Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was called out by name after the Justice Department violated a federal judge's sealing order by discussing a sealed case at a press conference, a magistrate judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura McNally had ordered U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, of the Northern District of Illinois, into court after the Justice Department publicly discussed the case at the July 1 event — while her order sealing it was still in effect.
Blanche led the press conference alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, according to the Justice Department. It was a showcase for Trump's crackdown on Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang the administration designated a foreign terrorist organization.
"There was a clear violation of the sealing order," McNally said in court, according to Sun-Times reporter Jon Seidel. "The order was unambiguous."
"You identified there was a complaint, you named two of the individuals, and then you gave details and asserted to the public these details form the basis for the complaint," McNally told Boutros, according to Tribune reporter Jason Meisner.
The judge then scolded Blanche, who was not in the courtroom, for making statements about the sealed documents during the press conference.
"That's more than we allow on our docket here," McNally said of Blanche's comments, Seidel reported.
Boutros had argued in a court filing that the press conference counted as a law enforcement action — meaning it fell under the sealing order's exception for disclosures "necessary to facilitate the enforcement of criminal law." McNally disagreed.
Boutros also invoked separation of powers — arguing that courts have limited authority to question executive-branch disclosure decisions. McNally turned that argument back on him.
"That's a separation of powers that I'm focused on today," she said, Seidel reported. An order from an "independent judiciary … has effect on all litigants, including the executive branch when it's a litigant."
"I took the department at its word," McNally lamented, adding she had trusted Boutros's office to honor its own request to seal the case.
McNally imposed no sanction. Boutros insisted that he took her remarks "very seriously."
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, three other federal judges have separately raised concerns about his office's conduct in recent months.
