying its understanding of “facilitate,” the United States took the position that the only steps needed to facilitate the return of Mr. Abrego Garcia involved removing domestic barriers. After the Fourth Circuit’s clarification, the State Department has engaged in appropriate diplomatic discussions with El Salvador regarding Abrego Garcia. However, disclosing the details of any diplomatic discussions regarding Mr. Abrego Garcia at this time could negatively impact any outcome.
That answer suggests the 4th Circuit’s memorable opinion last week, authored by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, changed the government’s calculation in the case. The implication is that since then, the Trump administration has begun taking affirmative diplomatic steps to secure Abrego Garcia’s release. That is merely an implication, and there’s little evidence on the record to support it.
Still, in a normal world, it would not be implausible for the government to want to be able to conduct diplomacy discreetly and seek to pause court proceedings that might expose or hamper those diplomatic efforts, especially if they are aligned with what the plaintiff in the case is seeking.
The problem is that it is hard to credit the administration with any good faith in this case, as Judge Xinis has repeatedly pointed out. So if the government is in fact asking for some time to engage in diplomacy or take other concrete steps to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release – and again we don’t know what it is asking for exactly – it would be hard to distinguish a belated good faith effort from yet another bad faith effort to delay, obfuscate, and stonewall.
More as things unfold.
Judges Block Alien Enemies Act Deportations
Colorado: In a new order, U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney blocked the removal of any Alien Enemies Act detainees from Colorado and imposed specific notice requirements on the government before it can proceed with deportations under the act. Sweeney ordered that the notice of intent to remove under the AEA must be (1) given 21-days in advance; (2) include notice of the right to seek judicial review and consult an attorney; and (3) be in a language the recipient understands.
New York: U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein extended his order requiring notice and hearing before AEA deportations can proceeds. “This is not the Inquisition, it’s not medieval times,” he said. “This is the United States of America.”
What About The Other Detainees At CECOT?
TPM’s Josh Kovensky: Inside The Fight To Return The Other Men Trump Sent To CECOT
Benjamin Wittes: By what legal authority can the United States send Venezuelans to El Salvador for indefinite detention?
NYT: A Venezuelan Immigrant Held in U.S. Custody ‘Simply Disappeared’
60 Minutes Executive Producer Resigns
Bill Owens, executive producer of 60 Minutes, announced his resignation, saying he no longer had the editorial independence needed to do the job. Owens’ resignation comes as CBS News is under increasing pressure from its parent company Paramount to settle a bogus lawsuit by Donald Trump over how 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign.
Three Eric Adams Prosecutors Resign
In a stirring resignation letter, three assistant U.S. attorneys in the Southern District of New York who handled the prosecution of NYC Mayor Eric Adams stepped down rather than admit to bogus claims of wrongdoing leveled by Trump DOJ officials.
All three prosecutors had been put on leave by Trump DOJ officials in the course of corruptly abandoning the Adams prosecution soon after taking office. In their letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, they alleged that he was requiring them to “express regret and admit some wrongdoing” as a condition of being allowed to return to work. “We will not confess wrongdoing when there was none,” they wrote in the letter.
Judge Questions DOJ’s Interest In Tina Peters
A federal judge in Colorado grilled the Trump Justice Department on why it was taking the highly unusual step of calling into question the state criminal conviction of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who is currently serving a nine-year sentence for meddling with voting equipment as part of Big Lie obsession.
The Destruction: Science Edition
Politico: RFK Jr. eyes reversing CDC’s Covid-19 vaccine recommendation for children
CBS News: RFK Jr.’s autism study to amass medical records of many Americans
NYT: National Science Foundation Terminates Hundreds of Active Research Awards
The Purges: Reinstatement Edition
VOA: U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth of D.C. issued a preliminary injunction allowing Voice of America workers put on leave by Trump administration to return to work.
EPA: More than 450 staffers working on environmental justice and DEI issues are being fired or reassigned.
State: A reorganization plan will eliminate 15% of the State Department’s domestic staff, which amounts to more than 2,000 jobs, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced.
DOGE Watch
WaPo: Justice Dept. agrees to let DOGE access sensitive immigration case data
NYT: Top DOGE officials moved from the Social Security Administration to the Justice Department as part of a widening White House effort to use personal data to target undocumented immigrants.
WaPo: Interior secretary gives DOGE aide sweeping powers to remake department
Roberts Court Shows Its Anti-LGBTQ Colors
In oral arguments Tuesday, the conservative justices on the Supreme Court openly sided with public school parents seeking to opt their children out of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum. “[I]n an alarming sign for LGBTQ people, it was clear that at least three of the justices believe that describing queer people accurately — acknowledging their equal existence — amounts to taking sides or trying to ‘influence’ children,” longtime legal reporter Chris Geidner observed.
Federal Appeals Court Grants Stay To Riggs
A divided three-judge panel on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the North Carolina Election Board from taking any action in the state Supreme Court race while the trial judge considers the case. In siding with incumbent Justice Allison Riggs (D), the panel overruled the lower court judge who had allowed the Election Board to continue its work while legal wrangling continued, which ran the risk of changing the known outcome of the race before a decision on whether overturning Riggs’ victory was legally proper.
Sarah Palin Loses Defamation Case Against NYT
A jury deliberated a little more than two hours before rendering its verdict that a 2017 NYT editorial did not defame former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R).
Not yet a TPM member?
The best way to support Morning Memo is by joining TPM. Read our mission.
David, you might also take up your pen to report on the cases of two "disappeared" Venezuelan men, Neiyerver Adrian Leon Rengel and Ricardo Prada Vasquez. They were picked up by ICE and sent somewhere, but the government won't confirm where they went. "It's like they've dropped off the face of the earth."
Has anyone said it yet?
"First they came for the Venezuelans...."