The Trump administration aggressively escalated its fights with the nation’s courts Monday night, electing to invoke the so-called “state secrets privilege” in an attempt to completely stonewall a federal judge from asking any more questions about the way it is using a wartime power to rapidly deport Venezuelan migrants without due process.
In a nine-page court filing that was backed by declarations from three of the country’s top government officials, the Department of Justice asserted what it called “absolute” power that cannot be checked by the judiciary.
“President Trump is ‘the only person who alone composes a branch of government,’” it asserted while quoting a recent Supreme Court case. “Consequently, this Court owes President Trump ‘high respect.’”