Ex-prosecutor warns Trump DOJ of 'serious consequences' for new courtroom mishap

Donald Trump's administration may be in trouble as a court decides if the DOJ intentionally misrepresented facts, a former prosecutor said Saturday.

The Ninth Circuit recently reinstated Federal District Judge Karin Immergut’s first temporary restraining order, which barred the Trump administration from sending the Oregon National Guard to Portland.

Ex-federal prosecutor Joyce Vance over the weekend noted that, on Thursday, "the state of Oregon filed a letter brief with the court, advising of what the state characterized as 'a material factual error by defendants on which the panel relied to grant a stay pending appeal.'"

She went on to explain the allegedly false claims made.

"The panel ruled in the administration’s favor because it had demonstrated 'a colorable inability to execute federal law'—one of the preconditions the president must find exists before he can federalize National Guard troops," Vance wrote. "The state says that DOJ’s argument was contradicted by material DOJ turned over to the state in discovery Wednesday evening, and that representations DOJ made in court previously were false."

Now, the administration has to explain itself, or face "consequences," according to Vance's analysis.

"Unless the government can explain the discrepancy satisfactorily, the court will likely want to inquire into the source of the misrepresentation," she wrote. "Deliberate false statements made to a court by a lawyer carry serious consequences."

She further added, "If it turns out that the government did, in fact, misrepresent the facts in court, that will not help the government’s position as the Ninth Circuit considers whether rehearing en banc is appropriate."

"The panel could withdraw its opinion if one of more of the judges in the original majority believes this new information changes the outcome of the appeal, or the en banc court consider the updated evidence if it proceeds," she further wrote.

Read the full Substack piece right here.