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Will SCOTUS fall for state secrets claim on deportation flights and thwart Judge Boasberg? [1]
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Date: 2025-03-28
The Trump Administration has leapfrogged over Judge Boasburg to take their plight to the Supreme Court.
You would think it would be about the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. But it's not. They're trying to use a national security basis for refusing to give Judge Boasberg anymore details on the flights to El Salvador. They want the Supreme Court to prevent them from having to perjure themselves.
Mark Zaid, who just lost his security clearance last Friday, said, "This is a bolder assertion than what the Executive Branch normally takes. I see this as an effort to use privilege as a shield instead of a sword, because they have run out of options."
The question is whether the president or his administration can claim state secrets, or are they simply using the claim to keep the public from embarrassing information? That's what this emergency docket request is all about.
It would seem that the government doesn't have a leg to stand on. The flights were publicly covered, and even proudly promoted by the Trump Administration as proof of Trump keeping his promise of massive deportations.
What state secrets could there possibly be? We already know that they gave El Salvador 16 million dollars for keeping them in prison for a year. What happens next year? Are we going to be paying for another country to house criminals forever?
A 36-page, 2021, amicus curiae brief provides the history of cases invoking state secrets for national security reasons, and how many of them were unjustified.
Judge Boasberg issued orders from the bench while one plane was in transit, another one took off while he was making his written opinion, and a third took off after the written order was delivered. This has already been confirmed by multiple new sources and plane transponder readings. The judge is trying to tie them down to a time frame of what took place, and the government doesn't want to have to lie, or give up the truth and face sanctions. That's why they're trying to claim state secrets are involved.
Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday invoked the privilege because giving out the information "would pose reasonable danger to national security and foreign affairs." The claim is simply ridiculous because we already know everything about the operation. Judge Boasberg wants the answers under oath. Again, that's what the Justice Department is afraid of. They're screwed whether they lie or tell the truth. Only the Supreme Court can help them now.
The DOJ will lean on the designation of Tren de Aragua as a terrorist organization as part of their argument. The fact that we know there were people on those planes that weren't part of the gang sort of ruins that argument.
"Disclosing any information that assists in tracking the flights would endanger the government personnel operating those flights and aid our adversaries...," they claimed.
That, of course, is hogwash. We already know everything about those flights and when they took off and when they arrived. That's what transponders on planes do. Marco Rubio gave out a number of details himself. It's hard to claim secrets after that.
Judge Boasberg has given the plaintiffs challenging the Alien Enemies Act until Monday to respond to the government invoking state secrets.
The Supreme Court normally defers to the government on national security matters, but there is nothing secret about the operation.
By default, the matter goes to Chief Justice Roberts and he can decide it or refer it to the full court.
Will Trump's attacks on Judge Boasberg and Chief Justice Roberts' own comments on Trump's show any direction for his decision?
Probably not. In other cases, there are real reasons to maintain secrecy. This motion is simply to not get caught in a lie.
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