Appeals court slaps down Boasberg’s ‘contempt’ probe of Trump administration
A new ruling from a federal appeals court has slapped down an agenda by a Washington judge, James Boasberg, to chase the Trump administration with his claims of criminal contempt.
The 2-1 ruling from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Boasberg, whose agenda for years has been to oppose and undermine President Donald Trump, overstepped his authority by chasing possible contempt charges against officials who signed off on a plan to deport illegal alien criminals to El Salvador when the judge wanted them halted.
Today’s decision by the DC Circuit should finally end Judge Boasberg’s year-long campaign against the hardworking Department attorneys doing their jobs fighting illegal immigration.
— Acting AG Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) April 14, 2026
In fact, Boasberg had at one point ordered the government to turn jets around mid-air and return them to the United States because they were carrying deported illegal alien criminals.
A report in Politico said the ruling was written by Neomi Rao, who said, “The district court proposes to probe high-level Executive Branch deliberations about matters of national security and diplomacy. These proceedings are a clear abuse of discretion.”
One of Joe Biden’s appointees on the bench, Michelle Childs, demanded in her 80 pages, would have endorsed Boasberg’s anti-Trump agenda.
The fight still could be presented to the full court panel, or the Supreme Court.
Boasberg long has issued rulings against Trump and his Make America Great Again agenda, including suspect rulings involving Democrats’ lawfare against Trump over the years. Trump and some members of Congress have called for him to be removed from the bench over his political activism.
The present fight is over a plan about a year ago by the Department of Homeland Security to deport more than 100 Venezuelan nationals the administration deemed to be members of the transnational gang Tren de Aragua.
Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to justify removing them without due process. They were quickly rounded up and put on planes to El Salvador, whose president agreed to house them indefinitely in a notorious anti-terrorism prison.
JUST IN: In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals GRANTED Trump’s request to toss Judge Boasberg’s contempt order in the case over criminal aliens being sent to El Salvador.
LET’S GO pic.twitter.com/ATToBL6b61
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 8, 2025
Appeals Court Shoots Down Judge Boasberg’s Rogue Probe Of Top Trump Admin Officials As ‘Clear Abuse’: ‘Further judicial investigation is unnecessary’ https://t.co/J65WnSZ4p4
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 14, 2026
A federal appeals court said that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg must end his “intrusive” contempt investigation into the Trump administration over deportation flights carrying Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador.
• The court said Boasberg abused his discretion in… pic.twitter.com/Ayx9hUyAdN
— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) April 14, 2026
But several filed a lawsuit in Washington, claiming they were not gang members.
Political explained, “Boasberg, in a flurry of extraordinary and urgent weekend maneuvers, ordered a stop to the deportations and said officials should keep those already in the air in U.S. custody.”
At that time, the administration said the individuals already had been deported and were in the custody of El Salvador. Boasberg, they explained, had no authority once the suspects were outside of U.S. airspace.
The Supreme Court in the fight eventually sided with the Trump administration.
Boasberg, appointed by Barack Obama, “continued to pursue,” the report said, and was struck down by the appeals court earlier in a scheme to investigate what happened to his order to keep the men in custody.
The appeals panel found Boasberg’s proceedings “improperly threaten an open-ended, freewheeling inquiry into Executive Branch decision making on matters of national security that implicate ongoing military and diplomatic initiatives.”