“Only What [Bukele] Called ‘Convicted Criminals’”

 NYT’s gift for understatement and refusal to attach responsibility continues to be unmatched:

Bukele had agreed to house "only what he called 'convicted criminals' in the prison. However, many of the Venezuelan men labeled gang members and terrorists by the U.S. government had not been tried in court," the report said.

"The matter was urgent, a senior U.S. official warned his colleagues shortly after the deportations, kicking off a scramble to get the Salvadorans whatever evidence they could," according to the Times.

"Mr. Bukele’s demands for more information about some of the deportees, which has not been previously reported, deepen questions about whether the Trump administration sufficiently assessed who it dispatched to a foreign prison," the report  said.

What Bukele “called ‘convicted criminals’”? Clinton’s “It depends on what the meaning of ‘is,’ is,” is hereby retired from its place in the Infamy Hall of Fame. Lawyers wouldn’t try to slice a statement so thinly to get it down to one side. Is it something in the translation from Spanish? Does “convicted criminal” have a different definition for Bukele from common usage? Because this goes to the root of whether there’s a binding agreement.

And before we get to the “well, duh!” issue of “whether the Trump administration sufficiently assessed who it dispatched to a foreign prison,” can we ask the question, again, about this agreement? Trump agreed to pay El Salvador to house prisoners, but Congress didn’t. Wasn’t that an issue in Iran/Contra? (I know; all my scandals have the dust of ages on them. Curiously, they all involve GOP Presidents, too.) The reported agreement also provided such detentions would continue until the U.S. decided what to do with said prisoners. An issue I’m sure is going to reappear in more than a few trials and appeals. (The government says it has lost authority over the prisoners. The agreement says otherwise.) Point being, who really gives a shit about a sufficient assessment of prisoners by the U.S.? Bukele blinked (Trump probably gave him more money.  ALWAYS follow the money.), and besides, there’s another question of legal authority. I. e., what gives Trump power to send people to a foreign prison anyway? There’s no colorable argument under the Constitution or federal law. (And there are reports he wants to do another such deal with Libya.)

Still waiting for that issue to surface in court, too.