White House aide Stephen Miller played an unwitting role in a federal judge's decision Wednesday to put the brakes on President Donald Trump's new travel ban.
Miller, a senior policy adviser to the president, assured Fox News after the first travel ban was struck down that a new order would have"the same basic policy outcome."
According to The Huffington Post, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson In his ruling Wednesday quoted Miller directly, noting:
"On February 21, Senior Advisor to the President, Stephen Miller, told Fox News that the new travel ban would have the same effect as the old one. He said: 'Fundamentally, you’re still going to have the same basic policy outcome for the country, but you’re going to be responsive to a lot of very technical issues that were brought up by the court and those will be addressed. But in terms of protecting the country, those basic policies are still going to be in effect.'"
The judge also pointed to statements made by Rudy Giuliani in January about the first ban:
"Rudolph Giuliani explained on television how the Executive Order came to be. He said:
'When [Mr. Trump] first announced it, he said, "Muslim ban." He called me up. He said, "Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it legally."'"
"Any reasonable, objective observer would conclude ... that the stated secular purpose of the Executive Order is, at the very least, secondary to a religious objective of temporarily suspending the entry of Muslims," Watson wrote.
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