Author: condor

Let’s Put Rigby’s Fine Take Down — On The Front Page! It Applies To Scott Johnson And John Hinderaker, Now.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

In all seriousness, though, Hinderaker’s post is astonishingly dishonest, even for him. Red meat for his readers, I know, but still chock-full of falsehoods and mischaracterizations.

 

No one disputes that he was in the U.S. illegally.

 

This is a lie. Garcia was granted this work permit in 2019 by the Department of Homeland Security, and was employed as a sheet metal apprentice. He had been granted a withholding of removal status, which allowed him to legally work and live in the U.S. This has been well documented. John is lying.

 

Therefore–it follows–he should be deported to his home country.

 

Garcia wasn’t deported. He was sent to an El Salvador prison at the American government’s behest, and U.S. taxpayers are funding his incarceration. He’s essentially a prisoner under the American justice system, but being held in a foreign prison — all without any charges being filed against him in either country. This is ridiculous.

 

…because he could be threatened by a rival gang.

 

Nope. He wasn’t threatened by a rival gang. Garcia never, ever used that term. His story hasn’t changed: He and his brother were threatened by a gang trying to recruit them, which they both refused to do, and both fled to America. This has been well documented. John is lying.

 

a reliable informant told police that Garcia was “an active member of MS-13”

 

This anonymous informant (who has never been identified) allegedly told police the arresting officer that Garcia was an active gang member in New York, a place Garcia has never lived. The officer, Ivan Mendez, was suspended days later for leaking confidential police information to a street walker, who was also his mistress. Not exactly an unimpeachable source. As far as I know, his assertion that “a Chicago Bulls jacket and hoodie” was known MS-13 attire has never been substantiated, but even if it has, this “evidence” is very thin gruel. And that’s literally all the evidence that’s been presented to support the MS-13 accusation. The immigration judge who granted the stay found Garcia, who denied any gang affiliation, credible.

 

Garcia is also a domestic abuser

 

Garcia has never been convicted (or even charged) with this crime. Even his wife denounces that characterization. In a statement, she said she did seek a civil protective order in 2021 after a disagreement with Garcia, but noted that she had survived a previous relationship that included domestic violence, which triggered her fear. She did not appear at the court hearing, and the matter did not proceed. She has further commented

 

“Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process,” she said in the statement. “We were able to work through this situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling. Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed. No one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect.”

 

Is domestic violence a problem? Absolutely? Do some victims stand by their abusers, out of fear or loyalty? Again, yes. But last time I checked (which was right now), Garcia has never, ever been charged with a crime in either the United States or El Salvador, and the punishment for an uncompleted restraining order is not life in a brutal concentration camp. This has all been well documented. John is, at best, mischaracterizing the facts here.

 

But even if you dismiss all of the above, John is ignoring the Constitution. I assume he didn’t miss Fifth Amendment day in law school. The Fifth Amendment reads (in part):

 

No person… shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

 

Notice how it says “person” and not “citizen”? The evidence that Garcia is a person is pretty compelling, and yet he’s been deprived of liberty without due process of law. This is black-letter-law illegal.

 

But if that doesn’t convince you, let’s now peruse the Fourteenth Amendment:

 

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

 

Notice how it says “citizens” in the first part of the sentence and “person” in the second part of the sentence? That seems pretty important. Maybe John missed Fourteenth Amendment day.

 

So, even if Garcia is MS-13 (which hasn’t been definitively established in any way, shape or form), his capture and imprisonment is still unconstitutional.

 

If he were brought back to the U.S., and definitively proven in court, following the rules of evidence, to be a member of MS-13, then by all means deport him and let El Salvador do what they wish, and I won’t shed a single tear for him. But until then, his imprisonment is quite plainly illegal.

 

John went to law school. He should absolutely know this. But he’s gotta keep throwing that red meat, I guess.

Scott Johnson Libels A Private Figure, Abducted (Without A Hearing) To A Torture Prison… But “He’s The Bad Guy”!?

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Like Hinderaker yesterday, this morning, it is Scott’s turn. Charming.

When (as a lawyer) you know you are in deep trouble because your client has willfully violated the law (Noem/Rubio/Trump)… these old school white shoe lawyers (Johnson/Hinderaker) resort to… abusing the individual opponent, and libelously so.

I won’t recount all these falsehoods, as they generally echo Hinderaker’s lies of last evening (but do go see Rigby’s fine take down, on that, in the comments).

I will say that ignoring the glaring lies of the indicted cop at the center of the the supposed 2019 “investigation” of Abrego Garcia is… in itself… a refutation of John’s and Scott’s claims.

I think John and Scott were both, at a time, in the same room with Tucker Carlson — but it does not mean either of them accept his revisionist history, that paints Hitler as the good guy, and Churchill as the malign monster.

But both of them do just that to Abrego Garcia — he was once seen in the company of someone supposedly in a gang.

You know what? So was I.

But here in America, more than being seen with someone is required to arrest: full probable cause requires… yep, an overt criminal act — or concrete steps in preparation of committing said crimes. There is nothing like that in any record as to Abrego Garcia.

But both of these miscreants are shilling for Trump and Noem… to keep the gravy train running.

D A M N.

Ugly.

Trump Continues To Lose — On His Barbarian Tactics, Against Mr. Garcia’s Due Process Rights — Now On Appeal He Loses — As Well, AGAIN!

~ condor ~ 4 Comments

The notion that these young idiots (even if they well-know Trump is a monster), cannot see (in their own interest in self-preservation) that they will end up like Mike Lindell, and Rudy Giuliani — just so much carnage, in Tangerine’s wake… is rather astonishing to me. They have seen this whole dumb show before — in 2018-2021. People acceding to Trump’s base instincts and stepping into the firefight he created, were… jailed; disbarred and bankrupted.

Hey, guys — please: do go ask Jenna Ellis or Mike Lindell how this all ends. Or, just read the newspapers (and federal decisions, on appeal) of the last four years. Damn.

[I will pause, and interject here, that Hinderaker willfully lies about the contours of this case tonight. He fails to mention that the 2019 “police officer” suborned perjury — and was later indicted for sharing cops’ drug trafficking investigative information with a known prostitute, his mistress. That is the caliber of the “evidence” John touts, out of NYC — a place where Mr. Garcia has never lived. John asserts that an MJ / Bulls cap makes one a… gang member. Huh. Am I, too deportable without due process then, Johnnie? Do tell. “First rule of holes — when your in one, stop diggin’, man“. John’s racism is on front street throughout that post, tonight. Back to the main topic, then:]

Here’s tonight’s latest loss, for Baby T on appeal — and the correlative win, for the rule of law — in seven pages of majestic language (and a bit):

…It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all. The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done.

This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear…. [Abrego Garcia is] entitled to due process. If the government is confident of its position, it should be assured that position will prevail in proceedings to terminate the withholding of removal order. See 8 C.F.R. § 208.24(f) (requiring that the government prove “by a preponderance of evidence” that the alien is no longer entitled to a withholding of removal)….

The Supreme Court’s decision does not… allow the government to do essentially nothing. It requires the government “to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” Abrego Garcia, supra, slip op. at 2. “Facilitate” is an active verb. It requires that steps be taken as the Supreme Court has made perfectly clear….

[T]he government’s argument that all it must do is “remove any domestic barriers to [Abrego Garcia’s] return,” Mot. for Stay at 2, is not well taken in light of the Supreme Court’s command that the government facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador…. “Facilitation” does not sanction the abrogation of habeas corpus through the transfer of custody to foreign detention centers in the manner attempted here. Allowing all this would “facilitate” foreign detention more than it would domestic return. It would reduce the rule of law to lawlessness and tarnish the very values for which Americans of diverse views and persuasions have always stood….

In sum, and for the reasons foregoing, we deny the motion for the stay pending appeal and the writ of mandamus in this case. It is so ordered….

Oh. And Mr. Mazzara filed another insolent, non-responsive sworn “update” again tonight — obstruction of lawful process, and under oath. There, contempt soon lies. Out.

नमस्ते

Birthright Citizenship Is Clearly… SAFE. Whew.

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The Supremes agreed to hear argument in three pending cases, true enough.

But… the Court declined to take any steps at all, to stay the lower courts’ unanimous decisions. There’s a very solid sense in which, if Tangerine had even a colorable argument, they might have “given him a chance” — while the litigation progressed — to try his policies out.

They did no such thing, and that is entirely unsurprising. There is NO colorable argument here, against the plain language embedded in the Fourteenth Amendment — and cases, stretching back 150 years.

He will never have the votes for a new Constitutional Amendment. Game over. What a waste of time, and taxpayer money.

नमस्ते

“We Love To See It!” MyPillow Guy… Broke?! Woo-Hoo!!!

~ condor ~ 1 Comment

I — for one, am fairly skeptical… that he can’t come up with some $56,000 in cash. Immediately.

[This sounds very much like Rudy G.’s insolent whining, in Manhattan, earlier this year… but somehow… he scrounged up some goodly-part of… ~$148 million. Huh.]

A federal judge wants under oath but sealed financial statements by Friday (proving he is broke), or he will place Lindell in contempt — and perhaps the actual can / lockup, for a bit — as Lindell dodges judgment damages he owes — for knowing lies about voting machine companies, in the 2020 election aftermath.

What a bunch of miscreants these jamokes are — couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

Out.

Again — Hinderaker, Afraid Of Losing His Gravy Train Gigs… Won’t Say Tangerine CANNOT “Fire” Fed Chair… Ugh.

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At lunch, Hinderaker — ever the coward — is too much of a shrinking violet to say what is obvious to anyone who’s looked carefully at it:

The President cannot fire the Fed Chair. Except for very narrow “for cause” — affirmative, intentional misconduct (like, say… conviction of felonies — oops… but that would be… yep, Tangerine 2.0 — should be fired! He remains a convicted financial frauds felon). But I digress. Where was I? Oh. Right.

Just yesterday, I quoted (what I had then hoped was an academic point)… had hoped… would would never be a “live” discussion: the idea that Trump might try to fire or dismantle the Fed.

Now… it is more or less… “live” — at least in the sense that the dotard is raging on his dead letter social media service, about doing it. It is a “no chance” possibility. Chief J. Roberts will never G for it.

But Hinderaker makes it sound like… maybe Baby T has a point. He does not — unless he resigns at the same time, for being a convicted felon.

Geez. What a pair of putzes. Both of them.

“East Bay IV” Begins Again, In Earnest — Whether Asylum Seekers Have The Right — To EFFECTIVELY Petition In The Courts… For Their Rights.

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The Ninth Circuit has returned the East Bay Sanctuary class action case (one of dozens of backgrounders, here) to the capable USDC Judge Jon Tigar, to consider whether the plaintiff has “organizational standing” to advocate on behalf of people who mostly speak no English, are/were not educated in the niceties of our byzantine legal system — and in the main, are struggling mightily just to feed and clothe themselves in a foreign land.

To be clear, Tangerine 2.0’s (largely impotent) black Magic Marker scribbles would claim that these folks must each individually bring a complicated case in the federal courts of downtown San Francisco if they want to have ANY rights, in the US. That won’t do.

That is certainly not what the fine Lazarus prose — on the base of Lady Liberty contemplates… and it is not the way we’ve understood human rights since at least the victories won, in the 1960s civil rights movement. Here’s the latest reopening this case — we will call it East Bay IV:

…The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has remanded this case for further proceedings and directed the Court to consider (1) organizational standing in light of Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, 602 U.S. 367 (2024), and (2) the impact of Executive Order 14165 § 7(a)–(b). ECF No. 205 at 7–8. The parties shall meet and confer and, no later than April 28, 2025, file a joint statement containing a joint proposal or competing proposals, including scheduling, regarding how this case should proceed on remand.

The Clerk is directed to re-open this case.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: April 14, 2025….

As a wise and seasoned federal judge (who had greatly protected an entire class of asylum seekers in Tangerine 1.0’s time in office — 2017-20), I trust Judge Tigar will come to a just resolution here — as he well-knows all humans present in our land, howsoever they may have arrived, are entitled to an effective means of asserting their collective rights / receiving due process — but what, and how much. . . “process” is actually… and practically…”due“?

I trust him to sort all that out, equitably.

नमस्ते

“Bob Jones Univ. — Really?!” Someone Clearly Threatened Hinderaker Last Night (Cough! MAGA?)

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What a difference a day makes, eh?

Last night, John said that Trump was wrong to threaten Harvard. Perhaps the ham-handed tangerine moron was acting… unlawfully, he gently hinted, at least. [Mr. Obama is certain it is unlawful.]

Here not 24 hours later, though — Hinderaker is equating Harvard with… Bob Jones… i.e., Race discriminating faux bible thumpers.

John fails to talk about Bob Jones’ lunacy in the same way many of us see Tangerine’s cult of personality. Weird. And that the lunacy was the basis for the revocation of the tax exemption. In this case, Harvard is very much in the mainstream of all US thought, on how to handle admissions, curricula and promotions. No analogy, man.

But — confidential note to Hinderaker, here: if cutting off funding is unlawful, then certainly trying to revoke a federal tax exemption is — if, as Mr. Trump has made crystal clear — the CoC is doing it because he dislikes what Harvard chooses to teach, and research — and in fact… teaches.

Damn, John — did they threaten your lil’ think tank’s finances — if you didn’t immediately “get your mind… right!“?!

Seriously — if that is the way these Neanderthals control your messaging… my condolences. But do grow a spine, man.

You know this is an anathema to the way American freedoms of expression work.

Say so.

Kenya Is Eagerly Awaiting More GAVI-Supplied Mpox Vaccine Stock: This Is The Reality On The Ground Along All Major Truck Routes…

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As ever, it is two steps ahead — one, back. The logistical challenges, as well as the education / public awareness ones… are formidable.

But there is good news — it seems the public awareness campaign is — in the main — being well-received, and impacting behaviors, in the targeted audiences. Here’s that, overnight — from Kenya, this time:

…According to Dr Pius Mutuku, a biomedical epidemiologist with Kenya’s Ministry of Health, the 13 affected counties are – not coincidentally – placed along an international trunk road used to ferry cargo from Kenya’s Mombasa port to Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, as well as to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where mpox is endemic. Truck drivers plying the route are at heightened risk of exposure to mpox, due to interactions at nodes of interchange, such as with porters unloading cargo, or with commercial sex workers….

And in Kenya’s Bungoma County, a man living with HIV recently succumbed to mpox, after missing doses of his antiretroviral therapy (ART) medicines. In Kenya, 18% of confirmed mpox cases are people living with HIV.

“When mpox infects someone with untreated HIV, the risk of severe disease skyrockets. But our data show that patients who adhere to ART, typically avoid the worst outcomes. This underscores the life-saving power of sustained HIV treatment among mpox patients,” Dr Mutuku explained….

Now you know — onward.

नमस्ते

Erh… “There Are No Further Updates” — Your Naked Assertion Doesn’t End Any USDC Court Ordered Obligation, There Son…

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Look — the government has the right (though meritless) to appeal the able USDC Judge Xinis’ orders (of April 10) to the Fourth Circuit. That it did, today. [Those will fail — bank on it.]

But it also filed a non-responsive sworn update, to her prior order — an order that is in full force and effect — requiring daily sworn updates. The update is that the government has done essentially nothing — and is doing nothing, to comply with the Supremes’ admonition that it facilitate the return of Mr. Abrego Garcia. [The guy signing this insolent sworn statement is Joe Mazzara, one of the guys that counsel for Mr. Garcia will depose under oath next week, BTW. That will be a… smoker!]

Here’s that utterly insolent one-pager of nonsense — from the DHS/ICE political appointee (and the closing sentences of it, below):

. . .Given the [prior non-updates]… within the contours of existing law and regulation, there are no further updates….

She IS “the existing law” — as affirmed by the Supremes — what are they actively doing to get him home? That’s the existing law — plain as day.

The Boasberg hammer is going to soon appear in USDC Judge Xinis’ courtroom as well, I will predict. The Fourth will bounce this stupid appeal — again. As will the Supremes. Onward.

नमस्ते