CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Calls Out Trump’s ‘Doctored’ Photo Of Wrongly Deported Man — Shows It To His Lawyer
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins called out President Donald Trump for a “doctored” photo he posted purporting to show that Kilmar Abrego Garcia — the wrongly deported Maryland man at the heart of a Supreme Court ruling — is a “gang member.”
Trump shared an image on Truth Social on Friday claiming to show Abrego Garcia’s left hand with tattoos, including a marijuana leaf, smiley face, cross, skull, and “MS-13” spelled across the knuckles — but the “MS-13” characters appeared to be digitally added.
On Friday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Collins interviewed Kilmar Abrego Garcia attorney Rina Gandhi, and asked for her reaction to Trump’s post:
COLLINS: One thing that we have heard from the legal team, and against this allegation from the White House, is about his history.
I know that you have said he doesn’t have a criminal history, that he had never been arrested for anything before. People at the White House have pointed out to me, they say, That doesn’t mean that he wasn’t a member of MS-13. There’s not always criminal activity on someone’s record, if they are in a gang.
And I want to show you something that the President posted tonight. It’s a photo of what he says is your client’s left hand. You can see his knuckles there. And the President is showing these tattoos that the White House alleges, reveals that he’s a member of MS-13.
I should note, the photo has been doctored, because those — the actual M-S-1-3–
GANDHI: Yes.
COLLINS: –that you see at the top, that’s not actually a tattoo. That’s what they’re saying, the tattoos portray.
What is your reaction to this photo?
GANDHI: Yes. My reaction is, this is just a continuation of the distraction.
This case is not about whether Mr. Abrego Garcia is good or bad, whether he is or isn’t in MS-13, whether he should be able to remain for the rest of his life in the U.S. or not.
This case is about the simple fact that he was removed without due process. And if it can happen to him, and the government pushes back at every turn, despite three different courts ordering them to return him, then who’s next?
COLLINS: We had the border czar, Tom Homan, on last night. And his argument that he made to me was one that that 2019 ruling from an immigration judge, who technically was working for President Trump, was meaningless. But he also said that if your client is brought back to the United States, he’ll just be deported again to a third country.
If that happened, legally, do you think you’d be able to prevent that?
GANDHI: Yes. So, what is actually the process is that the government has to move to reopen his case, because he was granted relief by a judge, as you mentioned, under the Trump administration.
More importantly, that the Trump administration government, DHS, did not appeal, and chose to release him after. Keep that in mind.
But they can move to reopen, they can introduce evidence, give him the opportunity to present his case and let a judge decide.
And a judge’s decisions are not meaningless. Otherwise, we have no rule of law.
Watch above via CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.
