'Jumped out at me': CNN legal analyst flags 'big headline' in Trump DOJ's clash with judge

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg laid down the law in his warning that he was on the brink of holding Trump administration officials in criminal contempt of court, former federal prosecutor Elie Honig told CNN's John Berman on Wednesday evening.

The move, which could lead to the jailing of Trump administration figures, stems from the ongoing defiance of federal rulings about the mass deportation of migrants to El Salvador's infamous CECOT megaprison, which is being done without any due process.

"This was the sort of this meticulous timeline that Judge Boasberg laid out of government actions," said Berman. "What did you find so important about this?"

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"So the timeline, John, tells us the — really, the answer to the key question: was the defiance willful or intentional on the one hand, or was it just accidental on the other?" said Honig. "And if you read this brief, it makes an overwhelmingly strong case that it was intentional. That's the big headline here. Federal judge finds that DOJ willfully defied his order."

"Let me give you two examples that jumped out at me," said Honig. "First of all, there is a moment on that Saturday morning, March 15th, when this all went down, when the judge contacts both parties, DOJ and the lawyers for the deportees, and says, we need to have a conference today. DOJ response is, no, judge, a conference today would be, quote, 'premature.' Premature. And DOJ says let's do it Monday. At that very moment, DOJ is rounding up these deportees, loading up the plane, getting ready to send them out. That is underhanded. That is subterfuge right there."

"Second of all, the other thing that jumped out at me is, while the hearing was happening again that same Saturday evening, the planes took off during the hearing," said Honig. "The hearing then ends. The judge says, my order is none of those people are to be deported. And after that, the plane is unloaded, and those people are handed over to El Salvador. So that's why the judge drew the dramatic, but I think, well-warranted conclusion that he did."

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