‘We Deeply Regret These Errors’: DOJ Walks Back Key Evidence In Defense of Trump’s Portland Deployment

From [HERE] The Department of Justice (DOJ) Monday corrected a key piece of evidence it repeatedly cited in defense of President Donald Trump’s attempted military deployment in Portland, Oregon, last month.

In a letter to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Andrew Bernie, a DOJ attorney, said the Trump administration made several “errors” in describing how many special law enforcement officers it sent to Portland in response to protests outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the city.

The disclosure, which came in Portland and Oregon’s lawsuit against the deployment, marks a rare walkback from the DOJ that may damage its legal defense of Trump’s military intervention in the City of Roses.

Attempting to prove that Trump had the authority to send troops into the city, government officials claimed 115 Federal Protection Service (FPS) officers were ordered to the city between June and September. The number represented nearly a “quarter” of the whole FPS force that protects federal facilities and employees, the government claimed in court filings.

In oral arguments and court filings, the DOJ repeatedly argued that this major reallocation of FPS officers indicated that Trump was unable to enforce federal law in Portland with regular forces and was therefore justified in calling up around 200 Oregon National Guard troops in September.

The number of FPS officials allegedly sent to Portland was a key piece that a Ninth Circuit panel relied on in determining last week that Trump had the authority to  federalize and deploy Guard troops to the city. [MORE]