Sen. Chris Van Hollen (R-Md.) on Friday tried to debunk conspiracy theories that he was having a margarita with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, saying government officials there placed glasses down on their table to make it look like they had been drinking.
Van Hollen also criticized the Salvadoran government for trying to glorify the treatment given to Abrego Garcia, pointing to the margarita-like drinks placed in front of them and the initial plan to hold the meeting poolside during their Thursday face-to-face.
The Maryland Democrat, shortly after he landed from El Salvador, detailed his discussion with Abrego Garcia, who was being held at the notorious CECOT prison before recently being moved.
According to the Maryland senator, the two had only water in front of them at the meeting in a hotel before, as documented in the photo Van Hollen shared on his social media accounts. Shortly after, a Salvadoran government official “deposited two other glasses on the table.”
Van Hollen noted Abrego Garcia’s glass appeared to have less in it to give the impression that he’d been drinking out of it.
“Let me just be very clear: Neither of us touched the drinks that were in front of us,” he said. “Nobody drank any margaritas or sugar water or whatever it is. But this is the lesson in the lengths that President [Nayib] Bukele will do to deceive people about what’s going on.”
Van Hollen said it’s clear the drinks went untouched, as none of the salted rims indicated either man drank out of the glasses.
“And if you want to play a little Sherlock Holmes, I’ll tell you how you can,” he said.
“If you sip out of one of those glasses, some of whatever it was, salt or sugar would disappear. You would see a gap. There’s no gap.”
He also pointed to the initial plan to hold the meeting by the hotel pool.
“They actually wanted to have the meeting by the side of the pool in this hotel,” Van Hollen continued. “This is a guy who’s been in CECOT, this is a guy who’s been detained. They wanted to create this appearance that life was just lovely for Kilmar, which of course is a big, fat lie.”
Van Hollen’s remarks came to reporters at Dulles International Airport, where he landed after his multiday trip to the Central American nation, which he documented throughout.
He said the two met Thursday night, with Abrego Garcia saying he since has been transferred out of CECOT.
The meeting also marked Abrego Garcia’s first interaction with anyone outside the prison since he was taken and deported by Trump officials, which administration lawyers have since admitted was done in error.
Van Hollen said the main point of the meeting was to determine whether he was healthy. Abrego Garcia said he is.
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