A Justice Department lawyer refused to answer any detailed questions about the deportation flights to El Salvador, arguing that President Trump had broad authority to remove immigrants from the United States with little to no due process under an obscure wartime law known as the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
The tense back-and-forth in court between the judge, James E. Boasberg, and the Justice Department lawyer, Abhishek Kambli, left open the possibility of further conflict down the road. Judge Boasberg directed Mr. Kambli to certify in writing by noon on Tuesday — under seal if needed — that no immigrants were removed after his written order went into effect, a piece of information that will be crucial as the judge seeks to determine whether the Trump administration flouted his authority.
…
As the hearing in Washington began, Judge Boasberg said he did not intend to rule on the merits on whether the Trump administration was correct in its decision to deport the immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act. Ultimately, the judge will have to decide whether the administration was right in removing people under the statute, which allows the government wide discretion to summarily deport noncitizens during wartime and if there is an invasion of U.S. territory.
For now, Judge Boasberg was concerned with a narrower issue: He wanted to figure out the timeline of the flights to El Salvador to determine whether they were in violation of his ruling.
But Mr. Kambli repeatedly refused to say anything about the flights, citing “national security.” He simply reiterated the government’s position that it had done nothing to violate Judge Boasberg’s order.
Even before the hearing began, Justice Department officials tried to have it canceled, writing to Judge Boasberg in the late afternoon to tell him there was no point in coming to court since they did not intend to provide him with any additional information about the deportation flights.
In an even more astonishing move, the department sent a letter to the federal appeals court sitting over Judge Boasberg, asking it to remove him from the proceedings entirely by citing what it described as his “highly unusual and improper procedures” in handling the case.
Archived at https://archive.is/1fq4M
Related BBC article with a helpful timeline
- 17:25 EDT: A first flight believed to be carrying deportees leaves Texas, according to data from tracking site Flightradar24. Take off happens while a hearing held by Judge Boasberg is paused. Earlier that afternoon, the White House said Trump was invoking the Alien Enemies Act
- 17:44 EDT: A second flight believed to be carrying deportees leaves Texas, according to Flightradar24
- 18:05 EDT: Boasberg’s hearing resumes
- 18:46 EDT: During the hearing, Boasberg verbally orders the government to turn around the two planes if they are carrying non-citizens, saying: “any plane containing these folks - because it’s going to take off or it’s in the air - needs to be returned to the United States… This is something that you need to make sure is complied with immediately.”
- 19:26 EDT: Boasberg issues his written ruling which includes a temporary restraining order on any further flights
- 19:36 EDT: A third flight believed to be carrying deportees leaves Texas, according to Flightradar24
Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20250318024104/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crrdp9jdpyko
They need to clear out some space to house
SO MANY DOJ LAWYERS ROTTING IN JAIL FOR CONTEMPT.
And then we talk disbarment.
when the executive branch ignores the judicial branch this is the inevitable outcome.
it no longer matters if the executive branch can just ignore the judiciary. the only question is what mechanism does the judiciary have to enforce it’s order since the federal marshals are all part of the executive branch?
Throw them in jail for contempt of the court. Why are we so spineless?
Start the process to have those attorneys disbarred. We The People want to see consequences for trying to bend and break the rule of law.
I saw the headline, my brain went “so he’s being held in contempt, as would any other person refusing to answer a question, right?”
Of course, I already knew the answer.
If you ever try this in your own trial you’ll be held in contempt of court and it’s gonna suck a lot for you.
When it’s fascists doing it, crickets.
Trump is enabled by all the other branches whenever they fold or use kid’s gloves.lock him up.
himthemYep then disbar him
Court issues lawful order. Participant defies order. Participant is thrown in lockup for contempt. Trump throws a fit claiming it’s unfair. Media and others debate if TrumpCo needs to follow court orders…
You know, at least Nixon had the good grace to resign rather than being cast out, but we’ve gotten to a point where there’s a major portion of the population who will actively defend blatantly wrong actions just because their camp is the one doing it.
Come on, Judge, you know what this is, it’s uh… Shmontempt of Schmourt? No, that’s not it
It’s the concept of a Constitution, not an actual one.
Yeah, the strategy of invoking the court’s authority to demand the administration submit a written statement formally declaring whether or not they have defied the court’s authority seems like it has a bit of a weak point in it
Yeah. All they’re doing is highlighting their lack of action at that point.
If you’re not going to do anything about it, say so. You could at least just end the trial and let someone else take over the mantle of action.
Eh, I wouldn’t go quite that far, the judge may still be working towards doing the right thing here, I just think he’s being more cautious and going slower than he needs to.
If he gets this statement and says “OK, good, now that you have committed to one particular story in writing, here’s how the facts and evidence show that story to be a lie and why I must find you in contempt of court and take appropriate actions” he’s doing his job (albeit I would say overly meticulously, it should be obvious from the already established record they’re acting with contempt of court).
On the other hand, if he gets this statement and says “Well, if you promise this is the truth then I guess it is” then, yeah, this is all pointless bullshit.
e; Well, we’ve got our statement
Why would they commit to a story in writing? He asked them for the story directly, and they told him to go fuck himself in open court. Why would responding to that by then asking them to write something down and giving them a later deadline get a different result?
Even before the hearing began, Justice Department officials tried to have it canceled, writing to Judge Boasberg in the late afternoon to tell him there was no point in coming to court since they did not intend to provide him with any additional information about the deportation flights.
It’s hard to come up with a clearer invitation to leave the courtroom in cuffs, if you’re not a special type of person who’s above the law. The judge’s job is to remind people that they’re not above the law, if they ever do this type of stuff, and at that he egregiously failed.
