A federal court in Seattle has ordered the Trump administration to turn over log information that could show with whom President Trump was consulting with before announcing a transgender military ban via Twitter last year.
It is the latest court setback for the president and comes just before his ordered Friday deadline for the Pentagon to instate the ban and stop funding sex reassignment surgeries, two changes that are unlikely due to court-ordered injunctions.
Opponents of the ban, who have filed four federal lawsuits against Trump, are now focusing in court on the names and dates of people who met with the president about the military’s transgender personnel policy before the July 26 tweet.
The Justice Department opposed the court order issued Tuesday, arguing the information is privileged. Plaintiffs believe the logs will disprove Trump’s tweeted claim that he consulted with military officials before announcing his decision to ban transgender people from service.
“If they comply, that will make apparent whether he was consulting generals and military experts or whether as the evidence so far suggests he was actually consulting people from right-wing, anti-LGBT groups,” said Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights and counsel in federal lawsuits filed against Trump’s ban in Washington, D.C., and California.
The active-duty troops and potential recruits who are plaintiffs in the four lawsuits are seeking the same log information as the cases move into the discovery phase and are sharing what the government turns over.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the Tuesday court order in the Karnoski v. Trump case in Washington state.
Plaintiffs have also filed a motion for summary judgment in hopes of a quick ruling that will knock down the president’s ban, according to Tara Borelli, the legal counsel for the Lambda Legal rights group who represents the plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs in the case have also filed a motion for summary judgment in hopes of a quick ruling that will knock down the president’s ban. The DOJ has failed to show why the case should continue to a trial.
Last month, the federal cases exposed email correspondence by Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that calls into question Trump’s claim that he consulted military brass before announcing his decision.
Dunford sent the email July 27, a day after Trump’s tweet, to the service chiefs of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and National Guard in the wake of the president’s tweet.
“I know yesterday’s announcement was unexpected,” Dunford wrote to the chiefs, and included an official statement that was released to the public.
The statement acknowledged there were widespread questions about the president’s transgender announcement, but there would be no changes until Trump issued further guidance, and the services would continue to “treat all of our personnel with respect.”
Dunford sent a follow-up email to the service chiefs a few hours later saying, “P.S. When asked, I will state that I was not consulted.”
The Obama administration lifted the ban on transgender troops, riling conservatives who argue it will distract and burden the military. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was in the process of reviewing and finalizing recruitment procedures when Trump sent his July tweet, catching many at the Pentagon and Capitol Hill off guard.
“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,” Trump tweeted in July. “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.”
Trump gave the Pentagon a Friday deadline to reinstate the ban on transgender troops that existed before July 2016 and cut all funding for sex reassignment surgeries. The order was part of his guidance sent to Mattis on Aug. 25 as a follow-up to the tweet.
The surgeries have continued as the court cases have played out, and at least two transgender people have enlisted in the military this year.
Trump’s ordered transgender policy changes are unlikely to take effect on Friday.
All four courts now hearing lawsuits against the ban have issued injunctions that bar any new transgender personnel policies while the cases are being heard.
Mattis delivered recommendations on a new transgender personnel policy to the White House on Feb. 23, though they have not been made public, according to Maj. Dave Eastburn, a Pentagon spokesman.
“Conversations and recommendations between the secretary and the president are confidential and private,” Eastburn wrote in an email. “The president will implement the new policy once he makes that decision.”
The Pentagon will continue to comply with the court injunctions and consider transgender applicants, he said.
Trump may be hemmed in and have few options as he faces the Friday deadline for reinstating the transgender ban, said Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, an advocacy group that supports transgender service.
“He is locked in by the courts, and if he tries to pretend that some modified version of his original ban is a new policy, then he will have to go back to court and prove that, and it’s going to be pretty hard to pass that test because a ban is a ban,” Belkin said.
