‘Not a Conclusive Finding’: CNN’s Paula Reid Shoots Down White House Evidence Abrego Garcia Was MS-13

CNN’s Jake Tapper dug into the latest White House statements on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland migrant the Trump administration previously acknowledged it deported and imprisoned in El Salvador by “error.”

On Wednesday, the White House released court documents showing that Abrego Garcia’s wife had filed for a protective order against him and reported domestic violence to the authorities. The White House also released documents from previous court rulings, they claim show he was affiliated with MS-13, the violent gang Trump has declared a terrorist organization.

“CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez just received this statement from Garcia’s wife, who says in part, quote, ‘After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order in case things escalated, things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. That is not a justification for ICE’s action,’ unquote,” Tapper began, adding:

The Department of Homeland Security also gave CNN other documents that the Trump administration argues backs up their claims that Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang despite his continued denials that he is. Let’s bring in CNN’s Paula Reid. Paula, first, let’s start with Judge Boasberg here deciding that there’s probable cause to hold Trump administration officials in contempt of court. That seems quite significant. What comes next?

“So the administration has made it clear they intend to appeal this, they’re going to fight. And that’s not surprising, because here Boasberg says that the administration’s actions on this day, specifically not turning around flights that were already in the air, full of those migrants, that constituted a willful disregard of his order,” Reid replied, adding:

Now the Justice Department has argued that he was overstepping his authority by trying to interfere in the implementation of a foreign policy. Now he has said he will begin contempt proceedings unless the migrants who are on those planes are afforded some sort of process, an opportunity to have their cases heard.

But I want to remind folks, the Supreme Court has weighed in on this larger question of the use of the Alien Enemies Act. And it said that yes, the administration can use this, but individuals deported under this act must have a court hearing. So here it appears Boasberg is just sort of endorsing what the Supreme Court already said. And given that the administration won at the Supreme Court on this issue– so it is a little surprising, Jake, that the judge is pursuing contempt here. But as I said, the administration is going to fight this.

“We also, just to talk more about Garcia, we have been asking now for weeks, the administration for evidence to back up their assertion that he’s a member of MS-13. They did make some claims on Twitter. And one of the things that they cited with us, particularly, was a court document saying that Garcia’s outfit during his arrest was consistent with MS-13 symbolism,” Tapper said, adding:

They sent us some court documents saying that his original immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals found evidence to render him a danger to the public. Now that doesn’t contradict the fact that he was not supposed to be deported to El Salvador, a ruling that came down during the Trump administration that the Trump Administration did not appeal at the time. But just to drill down a little bit on this idea of whether or not he was a member of MS-13, what do you make of this?

“So it was great that you got these documents, but taking a look at them and look, it makes reference to the fact that a police informant said Abrego Garcia was part of MS-13. But then he was denied bond, citing this accusation. They appealed. But in an immigration bond hearing, the detainee has the burden of proof to show that they are not a flight risk nor a danger to the community, and he failed to meet that burden. But that is not a conclusive finding that he was a member of MS-13,” Reid replied, adding:

Now, his lawyer also points out that he’s never been convicted of any crime, gang-related or otherwise. But look, Jake, the last word on this is the Supreme Court had a chance to weigh in and order him to be returned to the United States to make a ruling on the lack of proper processing here. They didn’t do that. And until they decide to do that, which is very unlikely they will, he is not returning to the U.S.

Watch the clip above via CNN.