'Boggles my mind': Judge delivers scathing smackdown of Trump executive order

A federal judge in Seattle gave a scathing rebuke of President Donald Trump's attempt to reinterpret the 14th Amendment and cancel birthright citizenship.

Senior U.S. District Judge John Coughenour granted a temporary restraining order Thursday that blocks Trump’s executive order from taking effect nationwide. The judge also took the time to eviscerate Justice Department attorney Brett Shumate.

Before a standing-room-only court, Coughenour declared, “I’ve been on the bench for over four decades, I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order. There are other times in world history where we look back and people of goodwill can say where were the judges, where were the lawyers?”

Coughenour, a Reagan-appointee, asked Shumate directly, “In your opinion is this executive order constitutional?”

“It absolutely is," Shumate answered.

“Frankly, I have difficulty understanding how a member of the Bar could state unequivocally that this is a constitutional order,” Coughenour shot back. “It just boggles my mind.”

The Seattle Times reported that the executive order "will remain blocked for at least 14 days while lawsuits in Washington and elsewhere proceed."

"Washington was joined in its lawsuit by Oregon, Illinois and Arizona. Eighteen other states filed a similar lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts, and several immigrant rights groups have sued the administration in federal court in New Hampshire," according to The Times.

After the hearing, Washington Attorney general Nick Brown said Coughenour’s comments reinforced “that no one individual, not even the president of the United States can simply erase what it means to amend the Constitution.”

The Fourtheenth Amendment, ratified in 1898, states that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

In Trump's order, the President wrote that "the Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States." Trump said the Amendment always intended to exclude people who were born to parents in the United States illegally.

Read The Seattle Times article here.