'In new territory': Experts staggered by new revelations about Trump's court contempt

A new analysis has found that President Donald Trump and his appointees have flouted a third of the court rulings against them

The Washington Post determined that Trump and his appointees have not complied with about one in three of the 160 legal challenges against the administration in which a judge has issued a substantive ruling, and plaintiffs have complained that Department of Justice lawyers have provided false information, failed to turn over evidence, worked around court orders and cooked up excuses to carry out actions that have been blocked.

“The pattern of stuff we have … I haven’t seen before,” said Andrew McCarthy, a columnist for the conservative National Review and a former federal prosecutor. “The rules of the road are supposed to be you can tell a judge, ‘I can’t answer that for constitutional reasons,’ or you can tell the judge the truth.”

Courts are hesitant to begin contempt proceedings, especially when their rulings are under appeal, and analysts say judges might be reluctant to call on the U.S. Marshals, whose director is appointed by the president, to enforce their orders and risk a standoff that could ultimately undermine their own authority.

“The courts can’t enforce their own rulings — that has to be done by the executive branch,” said Paul Michel, a retired federal judge and former Watergate special prosecutor.

A whistleblower filed a complaint last month accusing DOJ officials of ignoring court orders in immigration cases and presenting legal arguments with no basis in the law, and Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor has blasted the administration, saying Trump officials have “openly flouted” court orders against deporting migrants to a country where they did not hold citizenship.

"The Post examined 337 lawsuits filed against the administration since Trump returned to the White House and began a rapid-fire effort to reshape government programs and policy," the newspaper reported. "As of mid-July, courts had ruled against the administration in 165 of the lawsuits. The Post found that the administration is accused of defying or frustrating court oversight in 57 of those cases — almost 35 percent."

That pattern is unprecedented and threatens the judiciary's constitutional authority, legal experts say, and while most of those cases have involved immigration, the administration has also flouted rulings on cuts to federal funding and the workforce.

“The current challenge is even bigger and more complicated because it involves hundreds of actions, not one subpoena for a set of tapes,” Michel said. “We’re in new territory.”