Mini-Post: They Lied!

Okay, raise your hand if you are surprised that the prosecutor lied to the judge, or as the court put it “a factual discrepancy”?

Truth Matters: Court to Rehear Challenge to President’s Use of National Guard Against Protesters After ‘Factual Discrepancy’ Emerges

The Rutherford Institute

October 30, 2025

Following reports that “a factual discrepancy” existed in court filings used to justify President Trump’s use of military troops against civilian protesters, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated a ruling granting the president sweeping discretion to federalize and deploy the National Guard in response to demonstrations at an ICE facility in Portland.

[...]

“When government officials distort the facts to justify using military force against civilians, they betray both the public’s trust and the Constitution they swore to uphold,” said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People. “This is exactly why the Framers stressed the need for a separation of powers that placed limits on executive authority—to guard against overreach and abuse. As Thomas Jefferson warned, ‘In questions of power then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.’”

Following protests at the Lindquist ICE facility in Portland, the Department of Homeland Security requested military assistance on Sept. 26, 2025, claiming the facility had “come under a coordinated assault by violent groups ... actively aligned with designated domestic terrorist organizations.” Having already labeled such protests “a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government,” President Trump ordered the Defense Secretary to deploy the National Guard under 10 U.S.C. § 12406.

Now we all saw the videos of the people peacefully protesting as the Constitution allows... but the way the prosecutor it sounded like an armed insurrection! And the judge didn't like that!

With hat in hand the federal prosecutor said...

A majority of judges on the Ninth Circuit subsequently voted to vacate that ruling and rehear the case en banc after it was revealed that the Trump administration had submitted an inaccurate figure regarding the number of Federal Protective Services (FPS) officers sent to provide backup in dealing with the protests at the ICE facility. The Ninth Circuit panel used those figures in the reasoning for its earlier decision. The government’s credibility was further undermined when, in a letter to the Ninth Circuit acknowledging factual inaccuracies, federal officials conceded that “a statement was incorrect” in one of its briefs concerning the percentage of FPS inspectors deployed.

Translated from government lawyer speak: "We lied." And worst yet - they did it on purpose!