\n<\/p>\n
Between the non-responsive, if downright moronic, updates tendered by the government as to the status of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, and the show pony press conference with peculiarly attired Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele, Trump has taken his stand<\/a>.<\/p>\n The message from the meeting was clear: Neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Bukele had any intention of returning Mr. Abrego Garcia, even though the Supreme Court has ruled that he should come back to the United States. The case has come to symbolize Mr. Trump\u2019s defiance of the courts and his willingness to deport people without due process.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The question posed to Bukele, whether he will \u201creturn him\u201d was the wrong question.** The question that should have been asked is whether he would turn Abrego Garcia over to the custody of the United States if Trump asked. Then again, poorly framed question aside, Bukele\u2019s response was an SNL cold open script. Little Marco followed it up with stunningly simplistic nonsense that he certainly knows to be false, but passes for civics in this Oval Office.<\/p>\n But what about the courts?\u00a0Trump isn\u2019t selling his stance to the faithful as defiance, with Stephen Miller pretending that Trump won before the Supreme Court 9-0<\/a>.<\/p>\n In\u00a0an Oval Office photo-op<\/a>\u00a0with El Salvador\u2019s President Nayib Bukele on Monday, Trump and Miller \u2014 along with Attorney General Pam Bondi \u2014 continued to pretend that the administration won at the Supreme Court, with both agreeing that the decision was 9-0 \u201cin our favor.\u201d Miller claimed that the high court found \u201cno district court has the power to compel the foreign policy function of the United States,\u201d while Bondi claimed that the U.S. only had to worry about bringing Abrego Garcia back if El Salvador released him first.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Miller may be venal, but he\u2019s hardly stupid. The jury is still out on Bondi. But the point is clear, that Trump\u2019s position is that the Supreme Court\u2019s equivocal decision failed to support Judge Paula Xinis,<\/a> and that it left him enough room to pretend that he\u2019s not defying the judge, and creating a constitutional crisis, by refusing to do anything to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States.<\/p>\n Judge Xinis is in the awkward position now of either acquiescing to the administration\u2019s refusal to abide by her orders or taking action that would bring the crisis to the surface. She could order a hearing, requiring senior officials, perhaps even the president, to testify as to their lack of compliance with her orders, which would almost certainly be refused. She could hold someone in contempt, from the lowly AUSA in the courtroom to a cabinet secretary, which would require that someone under the auspices of the Executive physically take action. Or she could let the administration have its way and pull back from the edge, leaving Abrego Garcia in prison, likely for life, with no hope.<\/p>\n Trump has made the dubious claim that he would comply with a decision of the Supreme Court, because he claims he \u201crespects\u201d it, meaning that he believes he owns it, but not the order of some lowly district court judge.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the Supreme Court said bring somebody back, I would do that,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI respect the Supreme Court.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Of course, if the Supreme Court actually ordered him to effectuate the return of Abrego Garcia, whether he would do so remains a mystery. Trump says a lot of things that he fails to do. But the point is that while the Supreme Court did, plainly, order Trump to \u201cfacilitate\u201d Abrego Garcia\u2019s return, its equivocal language about effectuating the return<\/a> gave the administration a crack to exploit in its refusal to comply. From the perspective of Miller, this was all the room he needed to claim victory.<\/p>\n As the matter is back before the court, this time with the presser before it including Bukele\u2019s nonsensical answer that he can\u2019t \u201csmuggle a terrorist\u201d into the United States and Trump\u2019s bobble-headed approval, what\u2019s left for Judge Xinis to do? What order should she make in light of the near-certainty that Trump will fail to comply in this \u201cbattle of wills\u201d between the unitary executive and the coequal judicial branch of government?<\/p>\n The Supreme Court could have avoided this confrontation<\/a> had it answered its own question as to what was required of the president rather than kick the can back to Xinis. It did not. This may well be Chief Justice Roberts\u2019 attempt to protect the institutional integrity of the Supreme Court by not issuing a decision that the president would defy, but it has long been clear that the constitutional crisis arising from Trump\u2019s refusal to obey the orders of the court would ultimately bring the crisis to a head no matter what.<\/p>\n Was the Supreme Court wrong to give Trump a crack to weasel through in the vain hope that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn\u2019t defy the court? What\u2019s Judge Xinis to do now that the Supreme Court has hung her out to dry? If we\u2019re doomed to a constitutional crisis no matter what, is it better that the judiciary pretend it\u2019s not a fait accompli in the hope that Trump will somehow come to his senses and not blow up the Constitution, or should it have backed its judge and not given Trump the opportunity to pretend he\u2019s not telling Judge Xinis \u201cfuck you\u201d?<\/p>\n **By posing the question to Bukele of whether he will \u201creturn\u201d Abrego Garcia, the media failed to address the nuance upon which Trump relies. The better questions<\/a> would have been directed to Trump:<\/p>\n President Trump, have you asked President Bukele for the release of Abrego Garcia into American custody? If so, did President Bukele refuse? If not, why not?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Unfortunately, the journalists allowed into presser<\/a> failed to ask these questions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n