Asked on Fri if he would authorize flights that night despite the court order to halt them, #Trump deflected & suggested that it would be up to #MarcoRubio.

“…I’d have the Secy of #State handle it, because I’m not really involved in that,” [bullshit] he said. “But the concept of getting bad people — murderers, rapists, drug dealers, all of the — these are really some bad people — out of our country — I ran on that. I won on that.”

…#Trump’s comment Fri night was in response to questions about a hearing earlier that day on the legality of the #deportations, during which US District Judge #Boasberg asked why the proclamation was “essentially signed in the dark” so that #deportation flights could begin immediately. The WH had announced the proclamation’s signing AFTER preparations to deport 137 Venezuelan migrants had already begun.

The confusion over #Trump’s signature prompted some speculation that perhaps the document was signed using an #autopen, a machine that uses real ink to duplicate a human signature. The #DOJ has said the autopen is a legal way to sign official presidential documents, but Trump has ridiculed the practice as inauthentic [& Trump proclaimed Biden’s pardons were invalid for its use].

…Most of the #intelligence community, including the #CIA & the #NSA, agreed w/that assessment.

Only one agency, the #FBI [#KashPatel], partly dissented. It maintained the gang has a connection to the admin of #Venezuela’s #authoritarian president, Nicolás #Maduro, based on information the other agencies did not find credible.

The disclosure calls into question the credibility of #Trump’s basis for invoking a rarely used wartime #law, the #AlienEnemiesAct of 1798, to transfer a group of #Venezuelans to a high-security prison in #ElSalvador last weekend, with no #DueProcess.

The #intelligence community assessment concluded that the gang, #TrenDeAragua, was not directed by #Venezuela’s govt or committing crimes in the #US on its orders….

Joseph Rillotta, a senior #IRS lawyer, wrote that “no one” at the IRS had taken into account the performance of the probationary workers set to be fired. Rillotta urged that the language be struck from the draft termination letter.

If the falsehood wasn’t removed, Rillotta said he would file a report w/the #InspectorGeneral for the IRS.

Trump Flips Out When Asked About Testy Musk and Rubio Clash

#DonaldTrump shut down a reporter who dared ask about the growing feud between Elon Musk and his Cabinet officials.
https://newrepublic.com/post/192506/trump-reaction-musk-rubio-fight-cabinet-meeting

"Donald Trump got upset when a reporter asked him about “clashes” between #ElonMusk and members of his #Cabinet...

“No clash, I was there. You’re just a troublemaker, and you’re not supposed to be asking that question""