Reposted by @pravetz.bsky.social
Jack Smith: "History teaches that the rule of law is rarely destroyed all at once. It's often weakened by attacks on the institutions and the public servants sworn to uphold it. Since January 2025, we have witnessed precisely such an effort."
![Despite these facts, ICE officials – particularly Zanello – at other points in this case have attempted to downplay the level of overcrowding that existed during the summer of 2025. As the day-to-day supervisor of the tenth-floor hold rooms who was present on the tenth floor on at least most days from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., she was quite evasive about how many people generally were held there at a time. [see Footnote 114 in next image]
She would not provide even an estimate. In addition to her unbelievable claims that she could not recall approximately how many people were being held at any given time and that there is no such thing as an average number of people who were being held](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2vtbmhmrwzbqcfv4we4uxzzt/bafkreic3lmuyo6ja75lo2aoxigp4hl5rp2pca7pwvsyuefofolrli2l6du)
![Footnote 114: (“Q. Over the summer of 2025 while you were there . . . there were often 100 people held on the [tenth-]floor hold rooms at a time. Right? A. I would have to look at the day. Q. What is your best recollection as you sit here of the average number of people who [were] being held in the [tenth-]floor hold rooms in July 2025? A. There is no average that you can provide . . . . [T]he best I could do was a high and a low. Q. Okay. What’s the high and the low? A. I don’t know. Q. . . . [L]et’s take one time period each day. Let’s take noon . . . . What is your best recollection of how many people were being held there at noon in July? A. . . . . I would have to look at a specific date and time to give you that number . . . . Q. Okay. I’m asking you how many people do you recollect being held? A. It depends on the day. I would have to look at the day. Q. But you have no recollection of what the numbers were like as you sit here today under oath? A. It could have been zero. It could have been max. I don’t know. I would have to look at the day. Q. Okay. Give me a rough estimate of one of the most crowded days you can remember? A. I would have to look at the day. I’m not going to guess on a number. Q. Fair to say that at times there were more than a hundred people at a time? A. I would have to look at the day . . . . Q. But sitting here today you cannot even give a rough estimate of how many people were there? . . . . [A.]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2vtbmhmrwzbqcfv4we4uxzzt/bafkreidqhnwogcdwnwl7l6ykytc6vvtb35oan3zl4t5l3eogtfwwyzpzee)
