Michael Barbaro

What happened after the shooting?

Did these men get any kind of medical treatment?

Julie, throughout this period, as all these horrific actions are allegedly occurring,

Are these men able to speak to anyone in the outside world through phone calls, emails, anything?

And as we know, Secretary Noem praises this operation.

So it would seem she did not hear these kinds of accounts from these men.

I want to ask you what might seem like a somewhat insensitive question given the really shocking descriptions from these men.

But I think as journalists we have to ask it.

How do you and our colleagues go about making sure that this harrowing testimony is true?

You basically asked them to audit your reporting.

And I think it bears repeating that

This is torture inflicted on men whose deportation to this prison was not based on any normal legal process.

They were never tried on allegations of being terrorists.

In fact, the only judge who ever touched their case was a federal judge in the U.S.

who tried to stop the flights carrying many of them from ever landing in El Salvador, an order that the Trump administration pretty much ignored.

And in the case of Luis, yes, there are charges of theft in the U.S.

that in theory might merit a regular old deportation.

But in no world would the allegations against someone like him ever seem to justify beatings and torture in a prison in El Salvador.

Correct.

I'm curious what motivated the release of these men, if inevitably releasing them would mean that they could tell these stories to the world, stories of essentially torture.