http://redstate.com/smoosieq/2025/08/08/huge-win-for-trump-administration-as-dc-circuit-court-of-appeals-tosses-boasberg-contempt-order-n2192597
By Susie Moore
RedState
August 8, 2025
The Trump administration just scored another huge court win. On Friday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order in the J.G.G. v. Trump case vacating Judge James Boasberg's order finding probable cause to hold the administration in contempt.
Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) ~ 🚨🚨🚨BREAKING: HUGE Trump Win on Boasberg contempt case!!
9:38 AM · Aug 8, 2025
Margot Cleveland's thread does a nice job of laying it out, but here's the back story:
In March, Judge Boasberg entered a temporary restraining order effectively requiring the administration to turn around planes of illegal aliens (Tren de Aragua members, at that) that were en route to El Salvador. When the administration did not abide by that (for numerous reasons, both legally and practically), Boasberg later found probable cause to hold the administration in contempt.
Here's what Streiff had to say about it at the time:
If you ever needed an example of an arrogant and overbearing liberal judge, Judge James Boasberg is your man. He tried to rewrite federal law to give himself jurisdiction in a case that had no attachment to his district and ignored the black-letter requirement that deportation cases go through a habeas corpus appeal before heading to federal district court. After being slapped down by the Supreme Court (see SCOTUS Hands Trump a Major Win on Use of Alien Enemies Act to Deport Some Illegals – RedState), he decided to hold contempt proceedings on federal officials who carried out a deportation operation that Boasberg didn't have the authority to intervene in despite his stampy-foot demands. Unsurprisingly, he found the officials in contempt of his ruling, as well they should have been; see There He Goes Again: Judge Boasberg Finds Probable Cause to Hold Government in Contempt Over AEA Case – RedState.
In what can only be called an "intemperate" ruling, you can nearly see the spittle flecks on the document. He warns the government that if the Department of Justice refuses to criminally prosecute the case, he will appoint a personal prosecutor to do so. "If the Government 'declines' or 'the interest of justice requires,' the Court will 'appoint another attorney to prosecute the contempt.'" No one is sure how that works; more importantly, the administration is sure it doesn't. "District courts cannot outsource prosecutorial power to private citizens," said the administration in its response, "insulate them from Executive Branch control, and then unleash them against the Executive Branch."
The administration, of course, appealed that finding, and now, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed, granting the petition for writ of mandamus and vacating Judge Boasberg's April 16, 2025, order.
The court's per curiam opinion itself is brief, but there are concurring and dissenting opinions, so the entire decision is 110 pages long. Here's the crux of it, though:
Judge Katsas and Judge Rao conclude that the government has satisfied the stringent requirements for a writ of mandamus. The Court therefore grants the government’s petition for mandamus and vacates the district court’s probable-cause order. Judge Pillard dissents from the grant of mandamus and the vacatur.
And here's the crux of Rao's reasoning in the concurrence:
The district court used the threat of criminal contempt to coerce the Executive Branch to comply with an order it had no authority to enforce. And it directed that coercion toward the Executive’s exercise of its foreign affairs power. The significance of the district court’s error, coupled with the potential for abuse in future cases, justifies our intervention at this stage of the proceedings. Considering the “totality of the circumstances,” the writ is appropriate.
So, that's a happy Friday surprise/development for the administration. Perhaps not so much for Judge Boasberg.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to District Court Activist James Boasberg ...
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