Federal judge calls new DACA orders invalid

Chad Wolf was ‘not lawfully serving’ as acting Homeland Security Secretary when he approved limitations on DACA applications and renewals, meaning those orders are invalid. 

The ruling came from a federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis in the Eastern District of New York on Saturday – five months after Wolf signed a controversial memo in July. 

That month, Wolf released a memo saying new applications for DACA, a federal program that allowed some undocumented juveniles to avoid deportation, would not be accepted and renewals would be limited to one year pending a review.

The Supreme Court in June blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to outright end the program, and the July memo hoped to stall operations while the White House considered its next actions.

A federal judge in New York CIty ruled that Chad Wolf (pictured) was 'not lawfully serving' as acting Homeland Security Secretary when he issued the Wolf Memorandum

A federal judge in New York CIty ruled that Chad Wolf (pictured) was ‘not lawfully serving’ as acting Homeland Security Secretary when he issued the Wolf Memorandum

‘Wolf was not lawfully serving as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security under the HSA [Homeland Security Act] when he issued the Wolf Memorandum,’ wrote Judge Garaufis, per Law and Crime.

In August, the Government Accountability Office issued a legal opinion that determined Wolf was not the correct official to assume the position at DHS.

Plaintiffs in the initial DACA case accused Wolf of serving unlawfully in the position and, as a result, his orders were illegitimate.

‘The U.S. Supreme Court has already admonished the Trump Administration for failing to ‘turn square corners’ by violating fundamental tenets of federal administrative law, designed to ensure executive agency accountability, in its drive to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (‘DACA’) program.’ a August filing said.

 ‘Undeterred, the Administration continues to play catch-me-if-you-can with the law—and the lives of over a million young people—this time, in direct contravention of the requirements of federal appointment statutes and the Constitution. Those laws are basic to separation of powers principles and serve as an essential check on executive abuse of power.’

Judge Garaufis wrote that when former DHS Secretary Kristjen Nielsen resigned from the position in April 2019, her replacement, Kevin McAleenan, did not have proper authorization to take over the role.

Pictured: Former DHS Secretary Kristjen Nielsen

Pictured: Former acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan

The Government Accountability Office in August said the transition from former DHS Secretary Kristjen Nielsen (left) to former acting  DHS SecretaryKevin McAleenan was not authorized – a point the federal judge agreed with 

The ruling claimed that because McAleenan lacked that authorization, his eventually appointment of Wolf was void based on ‘invalid order of succession.’

‘Based on the plain text of the operative order of succession, neither Mr. McAleenan nor, in turn, Mr. Wolf, possessed authority to serve as Acting Secretary. Therefore, the Wolf Memorandum was not an exercise of legal authority,’ the report said, per Law and Crime. 

Judge Garaufis also ruled that based on the proceedings thus far, he granted the plaintiff’s motion for class certification.

Pictured: President Donald Trump

Pictured: acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf

President Trump has formally nominated Chad Wolf (right) for the DHS Secretary position, but he had yet to garner enough votes in Senate

People take part in a kick of rally of the "Home Is Here" March for DACA and TPS on October 26, 2019 in New York City

People take part in a kick of rally of the “Home Is Here” March for DACA and TPS on October 26, 2019 in New York City

‘By issuing the Wolf Memorandum, Defendants’ actions affected all members of the proposed Class, and declaratory or injunctive relief to vacate the Wolf Memorandum would be an appropriate remedy with respect to each Class member,’ it read.

‘Likewise, for the members of the proposed Subclass whose applications USCIS failed to review according to the Napolitano Memorandum, the same relief would be appropriate for all of its members.’

Trump this summer formally nominated Wolf for the Secretary of Homeland Security job, but he has not yet garnered enough votes in Senate – keeping his position as ‘acting.’

This latest ruling comes as part of ongoing legal proceedings with Martín Jonathan Batalla Vidal, a DACA recipient and lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against Wolf. 

 White House denies report Homeland Security boss Chad Wolf is refusing Trump’s order to fire cybersecurity chief Christopher Krebs over election fraud claims

 by Ariel Zilber for DailyMail.com and Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S Political Editor For DailyMail.com and Agencies 

The White House is denying a report that Donald Trump’s acting Homeland Security secretary is resisting his boss’s order to fire the agency’s head of cybersecurity who publicly broke with the president over his claims that the election was rife with fraud.

Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of DHS, reportedly told White House officials that he would not carry out the president’s wishes to terminate Christopher Krebs.

‘[Wolf] gave us a bunch of reasons why he didn’t want to do it and he said no,’ a senior White House official told the New York Post.

‘If anything, Chad is carrying Krebs’ water.’

Another administration official was quoted by the Post as saying ‘the president wants to fire him’ and ‘Chad Wolf is refusing.’

‘Honestly, it was the president saying, “What the heck is this guy doing? He’s giving me grief before the election and now he’s saying there’s nothing wrong in the world?”‘ a White House official told the Post. 

A White House spokesperson told DailyMail.com that the Post report is ‘not accurate.’ 

Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf

President Trump

Chad Wolf (left), the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, is reportedly defying President Trump’s (right) order to fire one of the agency’s top cybersecurity officials

The president is reported to have ordered the firing of Christopher Krebs (pictured), the head of DHS's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Krebs has publicly pushed back on claims that the November 3 election was tainted by fraud

The president is reported to have ordered the firing of Christopher Krebs (pictured), the head of DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Krebs has publicly pushed back on claims that the November 3 election was tainted by fraud

The president was reportedly angered by Krebs after his department posted an official government website called 'Rumor Control' whose aim is to debunk misinformation about election fraud. Trump has made several claims of voter fraud, though no evidence has surfaced to support the allegations

The president was reportedly angered by Krebs after his department posted an official government website called ‘Rumor Control’ whose aim is to debunk misinformation about election fraud. Trump has made several claims of voter fraud, though no evidence has surfaced to support the allegations

The spokesperson referred DailyMail.com to DHS, which has yet to comment on the Post report.

Krebs’ critics within the Trump administration said he is close to Miles Taylor, the former DHS chief of staff who recently revealed himself to be ‘Anonymous.’

Days before the election, Taylor said he was the then-senior official who wrote a 2018 New York Times op-ed in which he declared that administration insiders were working to thwart the president’s agenda because they knew he was unfit for office.

The identity of ‘Anonymous’ consumed the president and his aides for some time and became one of Washington’s favorite guessing games. 

Taylor revealed himself as the culprit on Twitter in late October, just before an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.

However, just weeks earlier in August, Taylor denied being the unnamed author when asked during an interview on the network with Anderson Cooper. 

‘Chad was asked by the president to fire Anonymous’ best friend and he’s refusing,’ an administration official told the Post.

‘He is not managing his agency, but that should not surprise anyone because he is a [former DHS Secretary Kirstjen] Nielsen lackey.’

In response, Taylor told DailyMail.com: ‘A big deal, if true. I didn’t think I had many friends left in the Administration.’ 

Trump administration officials said that Krebs is an ally of Miles Taylor, the former DHS chief of staff who revealed himself to be 'Anonymous'

Trump administration officials said that Krebs is an ally of Miles Taylor, the former DHS chief of staff who revealed himself to be ‘Anonymous’

Days before the election, Taylor said he was the then-senior official who wrote a 2018 New York Times op-ed in which he declared that administration insiders were working to thwart the president's agenda because they knew he was unfit for office

Days before the election, Taylor said he was the then-senior official who wrote a 2018 New York Times op-ed in which he declared that administration insiders were working to thwart the president’s agenda because they knew he was unfit for office 

Nielsen served as DHS secretary from December 2017 until her resignation in April 2019. 

A spokesperson for Wolf told the Post: ‘All political appointees serve at the pleasure of the president. 

‘The White House has unilateral authority in hiring and firing of presidential appointees.’ 

After his loss in the November 3 presidential election, Trump purged his administration of top officials in DHS and the Pentagon who were deemed insufficiently loyal.

Krebs, who heads the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), feared that he would be next in line to be fired.

CISA drew widespread attention when it declared earlier this week that the ‘November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.’ 

Several sources told Reuters earlier this week that Krebs expected to be fired by Trump, who was reportedly angered over a ‘rumor control’ website that the cybersecurity official posted in order to debunk false election claims. 

Krebs has been overseeing the 'rumor control' website, which has been debunking conspiracy theories

Krebs has been overseeing the ‘rumor control’ website, which has been debunking conspiracy theories

On Wednesday, he retweeted a post on technical exploitation of the vote

On Wednesday, he retweeted a post on technical exploitation of the vote

One post noted that 'undervotes' – like ballots with only a vote for president selected – are not uncommon

One post noted that ‘undervotes’ – like ballots with only a vote for president selected – are not uncommon

He also posted to collect 'misinformation' about Wisconsin, which has been called for Biden

He also posted to collect ‘misinformation’ about Wisconsin, which has been called for Biden

Separately, Bryan Ware, assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, confirmed to Reuters that he had handed in his resignation on Thursday.

Also going is Assistant Secretary for International Affairs Affairs Valerie Boyd, CNN reported. 

Ware told colleagues he is leaving ‘with much sadness…it’s too soon.’ 

Krebs has drawn widespread bipartisan praise for his handling of the election, which generally ran smoothly despite persistent fears that foreign hackers might try to undermine the vote.

But he drew the ire of the Trump White House over a website run by CISA dubbed ‘Rumor Control’ which debunks misinformation about the election, according to the three people familiar with the matter.

The Rumor Control site was designed to take on any foreign misinformation – but ended up contradicting unsubstantiated claims being put forward by the president as he seeks to wipe away Biden’s lead in battleground states. 

Some of Krebs’ tweets reveal why he may have been in hot water with the president’s team.

On Wednesday, he retweeted a writer and academic who wrote: ‘To my knowledge (and this is my field of expertise), no serious evidence has yet been found or presented that suggests that the 2020 election outcome in any state has been altered through technical exploitation. Period.’

President Trump made the claim of election fraud that Twitter called 'disputed,' after he said election software 'deleted' millions of Trump ballots and caused thousands to be 'switched' from Trump to President-elect Joe Biden

President Trump made the claim of election fraud that Twitter called ‘disputed,’ after he said election software ‘deleted’ millions of Trump ballots and caused thousands to be ‘switched’ from Trump to President-elect Joe Biden

President Trump forwarded a 'disputed' claim about election fraud by retweeting a conspiracy theory about voting machines deleting 2.7 million Trump votes

President Trump forwarded a ‘disputed’ claim about election fraud by retweeting a conspiracy theory about voting machines deleting 2.7 million Trump votes

He retweeted the Wisconsin Election Commission’s post ‘Correcting Misinformation about Wisconsin’s Election,’ as the president claims without evidence there has been fraud in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and other states he lost. Trump has also attacked the count in Georgia, where he is behind.

A ‘rumor control update,’ posted between blaring siren updates, talks about ‘robust safety’ that ensures the accuracy of results.

‘New content in our “results accuracy” entry that expands on the controls elex officials use before, during, and after an election to ensure election-related software/hardware aren’t single points of failure,’ Krebs wrote.

The cite has also noted that ‘election integrity measures protect’ against dead people voting – a claim repeatedly put forward by Trump and his supporters.

Amid swirling internet rumors about ballots containing only a vote for Biden, but nothing down the ticket, the site notes that these ‘do not by themselves indicate fraud,’ that that such voting happens every election. 

On Thursday, Trump blasted out unverified claims that 2.7 million votes for Trump were ‘deleted.’ He cited a report from conservative loyalist network OAN. It claimed 241,000 votes were ‘switched’ from Trump to Biden, and that 941,000 were deleted.

Officials work on ballots at the Gwinnett County Voter Registration and Elections Headquarters, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, in Lawrenceville, near Atlanta. Biden leads in Georgia by 14,000 votes

Officials work on ballots at the Gwinnett County Voter Registration and Elections Headquarters, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, in Lawrenceville, near Atlanta. Biden leads in Georgia by 14,000 votes

Fox News commentators talked about a conspiracy theory that a computer named ‘Hammer’ and software called ‘Scorecard’ were ripping votes away from Trump and giving them to Biden.

According to Politico, Krebs wrote in response: ‘This is not a real thing.’

The claim, however, has been widely debunked in the media and by state election officials who provided explanations of periodic errors in the massive counting process. 

”REPORT: DOMINION DELETED 2.7 MILLION TRUMP VOTES NATIONWIDE. DATA ANALYSIS FINDS 221,000 PENNSYLVANIA VOTES SWITCHED FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP TO BIDEN. 941,000 TRUMP VOTES DELETED. STATES USING DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS SWITCHED 435,000 VOTES FROM TRUMP TO BIDEN,’ read the all-caps missive,’ Trump wrote.

White House officials have asked for content to be edited or removed from the website, which has pushed back against false claims that Democrats are behind a mass election fraud operation. 

CISA officials have refused to delete accurate information.

Ware is one of several officials who have left national security-related posts since President Donald Trump lost the election to Joe Biden. Trump has yet to concede.

Ware did not provide details, but a U.S. official familiar with his matter said the White House asked for Ware’s resignation earlier this week.

The churn is being closely watched amid concern for the integrity of the transition from Trump to Biden.    

source: dailymail.co.uk