DOJ Invokes State Secrets Privilege to DENY Judge Boasberg Deportation Flight Info

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The Department of Justice just played Judge Boasberg expertly.

Last week, Judge Boasberg — who is the subject of an impeachment in Congress for hsi controversial ruling to block deportation flights containing hundreds of violent Venezuelan gang members — requested information from the DOJ last week about the flights.

The information he requested included questions like the times and number of planes that took off.

The DOJ had already refused to hand out this sensitive information twice.

Now, they are officially invoking state secrets privilege and informing Judge Boasberg that they will not be giving him any further details pertaining to the deportation flights.

In case you don’t know, state secrets privilege allows the federal government to withhold information that poses a national security risk.

Check it out:

Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem all signed declarations to back the invocation of state secret privilege:

AP reported:

The Trump administration on Monday invoked a “state secrets privilege” and refused to give a federal judge any additional information about the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under an 18th century wartime law — a case that has become a flashpoint amid escalating tension with the federal courts.

The declaration comes as Chief Judge James Boasberg weighs whether the government defied his order to turn around planes carrying migrants after he blocked deportations of people alleged to be gang members without due process.

He has asked for details about when the planes landed and who was on board, information that the Trump administration asserts would harm “diplomatic and national security concerns.”

Government attorneys also asked an appeals court on Monday to lift Boasberg’s order and allow deportations to continue, a push that appeared to divide the judges.

Newsweek provided more details:

The Trump administration invoked “state secrets privilege” on Monday in response to a federal judge’s order to provide further information on its deportation of more than 200 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador this month.

The Context

Citing the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, the Trump administration carried out the deportations despite U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg’s verbal order instructing the government to hold off on deporting the Venezuelan nationals pending further legal proceedings.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has argued that the migrants who were deported have ties to the Tren de Aragua gang, though it has not provided ample evidence of an association.

After the deportations, Boasberg asked lawyers for the DOJ to explain whether they had violated his order.

The judge also told the government to provide more information about the number of planes that took off, where they went, what time they took off, when they landed and how many people were transferred from each plane into the custody of the country in which they landed.

The DOJ subsequently informed the court that the Cabinet was discussing whether to invoke state secrets privilege over the information sought by Boasberg.

What To Know

State secrets privilege allows the U.S. government to withhold information if revealing it would harm national security.

In a Monday court filing, the Trump administration argued that the court “has all of the facts it needs to address the compliance issues before it.”

[H/T We Love Trump]



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