A divided appeals court panel ordered District Judge James Boasberg on Tuesday to end a contempt probe into Trump administration officials involved in migrant deportation flights – determining the jurist abused his discretion in launching the criminal inquiry.
In a 2-1 ruling, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals found the Obama-appointed judge overstepped his authority by pursuing possible contempt charges against former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other top executive branch officials involved in the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador last March.
Boasberg sought to investigate whether the Trump administration officials willfully violated his emergency court order blocking the deportation flights.
“The district court proposes to probe high-level Executive Branch deliberations about matters of national security and diplomacy,” Judge Neomi Rao, an appointee of President Trump, wrote in the majority opinion. “These proceedings are a clear abuse of discretion.”
Rao further described Boasberg’s contempt investigation as “intrusive” and a “legal dead end,” arguing the judge’s order “said nothing about transferring custody” of the Venezuelan migrants to Salvadoran authorities.
“In our constitutional system of government, criminal liability cannot turn on the unstated intentions (or post hoc assertions) of a district court judge,” Rao wrote.
Judge J. Michelle Childs, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, authored a blistering 80-page dissent.
“Contempt of court is a public offense, and the fate of our democratic republic will depend on whether we treat it as such,” Childs wrote.
“Without the contempt power, the rule of law is an illusion, a theory that stands upon shifting sands,” she added.
In siding with the Trump administration, the majority “stymied the district court’s inherent and statutory powers and done so in a way that will affect not only these contempt proceedings but will also echo in future proceedings against all litigants,” Childs argued.
“Now, any litigant can argue, based on their preferred interpretation of a court’s order, that they did not commit contempt before contempt findings are even made.”
Boasberg has suggested the Trump administration may have rushed to deport suspected Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act in defiance of his March 15, 2025 court order. The judge maintains that the Trump administration’s responses to his questions about the deportation flights have been unsatisfactory.
The Justice Department filed a misconduct complaint against Boasberg last year, accusing him of making improper public comments about the president and his administration.
Trump has further demanded that Boasberg be impeached over his handling of several cases related to his second-term policies.
The White House on Tuesday appeared vindicated by the appeals court’s ruling.
“We have long known that Judge Boasberg is a far-left judicial activist trying to undermine the President’s lawful authority, this is just further proof,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Post.
“No matter how many unelected, radical left-wing judges attempt to impede the American people’s agenda, President Trump will not be deterred and justice will ultimately prevail.”
