'Stakes very high': Experts react as judge moves to hold Trump admin in contempt

U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled on Wednesday that "probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt."

The issue involved deportation flights to El Salvador that the judge ordered turn around and return to the United States. The judge said at the time that the individuals deported did not have the due process to which they were entitled. They, however, landed in the Central American country and the occupants were transferred to a jail there.

In a 46-page opinion, Boasberg wrote, "The Constitution does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders — especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it. To permit such officials to freely 'annul the judgments of the courts of the United States' would not just 'destroy the rights acquired under those judgments'; it would make 'a solemn mockery' of 'the constitution itself.'"

Speaking to MSNBC, former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade said, "The judge wasn't going to let this go."

ALSO READ: 'We know where this leads': How Trump’s crackdown puts Jewish people in peril

She also pointed out that the government "hedged and changed its story many, many times."

The judge outlined the next steps toward possible prosecution, wrote legal analyst Chris Geidner.

Boasberg said that the government can "repatriate the deportees or turn over names for prosecution," said Alex Nowrasteh, a Cato Institute vice president of economics and social policy. "Get ready for prosecutions."

MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin joined McQuade in pointing out that if the judge decides to refer the government for contempt and the DOJ refuses to move forward with charges, he can appoint a prosecutor to do it.

"So, I think the stakes are very high for the Department of Justice," said McQuade. "I don't think he's going to back down. I think if they refuse to comply, he will refer this to a private lawyer to prosecute somebody at the Justice Department. And I think that if the president or the executive branch continue to disobey this order, really the only remedy left at that point is congressional oversight all the way up to, potentially, impeachment."

Rubin agreed, citing an example of historic precedent for it in the Southern District of New York.

"As we all already knew, the gov’t was acting in contempt of Judge Boasberg’s order, just as it’s acting in contempt of Judge Xinis’s order right now. We shall see how this all plays out under the fragile separation of powers outlined in our Constitution. Concern is warranted," wrote civil rights litigator Patrick Jaicomo, from the Institute for Justice.

Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick wrote on X, "Boasberg is now the first judge to find probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court."

"This sets up a significant escalation between the judiciary and the executive at a time when the administration is already flirting with defying the Supreme Court," he added.

Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, posted on X, "We plan to seek immediate appellate relief. The President is 100% committed to ensuring that terrorists and criminal illegal migrants are no longer a threat to Americans and their communities across the country."

See the MSNBC video below or at the link here.