Reposted by @joro33.bsky.social
Extraordinary, powerful and heart-wrenching.
Active duty Marine Colonel Zach Schmidt, speaking in his personal capacity, about Khalil, an Afghan national whose family helped U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Khalil was deported by the U.S. on Friday to a conflict zone.
![The Defendants claim that the National Trust was “shown detailed plans and
specifications of this knitted, unified, and cohesive structure by Top Officers
and Leaders in both the Military and Secret Service.” Id. at 5. This statement is
false: The National Trust has never been shown non-public plans or
specifications of any sort. See ECF 13 at 2 (Defendants stating that ex parte
submission “cannot be . . . shared with opposing counsel without compromising
the interests of national security”).
The Defendants claim that the National Trust was “asked by the United States
Military not to bring this suit because of the Top Secret nature of the importan facility being built.” ECF 79 at 1. This statement is false: The military did not
request that the National Trust not file this suit.
The Defendants claim that “Congress has never dictated or tampered with the
zoning, permitting, or architectural aspects” of any White House project. Id. at
5. This statement is false. See, e.g., ECF 30 at 31 n.12 (acknowledging that
Congress “inject[ed] itself into White House architectural choices” during the
1949 renovation); see generally ECF 20-1.
The Defendants claim that standing is based on a woman “walking her dog in
the vicinity of the White House.” ECF 79 at 2; see id. at 6. This statement is
false. See ECF 2-3 (declaration of National Trust board member who is the
former senior historian at the Historic American Buildings Survey of the
National Park Service, the former Vice President of the D.C. Preservation
League, the author of six books on American vernacular architecture, and a
regular visitor to President’s Park).](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bbp2b224lro3bfnzcqwwnkfo/bafkreife3cn46kmdavdcnznboz264hk4za4jmkdddq6bfvcq5dslhwk2sq)
