The "smearing" of slain ICU nurse Alex Pretti by President Donald Trump's administration is "not simply a rhetorical tactic," but is instead part of a larger scheme, according to two legal experts.
Ryan Goodman, a law professor at NYU and editor-in-chief of Just Security, and Tom Joscelyn, a senior fellow at Just Security, argued in a new article on Monday that the administration's efforts to smear Pretti as a "domestic terrorist" were foretold in a national security document quietly released last year. The document seemed to suggest the administration would try to quell dissent by labeling oppositional voices as "domestic terrorists," a strategy they seem to be testing in Minneapolis, according to the article.
Following Pretti's death, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Customs and Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino described him as a "domestic terrorist."
"Senior officials’ dishonest portrayal of Pretti as a domestic terrorist is not a slip of the tongue or impulsive idea," Goodman and Joscelyn wrote. "Instead, it appears to be part of the administration’s campaign to demonize opposition to its anti-immigrant policies as 'domestic terrorism,' and to weaponize powers of the federal government against such perceived political opponents. That plan is set forth in a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM-7) and other official memoranda."
"NSPM-7’s authors claim that the ideas they are targeting threaten 'constitutional rights' and 'fundamental American liberties,'" they added. "That is an upside-down reality. The truth is NSPM-7 threatens core constitutional rights. The smearing of Alex Pretti and Renee Good is not simply a rhetorical tactic. It is part of a larger operation."