Dem
47
GOP
53
Federal Judge James Boasberg yesterday found probable cause to hold some Trump administration officials in criminal contempt for willfully disregarding his order to stop transferring deportees to El Salvador without due process. Contempt can be punished by fines or imprisonment. Boasberg did not specify which officials he has in mind.
Boasberg is not asking the administration to bring any prisoners home. He is demanding the information that he wasn't given the first time he asked, about exactly when some deportation flights took place, in particular before or after he ordered them stopped. Boasberg also said that if the government does not cooperate, he will order some officials to testify under oath. If he discovers anyone violated his orders, he will ask for them to be prosecuted.
We are now in a high-stakes game of chicken. If AG Pam Bondi stonewalls the judge, he may issue a subpoena to certain officials to get their testimony. If they refuse to come, or refuse to answer his questions, he could find them in contempt and hire an outside lawyer to prosecute them. That would raise the temperature by many degrees and could lead to a constitutional crisis. But we are not there yet. (V)