Trump's Counterterrorism Czar Wants to Prosecute Critics of Mass Deportation for 'Aiding and Abetting' Terrorists

Apr 16, 2025

If the Trump administration can declare someone a gang member or a terrorist without evidence, what can they do to anyone who speaks out for those victims? We got our answer when a top counterterrorism official suggested on a cable news show that they are violating the law.

Mediaite describes the clip:

White House Senior Director for Counterterrorism Seb Gorka accused critics of mass deportation of being “on the side of terrorists.” He even went so far as to suggest those critics are breaking the law by “aiding and abetting” terrorism.
Gorka appeared on Tuesday’s edition of Rob Schmitt Tonight on Newsmax, where he addressed the legal and political dustup centering on Kilmar Abrego Garcia. …
Gorka went on to say President Donald Trump loves America, unlike “the other side that is on the side of the cartel members, on the side of the illegal aliens on the side of the terrorists.” …
“And you have to ask yourself, are they technically aiding and abetting them?” Gorka asked. “Because aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists is a crime in federal statute.”

This is the kind of red meat Gorka used to dish out to his audience as a talking head. But these threats are more than just bluster when they come from the White House senior director for counterterrorism, implying that the targets of “counterterrorism” are his political opponents.

The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.

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