Huge Win for Trump Administration as DC Circuit Court of Appeals Tosses Boasberg Contempt Order

(Red State)—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.

BREAKING: HUGE Trump Win on Boasberg contempt case!!

— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) August 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.”

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