Under Threat Of Contempt, Trump DOJ Tells Judge To Pound Sand
INSIDE: Devon Archer ... Pete Hegseth ... JD Vance
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
A Constitutional Collision In Slow Motion
With a defiant new filing last night from the Trump DOJ, the stage is now set for what is shaping up to be the most direct constitutional confrontation yet between President Trump and the judicial branch.
It comes in the Alien Enemies Act case before U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., where the issue is whether the Trump administration violated his order blocking deportations under the act. But it’s critical to understand that whether the administration complied with the judge’s order is a separate issue from the extent of the powers of the president under the Alien Enemies Act, the deportations themselves, and whether any of the president’s conduct in this regard is subject to judicial review.
Where things now stand is that Judge Boasberg has been trying to ascertain whether the Trump administration violated his order. The Trump DOJ has gone to extraordinary lengths to foil that inquiry:
It has sent junior lawyers into court with insufficient factual information.
It has delayed, stalled, and deflected answering the judge’s questions.
It has rebuked the judge for having the temerity to ask for more details.
It has suggested the judge, a former FISA judge with deep experience in national security matters, can’t be trusted with the answers to his questions.
It has invoked the state secrets privilege to shield itself from his inquiries.
Along the way the Trump DOJ has taken a sneering tone with the judge, made absurd arguments – verbal orders from the bench don’t count! – and given the court the runaround in various other ways. To be clear, the administration insists it didn’t violate the judge’s order, but it is persisting in refusing to answer his questions so that he can make his own determination as to what happened and when and whether the failure to turn around airplanes loaded with detainees before they reached El Salvador was a violation of his order.
I can’t emphasize enough that this is all happening not in the context of the Alien Enemies Act itself but in a contempt of court proceeding, where the court’s inherent authority to enforce its own orders, sanction lawyers for misconduct and misbehavior, and ensure the integrity and orderliness of its own proceedings is at stake. That’s what heightens this constitutional clash and sets it apart from what we might think of as “normal” line-drawing exercises between executive and judicial authority.
It’s also important to keep in mind that, as TPM’s Josh Kovensky groundbreaking reporting yesterday showed, the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act was designed and implemented in the dark to avoid judicial oversight. The ACLU managed to suss out enough of what was going on to get into court before the operation was entirely complete, but that was precisely what the administration was trying avoid. Under those circumstances, a violation of the judge’s emergency order is even more pungent.
The next step in this matter isn’t exactly clear to me. The ball is now in Boasberg’s court, with the administration adamant that there are no grounds to hold it in contempt while refusing to recognize the judge’s authority to inquire into the matter. Something’s got to give.
Judge Blocks Deportation of Columbia Student
U.S. District Judge Naomi Buchwald blocked the Trump administration from arresting and deporting a Columbia University student Yunseo Chung, a legal permanent resident of the United States who had participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Trump Says Jump, Columbia Asks How High
At the insistence of the Trump administration, Columbia University publicly reiterated that it is still complying with the agreement it reached to try to get some $400 million in federal funding reinstated.
Trump Targets Another Law Firm
President Trump issued a new executive order targeting Jenner and Block, a major law firm that used to employ Andrew Weissmann, a former prosecutor on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team who became an outspoken Trump critic. “He’s a bad guy,” Trump said after signing the order.
The executive order mirrored the ones Trump has used to target other major law firms, which has now resulted in some of them declining to represent Trump targets and pulling back on their pro bono work for the advocacy groups leading the charge to challenge the Trump administration in court, the WaPo reports.
Meanwhile, some major law firms have seized on Trump’s attacks on their competitors to try to poach lawyers at the weakened firms, the NYT reports.
The Retribution: 2020 Election Version
IMPORTANT: President Trump issued what election law expert Rick Hasen is calling a “dangerous” executive order purporting to impose a wide range of new regulations on the conduct of federal elections, including citizenship requirements, prosecuting the GOP’s great white whale of election fraud, and prohibiting the counting of mail-in ballots received after Election Day. Most alarmingly, it gives DOGE a role in policing voter registration rolls.
Jan. 6 Reparations: President Trump floated the possibility of financial compensation for the Jan. 6 rioters who were prosecuted, Politico reports.
Rewards And Inducements: “President Trump signed a full and unconditional pardon on Tuesday for Devon Archer, a former business partner of Hunter Biden whose congressional testimony two years ago helped fuel House Republicans’ investigation into the Biden family,” the NYT reports.
Will Trump DOJ Bury The Signal Fiasco?
The question may answer itself. But before we give way to cynicism, a close look at the legal implications of using Signal for planning U.S. military attacks:
Just Security: The Criminal Law Precedents That Are Most Relevant
Politico: The Potential Legal Fallout of the Signal Group Chat Leak
NYT: Signal Chat Disclosure Poses Early Test for F.B.I. and Justice Dept.
Signal Fiasco Is A Complete Shitshow
From the Hill to the White House, the Trump administration flailed in it response to the revelation that top officials – including the vice president, secretary of defense, national security adviser, DNI, and CIA director, among others – were using a commercial app to engage in war-planning. The accidental addition of The Atlantic executive editor Jeffrey Goldberg to the group chat was just the cherry on top of the shit sundae.
Of note: One watchdog group filed a lawsuit to try to enforce the Federal Records Act, which the use of Signal suggests the Trump administration is evading, though to what extent, who knows?
Trump II Clown Show
President Trump will nominate conservative firebrand L. Brent Bozell III as U.S. ambassador to South Africa after withdrawing his nomination to lead the now partially dismantled U.S. Agency for Global Media.
DHS has hired David Geier, a vaccine skeptic who has long promoted false claims about the connection between immunizations and autism, to conduct a critical study of possible links between the two, the WaPo reports.
The Purges
Bloomberg: Treasury Plans ‘Substantial’ Layoffs as Part of Musk’s DOGE Push
Inside Higher Ed: Education Department Reeling After Layoffs
The Destruction
EPA: Trump officials knew their legal justification for terminating dozens of Environmental Protection Agency grants was flawed, according to documents and internal emails reviewed by The Washington Post.
RFE/RL: In a new ruling, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth of Washington, D.C., temporarily blocked President Trump’s push to close down Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Trump’s Anti-DEI Crusade Claims New Victims
The Trump administration is threatening to use a review of the DEI efforts by groups like Planned Parenthood to freeze tens of millions of dollars in federal funding for family planning, the WSJ reports.
Corporate America is retreating from providing financial support for pride events in the face of Trump’s anti-DEI rampage.
For Your Radar …
In response to Greenland’s ire over visits this week by high-level Trump administration figures, including second lady Usha Vance, Vice President JD Vance has escalated the situation by announcing he will now join and lead the U.S. delegation.
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EXCELLENT piece.
David, yours is the news distillation that I can read completely. It is clean, informative, and I really appreciate the links to more detail, if wanted.