Internet critics are not accepting the U.S. government’s reason for removing Section 9 and Section 10 from the Constitution Annotated website.
Archive searches earlier on Wednesday suggested the White House had scrubbed Sections 9 and 10 (pertaining to Habeas Corpus and judicial review of unlawful detention) from the official congressional website on the Constitution. The page for Section 10, on July 15 contained individual notes and entries on that section, including clauses. But on Aug. 6, a user visiting that same address could get only a portrait of George Washington and a: “Page Not Found” message, along with a link back to the homepage. The same went for the dedicated page for Section 9. Searches indicate the government site was modified July 17.
Missing text pertained to Habeas Corpus, including: “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it,” and other information.
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The site’s constitutional summaries of Section 9 and Section 10 on Aug. 6 were also missing and did not match the more thorough archived shots of the same page from May.
The Library of Congress responded on X later on Wednesday, blaming the deleted files on a software issue.
“It has been brought to our attention that some sections of Article 1 are missing from the Constitution Annotated … website. We’ve learned that this is due to a coding error. We have been working to correct this and expect it to be resolved soon,” the account posted.
But critics did not easily accept the answer.
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“What code could have been changed to remove this specific section only of your website?” demanded one commenter responding to the post.
“Nobody believes you. Show the update history,” posted another.
White House officials have sparred with legislators over the question of Habeus corpus as embodied in the missing text. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed during a committee hearing that Habeas corpus is “a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their rights.”
“That’s incorrect,” corrected Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H), an attorney, who then explained to Noem that it is actually a “legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people.”
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Hassan further informed Noem that the constitutional provision is “the foundational right that separates free societies like America from police states like North Korea.”
The White House responded to AlterNet emails later Wednesday, calling inquiries “a question for Congress given it is a Congressional website,” but critics appear certain the White House had a role to play.
“We know it wasn't a coding error,” argued one commentator on X. “Someone probably did this in front of Trump to make him feel like he can change the Constitution.”