Smith: “So the Democrats, they are calling for a legal case against DeSantis, saying that what he is doing is unlawful. Do they have a case?”
TURLEY: “I don’t see a case unless they can establish some systemic coercion or fraud. There’s really not a federal crime here. They can find individual cases that might be somehow actionable, but what the state has said is that they have expressed consent for these flights. There are rational reasons why someone would want to leave the border area, which has been — just has this influx of undocumented migrants, and go to areas that might have better employment possibilities or better levels of support. And they — what they’re arguing here is that this is an illegal transport of migrants. If that was the case, then Joe Biden would be the biggest coyote ever, right? I mean, he’s transferring thousands of people across the country. Also, public interest organizations transfer migrants. All of them are saying, is they need to, and need to establish that this is done with their consent, but there are rational reasons why migrants would want to go to New York or Chicago and away from these border areas.”
Smith: “Not to mention, in the case of the President, these flights are happening in the dark of night in some cases, as we saw right here, north of New York City in Westchester County. The case in Martha’s Vineyard, that was in broad daylight. Jonathan, I also want to put these headlines up on the screen and ask you about this. ‘Gavin Newsom is asking the DoJ to consider kidnapping charges after these GOP governors shipped migrants out of state.’ Business Insider reports: ‘Florida’s Charlie Crist says DoJ should intervene after DeSantis’ disgusting and vile move sending migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.’ And lastly, USA Today writes about Massachusetts seeking human trafficking probe targeting DeSantis over these migrants. So, what about a case to be made there, do you see one?”
TURLEY: “No. Human trafficking is usually transferring or transporting someone for the purposes of exploiting them for sex or labor. That’s not thankfully being alleged here with Governor DeSantis. Transportation of individuals occur all the time in the federal government. Governor Newsom himself, when he was mayor, I believe, transferred homeless people to other states. Was he kidnapping them, was that human trafficking? The answer is no. They were vulnerable, but they’re allowed to make that consensual choice. Once these migrants are released by the federal government into the country, they have the right to go anywhere they want, and therefore, groups like public interest groups or states can assist them with their consent.”
Smith: “Really interesting. And now Hillary Clinton weighing in. Listen.”
[Clip starts]
CLINTON: “Some politicians would rather not only have an issue but exacerbate it to the extent of literally human trafficking. Some people, like the governor of Texas, would rather have an issue than be part of a solution.”
[Clip ends]
Smith: “I think you can make the case the Republicans solidly want a solution, they have been pushing for one for quite some time. They’ve been put in a position, you can make the case, where they have to do something. Final thought.”
TURLEY: “Well, you know, what’s really concerning for me is that this is not literally human trafficking. That is literally nonsense. And we do have some obligation to tell the public what the law is. This was a political — some people can call this political stunt, but the federal code doesn’t make political irony a crime. You’re going to have to deal with it as a political matter, not as a criminal matter.”
Smith: “Jonathan Turley, appreciate you joining us. Thank you. We got to a lot there. Thank you.”
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