Thread by @hugolowell

New: Judge Boasberg, in finding probable cause to hold Trump officials in contempt for violating his order to recall deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act, says the Trump administration has two options

-- bring back the deportees on the flight that was supposed to be recalled so they can have due process

-- or face contempt proceedings, including at the direction of an independent prosecutor he appoints

Boasberg finds that the Trump administration willfully disobeyed his TRO, citing Secretary of State Marco Rubio reposting from his official account Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele's "Oopsie... Too late" tweet after he had issued his order

Boasberg: "what followed in the ensuing days was increasing obstructionism on the part of the Government as it refused to answer basic questions about what had happened"

Boasberg rejects Trump administration's argument after the fact that his TRO was legally invalid. "Per the collateral-bar rule, what matters is whether they violated the terms of the Order, not whether the Order itself was legally valid."

Boasberg rejects Trump admin claim that his powers expired the moment the planes left US airspace.

"Were that true, Executive Branch officials could do as they please with deportees abroad, regardless of statutory constraints that plainly apply — for example, by rerouting a plane to discharge deportees into a country where they would be tortured, even though federal law expressly forbids that outcome."

Boasberg: "Once the dust Defendants kick up is cleared away, it is evident that the TRO merely did what courts consistently do: review and sometimes restrict Executive actions, including when the officials are overseas and the issues implicate national security or foreign affairs. It in no way invaded any Article II powers, despite Defendants’ effort to incant new ones into existence."