In brief
On Friday, the Justice Department requested that an appeals court block a contempt investigation of the Trump administration for neglecting to return planes transporting Venezuelan migrants for deportation to El Salvador. The department also seeks the removal of Chief Judge James Boasberg, asserting bias and calling the inquiry a spectacle undermining the separation of powers. The judge stated he has the authority to proceed with hearings as the investigation aims to uncover whether federal officials acted in bad faith regarding court orders against deportations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Friday asked an appeals court to block a contempt investigation of the Trump administration for failing to turn around planes carrying Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador in March.
The department also is seeking Chief Judge James Boasberg’s removal from the case, which has become a flashpoint in an escalating fight between the judiciary and the White House over court orders blocking parts of President Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda.
The department wants the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to rule on its requests before Monday, when Boasberg is scheduled to hear testimony from a former government attorney who filed a whistleblower complaint.
Department officials claim Boasberg is biased and creating a circus that threatens the separation of powers and the attorney-client privilege alike.
“The forthcoming hearing has every appearance of an endless fishing expedition aimed at an ever-widening list of witnesses and prolonged testimony. That spectacle is not a genuine effort to uncover any relevant facts,” they wrote.
Boasberg, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, has said that a recent ruling by the appeals court gave him the authority to proceed with the contempt inquiry. The judge is trying to determine if there is sufficient evidence to refer the matter for prosecution.
Boasberg, who has been chief judge of the district court in Washington, D.C., since March 2023, has suggested that the Trump administration may have acted in bad faith by attempting to expedite the deportation of Venezuelan migrants contrary to his order blocking such actions.
The Trump administration has denied any violations, asserting that the judge’s March 15 directive to return the planes was verbally presented in court but not documented in his written order.
As part of the ongoing proceedings, Boasberg has scheduled hearings for testimony from former Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign, who is said to have communicated Boasberg’s orders to the Department of Homeland Security.
“This long-running saga never should have begun; should not have continued at all after this Court’s last intervention; and certainly should not be allowed to escalate into the unseemly and unnecessary interbranch conflict that it now imminently portends,” department officials said in Friday’s court filing.
