Recently declassified intelligence contradicts Trump administration claims that the Tren de Aragua gang is coordinating with the Venezuelan government – undercutting a key basis for President Trump’s ignition of wartime powers to remove its citizens to a Salvadoran prison.

In justifying his use of the 1789 Alien Enemies Act, Trump accused Tren de Aragua (TDA) of coordinating with President Nicolas Maduro – a basis for using powers to go after citizens of an “enemy nation.”

But a document from the National Intelligence Council, first obtained by the Freedom of the Press Foundation and reviewed by The Hill, shows the U.S. intelligence community has not found any coordination between the Maduro regime and the gang.

“While Venezuela’s permissive environment enables TDA to operate, the Maduro regime probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States,” the document states, referring to the gang by an acronym.

The Alien Enemies Act has been used just three times in U.S. history, all during times of war. Trump is the first to try and use the law to address gang activity – and has thus far met resistance by the courts.

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) – who pressed intelligence leaders on the claim earlier this year – said the document unwinds the Trump administration’s justification for using the Alien Enemies Act to deport people to a Salvador prison.

“The evidence is clear that the intelligence community hasn't found that the Venezuelan Government is directing Tren de Aragua to invade the United States and to attack the United States, and so the basis for President Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act is completely undermined,” Castro told The Hill. 

“He's not even allowing them due process at all,” Catro said of the Venezuelan men not being given a chance to contest their alleged gang ties.

“So it's clear he should not be sending these folks to a gulag in El Salvador…there's simply no basis for it.”

The document at various turns casts doubt on any coordination between the Venezuelan government and the gang, which now operates in multiple countries.

“Venezuelan intelligence, military, and police services view TDA as a security threat and operate it in ways that make it highly unlikely the two sides would cooperate or coordinate in a strategic or consistent way,” it states. 

“The IC has not observed the regime directing TDA, including to push migrants to the United States,” it says, using an abbreviation for intelligence community.

At another point the document casts doubt on claims that Tren de Aragua members are engaged in human smuggling.

“The small size of TDA’s cells, its focus on low-skill criminal activities, and its decentralized structure make it highly unlikely that TDA coordinates large volumes of human trafficking or migrant smuggling,” it states.  

A Trump-appointed federal judge last week found the president did not have the power to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members. 

“The Proclamation makes no reference to and in no manner suggests that a threat exists of an organized, armed group of individuals entering the United States at the direction of Venezuela to conquer the country or assume control over a portion of the nation. Thus, the Proclamation’s language cannot be read as describing conduct that falls within the meaning of ‘invasion’ for purposes of the AEA,” Texas-based U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr wrote. 

On Tuesday, a New York-based judge also found it was wrong of the Trump administration to remove then men “with faint hope of process or return.”

“I hold that the predicates for the Presidential Proclamation, that TdA has engaged in either a ‘war,’ ‘invasion’ or a ‘predatory incursion’ of the United States, do not exist," the judge wrote.

Castro, alongside Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), asked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to declassify the April 7 memo on the gang.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe, under questioning from Castro, had previously said the U.S. was not at war with Venezuela.

The disclosure came shortly after The New York Times published an article saying U.S. intelligence assessments contradicted Trump’s claims that Tren de Aragua was acting at the behest of the Venezuelan government.

The Trump administration has argued the article was incorrect and threatened to prosecute whoever leaked the intelligence to The Times.

“The Justice Department is opening a criminal investigation relating to the selective leak of inaccurate, but nevertheless classified, information from the Intelligence Community relating to Tren de Aragua (TDA),” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said at the time.

“We will not tolerate politically motivated efforts by the Deep State to undercut President Trump’s agenda by leaking false information onto the pages of their allies at the New York Times,” he continued. “The Alien Enemies Proclamation is supported by fact, law, and common sense, which we will establish in court and then expel the TDA terrorists from this country.”