There May Just Be Consequences Yet for Trump’s Summit of the Tinhorns at the White House

It is possible that federal judge James Boasberg is very protective of his last nerve and that he’s quite had enough of this administration’s jumping on it, and it is also possible that having the president hosting a Summit of the Tinhorns the other day in the White House at which everybody had a good laugh at the federal judiciary wasn’t the best long-term strategy either. From The Washington Post:

Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of Washington, D.C., on Wednesday said he would launch proceedings to determine whether Trump administration officials should face criminal contempt charges for defying his order not to remove Venezuelan migrants from the country based on the wartime Alien Enemies Act. “The Constitution does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders—especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it,” the judge said in a written ruling. Allowing political leaders to defy court judgments would make “a solemn mockery” of “the Constitution itself,” he said.

Note to Attorney General Pam Bondi—I think he means it, too.

Boasberg moved forward with the contempt proceedings, saying the Trump administration’s actions on March 15 and 16, as the removal flights proceeded despite his order to the contrary, “demonstrate a willful disregard … sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt.” The judge said that if the Justice Department declines to prosecute a potential contempt charge, he would appoint a lawyer to do it.

The question, as always, is what comes next. What Boasberg announced was “proceedings to determine” whether criminal contempt charges are warranted, although it sounds as though the judge is already proceeding toward a conclusion. And, of course, there’s always the carefully cultivated conservative majority on the Supreme Court and the unanswered question of whether it will extend its misbegotten presidential immunity decision to all of the president’s appointees as well. I still say arrest all the accessories and let the chips fall. After all, it’s a target-rich environment. Meanwhile, stay tuned for the inevitable mad raving from the Oval Office cellphone. This should be a good one.