A federal judge is resurrecting the criminal contempt inquiry of President Donald Trump regarding deportation flights to El Salvador.
“U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said Wednesday he will move quickly on a contempt inquiry centered on whether senior Trump administration officials knowingly defied his court order in March when it deported hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador despite an emergency order he handed down hours earlier,” Fox News reported.
During an immigration hearing on Wednesday, the chief judge of the federal trial-level court in Washington, DC, signaled he will be reviving the inquiry “promptly.”
”I am authorized to proceed just as I intended to do in April – seven months ago,” he declared.
“This has been sitting for a long time,” Boasberg said, “and I believe justice requires me to move promptly on this.”
The comments come after an appeals court “cleared the way for him to continue with a criminal contempt inquiry that was put on ice months ago,” CNN noted.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Boasberg informed lawyers for the Justice Department and for the group of Venezuelan migrants in the case that they have until Monday to submit their proposals to the court on how the proceedings will move forward.
“Your honor, the government objects to any further proceedings of criminal contempt,” Justice Department lawyer Tiberius Davis said, according to Fox News.
“I certainly intend to find out what happened on that day,” Boasberg, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, responded, referring to his order to the Trump administration in March to turn around planes carrying migrants to El Salvador. He added that the government “can assist me to whatever degree it wishes.”
Republicans in Congress have called for the judge to be impeached, accusing him of abusing his power in the FBI investigation known as “Arctic Frost.”
No more delays. Judge Boasberg must be suspended immediately.
Impeachment is underway. He should not get to hear another case—this afternoon I led the effort to make that suspension happen.
My letter to Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan of the D.C. Circuit. pic.twitter.com/22si6KbKwZ
— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) November 17, 2025
“It seems to me that a factual inquiry is in order,” Boasberg said Wednesday as he indicated his interest in hearing from Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign and Erez Reuveni.
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Frieda@bizpacreview.com
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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