Bombshell courtroom drama exploded Friday as Justice Department bigwigs kept mum about their behind-the-scenes talks with Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem, all while a federal judge ramped up a contempt investigation over a controversial mass deportation of Venezuelans. Judge James Boasberg is putting Noem—and possibly other top officials—under the legal microscope to decide if they should be slapped with charges for ignoring his orders during a fiery legal showdown this March.
According to explosive new court filings, the DOJ lawyers flat-out refused to spill anything on the legal guidance they offered Noem, citing strict privilege. As for Noem, she didn’t shy away from confirming she pressed ahead with flying over 100 Venezuelan detainees out to El Salvador, after vetting advice from DOJ honchos and Joseph Mazarra, DHS’s then-acting general counsel. The kicker? She pulled the trigger on the deportations even as Judge Boasberg demanded the planes return stateside for a courtroom faceoff over the Trump administration’s edgy use of the Alien Enemies Act (AEA).
At a news presser in Las Vegas last November, Noem told the world she had legal sign-off. But DOJ deputy Todd Blanche—along with Emil Bove, then a high-ranking official now wearing judicial robes—both refused to crack under pressure in their Friday declarations. ‘I’m locked down by DOJ privilege,’ Bove insisted. Meanwhile, Mazarra detailed how he parsed Boasberg’s block on booting the detainees before presenting his advice to Noem. ‘Those so-called terrorists had already been flown out before the judge said a word,’ Mazarra wrote in his own fiery statement.
Photos provided by the Salvadoran government show prison guards corralling a group of newly arrived inmates at the notorious CECOT facility in Tecoluca, following the transfer. The feds ramped up the operation, hustling out 238 alleged Venezuelan crime members—a move that raised eyebrows, given only 23 reportedly belonged to the infamous Mara Salvatrucha.
But the Justice Department pushed back hard Friday, declaring it would be ‘constitutionally improper and prejudicial’ to force top officials to take the stand or hand over more testimony ahead of any contempt prosecution. The government’s lawyers doubled down, arguing the judge already has plenty of ammunition to decide whether to drop the hammer or not.
The ACLU’s Lee Gelernt came out swinging, telling ABC News that Team Trump is ‘once again stonewalling a federal court.’ The legal showdown comes after the administration revived the Alien Enemies Act to justify the mass removals, throwing fuel on an already raging immigration debate.
Stay tuned—this legal brawl is far from over, and the courtroom fireworks are just beginning.
