BREAKING: Declassified Memo Undermines Trump Immigration Claims About Venezuela & TDA - @RGoodLaw‬ - Andrew Weissmann

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Today, Ryan Goodman (‪@RGoodLaw‬ ) and I sat down to unpack a newly declassified intelligence document that directly undercuts the basis for the Trump administration’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. In this conversation, we walk through the memo in detail, examine its implications for current litigation, and consider how the courts—up to and including the Supreme Court—may respond to the disconnect between what the Department of Justice is claiming and what the Intelligence Community has actually assessed.

This is a conversation about facts, credibility, and the rule of law. When government lawyers appear before a court, they are bound by legal precedent and by an obligation to tell the truth. What happens when the government’s own intelligence discredits the very foundation of its legal argument?

That’s the import of our discussion. Stay engaged.

–Andrew


P.S. Big news—Ryan Goodman has recently launched his own YouTube. Be sure to subscribe to his channel for rigorous legal analysis, national security insight, and the kind of clear-eyed commentary we all need right now. I have, for all those reasons. ‪@RGoodLaw‬

00:00 – Intro & Ryan’s New Substack
01:30 – What Is the Declassified Memo?
03:15 – Who Wrote It and Why It Matters
05:45 – The Legal Importance of Government-TDA Link
07:30 – Key Line: “Not Directed by Maduro”
10:00 – FBI Dissent: What It Really Says
13:00 – How Courts Might Handle the Split Views
16:00 – Attribution Under International Law
18:40 – What the FBI Line Actually Means
21:00 – Will Courts Defer or Demand Evidence?
24:00 – Presumption of Regularity vs. Factual Gaps
27:00 – The Texas Ruling on the Alien Enemies Act
30:00 – Will the Supreme Court Blink at Reality Again?
32:45 – Due Process Failures in Specific Cases
36:50 – The Timeline: When DOJ Knew What
39:30 – DOJ Denials vs. The NYT’s Accuracy
41:00 – Closing Thoughts & What Happens Next