Appeals Court Blocks Contempt Case Over Deportation Flights
The Spin
Pro-Trump narrative
The D.C. Circuit was right to shut down Boasberg's contempt probe. His order never clearly barred transferring migrants to Salvadoran custody, so criminal contempt had no legal foundation. Boasberg kept expanding his inquest into executive-branch national security decisions well after the Supreme Court vacated his original order, which is a textbook separation of powers violation. The appeals court's mandamus was not just warranted — it was long overdue.
Anti-Trump narrative
Two Trump-appointed judges have handed the administration a get-out-of-jail-free card, blocking a legitimate fact-finding effort into whether officials defied court orders and deported migrants to a notorious terror prison. The dissent makes clear that basic fact-finding is a court's legal obligation, not executive overreach. As recent immigration enforcement actions prove, unchecked executive power causes real constitutional harm.
