Contempt Probe Into Trump Deportations in Limbo Amid Court Fight

A US appeals court declined to revive a judge’s finding of “probable cause” that the Trump administration was in contempt in a deportation fight, but left open the possibility that he could revisit the issue in the future.

The 8-3 ruling on Friday from the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit leaves in place an earlier decision that struck US District Judge James Boasberg’s blockbuster opinion finding officials acted in “willful disregard” of his orders to turn around planes carrying Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador.

But several members of DC Circuit wrote separately to explain that even though Boasbeg’s original ruling would no longer stand, he still had the option of resuming his probe into whether US officials complied with his orders and to identify those responsible.

“The district court’s order here was a measured and essential response to what it reasonably perceived as shocking executive branch conduct,” Judges Nina Pillard, Robert Wilkins and Bradley Garcia wrote in a joint opinion.

Read More: US Court Ends Contempt Proceeding in Trump Deportations Case

Boasberg is also poised to continue weighing the merits of the case, which involves a challenge to Trump’s use of a centuries-old wartime powers law to send Venezuelans suspected of being gang members to a Salvadoran prison. The men were eventually sent to Venezuela and released, but have continued to press claims that they should have had an opportunity to contest their deportations.

A three-judge appeals panel had voted 2-1 in August to toss out Boasberg’s opinion on the contempt issue. But the two judges in the majority didn’t agree on what they identified as the problems with his ruling.

Pillard, Wilkins and Garcia wrote on Friday that this meant Boasberg wasn’t blocked outright from continuing the contempt investigation if he believed it was appropriate.

Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union, lead attorney for the Venezuelans, said in a statement that the DC Circuit’s latest action would allow them to go back to Boasberg and present new evidence from a government whistleblower “that the government deliberately violated the court’s order not to hand the Venezuelan men to El Salvador.”

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Four of the DC Circuit’s Democratic appointees — including Pillard, Wilkins and Garcia — joined the four-person conservative bloc to vote against reversing the appellate panel’s August ruling. The three other Democrat-appointed judges dissented.

Judge Florence Pan, joined by Judge J. Michelle Childs — both appointed by former President Joe Biden — wrote that the Justice Department had pursued “an obviously meritless appeal.”

“The case before this court implicates those foundational principles of our democracy,” Pan wrote. “When the political branches cease to honor the judgments and decisions of the judiciary, the carefully calibrated structure of our government collapses, and we are no longer a society that is protected by the rule of law.”

A hearing is scheduled before Boasberg next week.

The cases are J.G.G. v. Trump, US Court of Appeals, DC Circuit, 25-5124 and 25-5217.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Zoe Tillman in Washington at ztillman2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Peter Blumberg, Derek Wallbank

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