Trump administration chastises judge for making deportation flight case 'a picayune dispute'

The Justice Department chastised a federal judge’s demand for information about deportation flights that left the country over the weekend, accusing him of “digressive micromanagement” in a court filing Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to provide him the details under seal by midday Wednesday as the judge investigates whether officials violated his Saturday order to turn around airborne planes, which has been met with a firestorm from Trump and many of his allies.

“What began as a dispute between litigants over the President’s authority to protect the national security and manage the foreign relations of the United States pursuant to both a longstanding Congressional authorization and the President’s core constitutional authorities has devolved into a picayune dispute over the micromanagement of immaterial factfinding,” the Justice Department wrote.

The case commenced as the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act on Saturday to swiftly deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants it says are suspected gang members. At a rare weekend hearing, Boasberg blocked the administration from moving ahead and ordered any planes to turn around.

Ever since, the plaintiffs have questioned whether the government violated the judge’s orders; the Justice Department insists that it didn’t because the migrants were already out of U.S. territory.

After the administration insisted national security concerns prevent it from sharing the flight details publicly, Boasberg, an appointee of former President Obama, set Wednesday’s deadline to provide the information to him under seal.

The Justice Department’s new, sharply worded filing asks Boasberg to pause the deadline, signaling that, if he doesn’t, the government may keep resisting by invoking the state secrets privilege.

“The Court has now spent more time trying to ferret out information about the Government’s flight schedules and relations with foreign countries than it did in investigating the facts before certifying the class action in this case. That observation reflects how upside-down this case has become, as digressive micromanagement has outweighed consideration of the case’s legal issues,” the Justice Department wrote.

The administration has simultaneously asked the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals to step in to block the judge’s orders and remove him from the case. The appeals panel could rule anytime once the final brief is submitted later Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the case has fueled a battle between Trump and Chief Justice John Roberts, who issued a rare public rebuke of the president after he called for Boasberg’s impeachment.

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