Boasberg calls DOJ whistleblower to testify as he ponders contempt against Noem

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg demanded the Justice Department send one of its key lawyers to testify in person about why the government made three deportation flights to El Salvador in March despite what the judge thought were clear orders to ground the planes.

Judge Boasberg, an Obama appointee, also said Monday he would like to hear from a fired DOJ employee-turned-whistleblower, Erez Reuveni, about his accusations that department lawyers talked about ignoring judges’ orders beforehand.

The judge is pondering whether to refer Trump officials for prosecution for criminal contempt.

He said he’s not satisfied with the “cursory” information presented to him by senior government officials and needs to hear from Drew Ensign, a Justice Department lawyer at the center of the proceedings.

He also asked for the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the deportation flights, to try to get Mr. Reuveni to testify in order to get to the bottom of what happened.

“The court thus believes that it is necessary to hear witness testimony to better understand the bases of the decision to transfer the deportees out of United States custody in the context of the hearing on March 15, 2025,” Judge Boasberg said.

He said he wants to hear from Mr. Reuveni on Dec. 15 and Mr. Ensign on Dec. 16.

The Justice Department had objected to in-person testimony and dared Judge Boasberg to move ahead with a contempt case.

In filings last week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she made the decision to carry through the flights. She said she based it on legal advice.

Several other senior government lawyers said they provided advice but declined to say anything more.

The Justice Department said any attempt to call those lawyers would violate attorney-client privilege, and calling Ms. Noem would upend the separation of powers between branches.

The department said last week that Mr. Ensign didn’t have direct knowledge of the decision and only served as a go-between with the judge.

At issue are the flights of Venezuelan migrants the government said were members of Tren de Aragua, as well as some Salvadorans, who were flown to El Salvador on three flights on March 15.

The Venezuelans were deported under the Alien Enemies Act, a shortcut to the usual immigration law.

Among the deportees was Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Judge Boasberg, in a hearing that day, had ordered the planes to be grounded.

The government says two of the planes were already in the air and so those migrants had already technically been removed from the U.S.

The third flight departed after the judge’s orders, but the Justice Department says everybody on that plane was being deported under the normal immigration law and so wasn’t covered by the judge’s ruling, which dealt with the Alien Enemies Act.

The Supreme Court later ruled that Judge Boasberg didn’t have jurisdiction over the flights.

But he has determined that doesn’t cancel out his concern about his orders being intentionally defied.

Mr. Reuveni was fired from the Justice Department after undercutting the government’s assertions in the Abrego Garcia proceedings.

In his status as a whistleblower, he has since said Emil Bove, a former Trump personal lawyer and at the time in question a senior Justice Department official, said the government should ignore any judge who tried to thwart the flights.

In the months since then, the Senate has confirmed Judge Bove to a seat on a federal appeals court.

The ACLU had urged Judge Boasberg to call Judge Bove for testimony but he was not on the initial list Monday.