Politico reports a federal appeals court appears likely to allow a contempt investigation to go forward, which could include criminal charges, to proceed against Trump administration officials.
“All but one of the 11 active judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals were on hand Tuesday for a nearly three-hour argument over the Justice Department’s bid to shut down contempt proceedings initiated last year by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg,” reports Politico’s Josh Gerstein, adding that Boasberg “launched the probe after the administration deported hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador despite an order from Boasberg that appeared to require that many of the men be kept in U.S. custody.”
Most of the judges on the appeals court appeared to favor giving Boasberg more leeway to continue his inquiry. On that court, Democrat appointees outnumber Republican ones 7-to-4.
“Last year, the Justice Department identified then Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as the official responsible for ordering that the deportations go forward despite Boasberg’s order. But several judges on the court announced Tuesday that they were concerned that the administration was making Noem a scapegoat while seeking to cut off inquiry into others who might have been equally or more responsible.
“Do we have to just accept what you say?” demanded Judge Michelle Childs of Justice Department attorney Brett Shumate. Noem, Childs suggested, “might be a sacrificial lamb.”
“The district court doesn’t have to accept that as the only relevant decisionmaker,” opined Obama appointee Judge Patricia Millett. And Judge Cornelia Pillard said the government’s approach, if pursued, could even lead to a criminal referral for someone “who was kept in the dark.”
“The judges’ questioning was often intense,” said Gerstein. “At least two judges paraphrased fired DOJ lawyer Erez Reuveni’s claim that then-Principal Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove told Reuveni and other government lawyers in advance of the showdown with Boasberg that they might need to say “(CENSORED) you” to any judge who moved to stop the deportations.
Gerstein said Bove, who is now a 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Judge, has denied the account. But a lawyer for the deported Venezuelans, Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union, told the judges that Boasberg’s order was not unclear. He added that the government’s conduct at the time belied any ambiguity.
“Any prior administration … or any DOJ, I think, prior to this one would have sought clarification,” Gelernt said, according to Gerstein.
Additionally, Gelernt also hinted that the Trump administration was angling to make Noem the fall guy, saying it was “highly unlikely that former Secretary Noem made all of the decisions here.”
The Justice Department is urging the appeals judges to shut down Boasberg’s inquiry and end the contempt proceedings.
