“Military service members should be dedicated to real emergencies,” Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said. “For the members of the Oregon National Guard, their mission is to stand up and protect Oregonians, and they will do that every day, but they are not needed in the city. They are not needed here.”
A federal judge overseeing a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s deployment of Oregon National Guard troops to Portland has agreed to recuse himself after the U.S. Department of Justice submitted arguments questioning his ability to remain impartial. According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Justice Department noted that U.S. District Judge Michael Simon’s wife, Suzanne Bonamici,
“It feels like there is nothing I can do to stop immigration agents from arresting me whenever they want,” Venegas said in a statement issued by his attorneys. “I just want to work in peace. The Constitution protects my ability to do that.”
“Oregon communities are stable, and our local officials have been clear: we have the capacity to manage public safety without federal interference,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield in a statement.
Less than a day later, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement supervisor ordered the plaintiff’s release, realizing that he was a documented immigrant with every right to reside and work in the United States.
The Wall Street Journal’s legal team also risked raising the president’s ire by stating the obvious: the letter, as depicted by the press, is “consistent with [Trump’s] reputation,” citing comments the commander-in-chief has previously made about his relationship with Epstein and his views on women.
Nisha Kashyap, the Racial Justice Program Director for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, said in a press release that “arresting people when they come to court is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes, not a constitutional democracy.”
“Ms. Comey’s termination – without case, without advance notice, and without any opportunity to contest it – was unlawful and unconstitutional,” Comey’s lawsuit alleges. “In truth, there is no legitimate explanation. Rather, Defendants fired Ms. Comey solely or substantially because her father is former FBI Director James B. Comey, or because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs, or both.”
In a typically bizarre post to social media, the president downplayed his broad unpopularity, suggesting that outlets critical of his policies are “lying” about his troubled past.
“[FBI Director Kash Patel] explained he had to fire the people his superiors told him to fire, because his ability to keep his own job depended on the removal of the agents who worked on cases involving the President,” the lawsuit alleges. “