Major step taken toward 'contempt prosecution' after DHS accused of ignoring court orders

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued an order on Friday demanding the Trump administration file affidavits from every official involved in the decision to carry out mass deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, despite Boasberg's standing order to turn the planes around.

The order, which gives the administration one week to comply, is a major step toward a potential criminal prosecution of Trump administration officials for contempt of court.

"Defendants ... maintain, relying heavily on Judge Katsas’s concurring opinion for the D.C. Circuit panel, that [Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's] decision was proper and not contumacious. As a result, the Government posits that 'no further steps are warranted' because 'Defendants did not violate this Court’s order,' wrote Boasberg. However, he continued, "Given that the other two panel members (plus the majority of the en banc court) did not agree with J. Katsas, the Court is not prepared at this juncture to terminate its inquiry."

"Instead, it must determine whether Secretary Noem or anyone else should be referred for potential contempt prosecution," Boasberg continued.

This comes as Republicans in Congress allied with Trump have launched a series of misconduct allegations against Boasberg, questioning his impartiality and even trying to get him removed from office.

Earlier this month, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) filed articles of impeachment against Boasberg for his role in authorizing nondisclosure orders for special counsel Jack Smith's criminal investigation, which involved seizing phone records from various GOP U.S. senators who were in contact with Trump over his coup plot in 2020. Republicans have attacked this as an abuse of power, even though such phone record reviews are commonplace in investigations of this scope.