A former top Justice Department official is tearing into Donald Trump over what he calls a “monstrous” and “abominable” idea: sending American prisoners to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison.
Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general, didn’t hold back during an interview Monday on CNN News Central, after Trump met with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele at the White House. The two discussed deportations—and Trump floated a shocking plan: exporting violent U.S. inmates to one of the harshest prisons in the world.
“This is really… even in this case, an abomination of a day with both those suggestions,” Litman said. “I know you can hear it from my tone, but it is way, way beyond the pale, and just contempt for the Constitution and rule of law.”
Trump told reporters he would “love” to send violent American prisoners to El Salvador but admitted he’d need to “check if it’s legal.” That wasn’t good enough for Litman, who slammed the idea as cruel and unconstitutional.
“Yes, there are terrible criminals here, but that doesn’t mean you can torture them,” Litman said, pointing directly to the Eighth Amendment, which bans cruel and unusual punishment.
He also ripped into both Trump and Bukele for refusing to take responsibility for Kilmar Abrego Garcia—a Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador and thrown into the same brutal prison Trump now wants to send others to.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return. But according to Litman, officials in both countries are dragging their feet and misrepresenting what the court actually said.
Litman called their response “monstrous.”
“The attempt by the President to just say, ‘Well, I say otherwise,’ you can’t say otherwise,” he said. “That’s the whole point.”
Abrego Garcia’s life could be at risk, Litman warned. The prison is overrun with gang violence and brutality—conditions that could amount to a death sentence for someone never meant to be there in the first place.
“This is a violation of due process,” Litman said. “It could cost him his life.”
Trump’s prison plot and the handling of Abrego Garcia’s case have sparked outrage from legal experts and human rights advocates alike. But Litman made it crystal clear: This isn’t just bad policy—it’s a moral and legal disgrace.
Watch the full CNN interview below from CNN (jump to 4:15 for the part about Americans being sent to El Salvador’s prison):
