Trump Press Secretary Redefines What Counts as a Judge’s Order
The Trump administration continues to move the goalposts as backlash mounts against its recent deportation actions.
On Friday, the president invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants, alleging they were all gang members. The following day, a federal judge ordered any planes departing the U.S. on these grounds to return to the country. Still, two planes with Venezuelans were deported to El Salvador. The Trump administration claimed that while the judge sent a verbal order before takeoff, the written order came too late, as the order was electronically filed 45 minutes after the planes left U.S. airspace.
Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended this nonsense position at a press conference on Monday. “Does the White House feel the need to reply with a verbal order from this judge?” a reporter asked Leavitt.
“As I said, all of the planes subject to the written order of this judge departed U.S. soil, U.S. territory before the judge’s written order.”
“But what about the verbal order, which of course carries the same legal weight as a written order, and said for the planes to turn around if they were in the air?”
“Well there’s actually questions about whether a verbal order carries the same weight as a … written order, and our lawyers are determined to ask and answer those questions in court.”
The White House is offering up petty, measly excuses to justify its complete rebuke of the checks and balances system.