Judge’s Ruling Shooting Down Trump Appeal Stuns CNN Reporter: ‘Starkest Warning We Have Ever Seen’
CNN legal correspondent Katelyn Polantz called a recent appeals court ruling “the starkest warning that we have ever seen” from a federal judge regarding executive overreach.
CNN anchor Sara Sidner introduced the subject Friday, saying, “Katelyn Polantz is joining us now from Washington with more. You’re really looking at the legal aspect of all of this because whether or not Trump and what he says about Van Hollen and all of that, it is the courts that have some power here. And this message from the Court of Appeals, this order. Is quite surprising. Tell us what it says.”
“Sara, I’ve never read anything like this from an appeals court before. The political conversation is about Abrego Garcia and what is happening with him in El Salvador. In court, there are technical procedures that are happening now about what the U.S. is doing to facilitate his return to the United States after the Trump administration openly is admitting that he was mistakenly sent to that prison,” Polantz replied, explaining some of the background, adding:
He should not have been sent to El Salvador and they are being asked daily what is being done, what has been done to facilitate his return, what the court is saying now. This court is the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, overseeing the courts not just in Maryland, but in much of the South of the United States. What that court is saying is that it appears the administration is doing nothing to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return and the way that they are behaving in this case appears to signal a ‘crumbling of American democracy.’
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, one of the longest serving appellate judges in the United States, a renowned conservative judge, he wrote seven pages yesterday about this, imploring the executive branch to listen to the courts, to uphold the rule of law and to follow the constitution in a way that preserves American democracy before it is too late.
He writes, while there is still time, this is more of what the judge wrote in his order, ‘If today the executive claims the right to deport without due process and in disregard of court orders, what assurance will there be tomorrow that it will not deport American citizens and then disclaim responsibility to bring them home? And what assurance shall there be that the executive will not train its broad discretionary powers upon its political enemies.’
This is the starkest warning that we have ever seen really from a federal appellate court, a conservative judge, toward the executive branch today in this case, but much bigger issues at play.
“Yeah, that is some very strong wording, and unmistakably a warning to the Trump administration. Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much for your great reporting there,” Sidner replied.
Watch the clip above.
