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According to a new filing in federal court, the best evidence that the Trump administration has to prove that 137 men are part of trend Aragua, the narco terrorist group in Venezuela that was the entire impetus for Donald Trump's takeover of the oil fields of Venezuela. His use of the Alien Enemies Act. The entirety of the evidence against them is what the American Civil Liberties Union calls the patently absurd use of tattoos and clothing, hand gestures, symbols, logos and graffiti, including things that are quote unquote, close to laughable. I'm Michael Popo bringing you up to date in a case pending before Chief Judge Boasberg. We call jgg. You're on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal af. Let's get to the new developments in this case. Chief Jeb Boasberg is trying to hold this administration accountable since at least March. He's the judge that started the criminal contempt proceedings against the Trump administration that's been blocked a couple of times by the D.C. court of Appeals, the Circuit Court Court of Appeals. However, there's going to be a new hearing in that matter, and it could end up back with Jeb Boasberg to allow him to continue to pursue contempt proceedings primarily against Kristi Noem, of all people, someone who's very, very close to being impeached if not fired and or thrown under the bus by Donald Trump. In this particular case, these137 men represent a class that were sent to El Salvador without due process in the middle of the night in violation of the court's order. Judge Boasberg ordered that these men, pursuant to Supreme Court precedent that was established just in the last year, order that they get, and they're entitled to habeas corpus, due process rights to get before a federal judge to argue the case that they are not members of Trend Aragua and they should be allowed to stay in the United States. The United States, in order to bury their mistake of sending these men without due process over court order in contempt, then had them transferred at a prisoner exchange facilitated by El Salvador to where? Venezuela, just before the quote, unquote, war broke out. We're sending these people back to Venezuela, a country we're at war with, if you think that made sense. And along for the ride with 137 people to try to get them away from federal court jurisdiction. But the American Civil Liberties Union, who collaborates with us here on legal af, they are keeping track of where their clients are. And they ran back into court. And the judge says, here's what I'm going to do. I am going to order that due process be given. I want to hear a plan from the United States. Submit a plan to me about how you plan on giving them due process. Remote hearings, zoom hearings, flying them back to the United States, having it done in consular offices. Whatever your proposal is, I'm all ears. And then about two weeks ago, they. Or three weeks ago, they sent in a declaration, a sworn statement of testimony by Marco Rubio, the Secretary of state.
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State.
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About a few days after the Venezuelan oil field takeover, and there was a whole bunch of. I know you told us you want us to provide you with a plan for due process, but there can be no plan. We have no plan. It's unstable there. Who destabilized it? You know, it's very delicate negotiations. I can't bring this up in diplomacy. I can't Guarantee, you know, that there'll be a proper notary publics to swear in witnesses, you know, what are we gonna do? So we'll get back to you, Judge, but we're not doing a darn thing. By the way, I thought Marco Rubio was the Viceroy of Venezuela. At least that's what Donald Trump referred to him as. And he can't figure out a way to get 137 people on a plane back to the United States or to a consular office for a hearing. He also said flights in and out are very delicate. You know, air traffic and air travel is very tumultuous right now. And yeah, but as the American civil liberties pointed out in their own filing, there's at least three flights a day now running. Homeland Security Air is running regularly in and out of Venezuela. So they say, why can't they give them due process and put them on planes? Now in their new filing, which I have a copy of the. One of my favorite parts is when the American Civil Liberties Union says to the judge, we might not even need hearings. We are so confident in our evidence that these are not trend Aragua or as they say in their papers, 75% of the men that were sent in the middle of the night and disappeared to El Salvador have no criminal record whatsoever. And have. And some of them, many of them were in the country legally under asylum or other processes. So they're like, we can put together affidavits and submit summary judgment papers. We don't even need a hearing. Because we're so confident that the government doesn't have the evidence to prove that our clients are trend Aragua that we'll do it on papers without a hearing. That's how confident the ACLU is. Here's what they said on page five and six about the patent absurdity of the case, including wearing a Michael Jordan Chicago bulls jersey. Every 11 year old out there wearing a Chicago Bulls Jordan jersey retro jersey, look out because ICE might be coming to your door next. The government's own documents, the ACLU says, reveal the patent absurdity of using tattoos and attire as indicators of tda. That's trend Aragua membership as they've done for many class members. That's the 137. For instance, the Chicago Homeland Security Investigations office identified wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey particular particularly one bearing Michael Jordan's name as a TDA marker. Experts characterize this theory, the ACLU tells the judge, as close to laughable. No, I think it's, it's, it's laughable given the bull status as Chicago's home team and Jordan's universal popularity. Here's a quote from one of the experts the idea that a Jordan tattoo or jersey would be used to link someone with Trenda Aragua is is close to laughable. There you go. Even the government's own intelligence contradicts the practice. Gang unit collections determined that the Chicago Bulls attire, clocks and rose tattoos are typically related to the Venezuelan culture and not a definite indicator of being a member of the gang. Nor has the government's reliance on hand gestures, symbols, logos, graffiti or matter of dress fare any better. Experts agree that Trend Aragua lacks consistent iconography, unifying symbols or a distinctive style of clothes. They just don't have that. They don't have gang colors, if you know what I mean. And there's no evidence whatsoever that TDA maintains a constitution or issues membership documentation. Yet these two were treated as purported indicators of affiliation, the ACLU says to the judge. Moreover, approximately 75% of individuals sent to El Salvador to the Sea Cod Prison had no criminal record in the United States or abroad, and many entered the United States lawfully, including several who arrived as highly vetted refugees. Have you ever bought something for your house that looked amazing in the store and then you got home and immediately regretted it? Yeah, same. That's why I'd much rather shop at home where I can actually see how things look. And that's exactly why I love three day Blinds. They bring the showroom to you. There's a better way to buy blinds, shades, shutters and drapery and it's called three Day Blinds. They are the leading manufacturer of high quality custom window treatments in the US and right now if you use my URL three day blinds.com legalaf they are running a buy one get one 50% off deal. They'll send local, professionally trained design consultants with an average of more than 10 years of experience with right to your home, give you expert guidance and a free no obligation quote the same day. And if you're not handy, they design, measure and install everything for you. Plus you get thousands of options from light filtering and blackout blinds to smart blinds that work with Alexa and they've been trusted for over 45 years by more than 2 million people right now. Get quality window treatments that fit your budget with three day blinds. Head to three day blinds.com legalaf for their buy one get one 50% off deal on custom blind shade shutters and drapery for a free no charge, no obligation consultation. Just head to three day blinds.comlegal af one last time that's buy one, get one 50% off when you head to the number 3d a y blinds.comlegal a f they then pick apart and destroy. The Secretary Marco Rubio affidavit, for instance, on page seven, they say that the situation is too delicate. Marco Rubio says at this time to facilitate the return of the class members to the United States. But as to these men, the declaration conspicuously fails to explain why. There is no why there is any reason to believe that the current head of Venezuela, the vice president, would not honor the specific agreement made by the Maduro regime to not impose obstacles to their travel to the United States. In other words, even Maduro is going to let them go to the U.S. they argue that they're unable to retrieve class members from Venezuela as civilian travel into and out of Venezuela has become heavily restricted. But the ACLU says. But the defendant, Department of Homeland Security has expanded deportation flights to Venezuela since the ouster, sending three flights in the past week. So they're sending people to Venezuela. Planes gotta come back to the United States. Why can't they be filled with 137 men looking for due process? So they had. So the ACLU asked the judge to force the government to submit a new proposal to allow for remote proceedings, to give them back their travel documents, to allow for written submissions and to put them back on their heels and explain. Well, the judge bought it and said or agreed and has ordered that by February 2nd, the government respond to the proposal made by the ACLU to allow these people to go to consular offices, be flown back to the United States, be put on planes or submit written submissions as due process. And by February 9, the judge is going to hold a hearing in which he's going to decide on this very issue. Judge Boasberg's got his hands full, but he is not stopping in his pursuit of justice, just as you want a federal judge, impartial federal judge to do. He's been charged with. They, they made a bar complaint against them, a judge complaint against him. They try to get him removed from the case, they try to impeach him. And yet Chief Judge Boasberg, who was a Republican appointee, apparently just keeps on going. Now, I had the honor of having Lee Gelernt, the lead lawyer for the ACLU in this matter, who had these papers drafted and he signed them on for an interview about this very issue just the same day as they submitted that paper. And here's a clip. Lee, while I've got you, because our audience, I don't want to leave them on the edge of their seat. You and I first got together talking about a case in D.C. in front of Chief Judge Boasberg, called JGG and 137 clients of yours in Venezuela. That was before the Trump administration decided to take over the oil fields of Venezuela with a military coup or putsch. And so. And I know that Marco Rubio filed a piece of paper with Judge Boasberg and said, well, you wanted us to tell you how we were going to give due process to these 137. And the answer is, too delicate, too diplomatic, can't do it. Where are we in that case? And your clients?
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Yeah. So you're absolutely right. The judge said, I have jurisdiction. These men were sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador without due process, then transferred to Venezuela. They are entitled to due process. I have jurisdiction to do it. I want the government to submit a plan of how they're going to do it, whether it's bring them back, remote hearings, whatever. As you said, Secretary Rubio filed a declaration saying things are too delicate to do anything. The judge has now said he wants a response to that from us on the night of January 26th. Midnight. January 26th. Right. And then we'll see. And we've asked the judge to hold a hearing next week. We'll see if he does. But these men have been out there now for so long, removed without any due process. And so we hope that the judge will put his foot down and say to the government, enough is enough. Even taking into account the delicacy of what's going on in Venezuela, there are ways to deal with it. The other part of it, as you know, is that he is trying to hold, potentially hold them in criminal contempt for sending them to El Salvador in the first place, even though he had an order saying don't transfer them over. He ruled that. I want people to take this stand to explain why they nonetheless turn people over to El Salvador. Even though I had an order, they refused to take the stand. They went to the Court of Appeals. So we're waiting any day now from a ruling from the D.C. circuit Court of Appeals on whether he can go forward with his contempt proceedings. I suspect either side who doesn't prevail will go further in that. You know, there's en banc, there's the Supreme Court. I think there's a lot at stake there as well, because obviously, it's the fate of these men. But. But it's also. Is the Trump administration going to respect judicial orders, as you've said? Before that transcends any particular issue. That goes to part of who we are as a country in the rule of law.
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Absolutely. And then finally, the 137I saw in the paper filed by Marco Rubio. I don't know what you're going to write in your briefing, but he did call himself, or he has been called the Viceroy of Venezuela, and yet he doesn't have the ability to provide due process to these men, despite court order. Putting that aside for a minute, the, you know, they had some, some language in their filing about, well, we don't even know where these people are.
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Right.
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You know, look, 60 Minutes interviewed, I think, a number of your clients when they did that, that report that was, that was kiboshed. And then finally, Eric, people were like, how do they get those people? Because they got sent to Venezuela. That's how they got these people. Your clients want you to go forward with this issue and get them the due process that they, that the Supreme Court has said that they're entitled to.
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Right, right, right. And so whether the government knows where they are or not, we can know where they are, right?
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That's right. I said that in a hot take. I said, well, the ACLU knows where their clients are, so we'll leave it at that. We look forward to your filing there. Glad you're here with us on Midas Touch. Come over to Legal af. The American Civil Liberties Union is with us now regularly for reporting. They have their own playlist under the American Civil Liberties Union. I have people like League Alert on on a regular basis. In fact, just later today, I'll be interviewing from the American Civil Liberties Union, Terry Nelson, who is one of the heads in the ACLU Minnesota office to talk about all things Minnesota and what the ACLU is doing about it in their lawsuits. I'm glad you're here. Hit the Free subscribe Button on Legal AF YouTube. Come over to our substack and do the exact same thing. So till my next report, Michael Popak, can't get your fill of Legal af. Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF substack. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the substack. You'll find the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do called, wait for it Morning af. What else? All the other contributors from Legal AOFF are there as well. We got some new reporting. We got interviews. We got ad free versions of the podcast and hot takes. We where legal AF on substack. Come over now to free subscribe.
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Hey y'.
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All.
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As a growing family, my husband and I love game night. Especially when it's Wayfair edition.
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Let's do it. You gotta name as many Wayfair furniture and decor categories as you can. Ready? Go.
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Sofas, bar stools, beds, ottomans, outdoor seating, bookshelves, kitchen tables, garden sheds, mid century modern lamps. Time. Nice.
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You got nine out of a lot. Not too bad. Keep practicing by visiting Wayfair.com where you can shop every style for every home. Wayfair Every style, every home.