Chris Van Hollen Accuses The Trump Admin Of Lying About What The Kilmar Abrego Garcia Case Is About

At a press briefing on Friday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) spoke about the Trump administration's response to the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case.

Transcript

00:00Now, the Trump administration wants to flat out lie about what this case is about.

00:07They want to change the subject.

00:09They want to make it about something else.

00:13And they are flouting the orders from the Federal District Court, the Fourth Circuit

00:19Court, and the Supreme Court to facilitate his return.

00:26That's why I traveled to El Salvador, leaving here on Wednesday.

00:32And I want to express my gratitude to members of my family and members of my staff who agree

00:38that we all must be prepared to take risks because of the current risk to our Constitution

00:46itself.

00:48In addition to having a variety of discussions on bilateral issues between the United States

00:55and El Salvador, I had two main goals.

00:59One was to urge the government of El Salvador not to be complicit in the illegal abduction

01:08and detention of Mr. Abrego Garcia, and to release him.

01:14I made that request directly to the Vice President of El Salvador.

01:18The President was out of country at the time, and I had previously reported on that conversation.

01:25My principal mission was to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

01:31I told his wife, Jennifer, and his family that I would do everything in my power to make that happen.

01:40And last night, at about 6.40 p.m. El Salvador time, 8.45 p.m. here on the East Coast, I called Jennifer to tell her that I had met with Kilmar.

01:53And I told her what he said to me, which was first and foremost, that he missed her and his family.

02:02And as he said that, you could see a tear down his cheek.