It had been a long week for Sarah Fabian, a Justice Department lawyer many Americans now closely associate with the detention of child migrants, and at the end of it, she logged onto Facebook to compose a letter.
"To my friends," she began. "I am not permitted to make any statements in any official capacity, so this is just a message from me, your friend. It's not a press release. I'm just hoping to explain myself to a small corner of the universe if I can."
A bigger corner of the universe was demanding answers. Video footage of Fabian arguing in federal court last Tuesday that the federal government was not legally required to provide toothbrushes, soap or adequate sleep to detained migrant children went viral, eliciting outrage.