An expert legal analyst for Fox News said during a morning show segment on Thursday that she believes the federal judge at the center of a case involving a deported MS-13 gang member was “embarrassed” by a Supreme Court ruling taking the case out of his hands.
Kerri Urbahn also told “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade that Chief Judge James Boasberg’s decision to hold Trump administration officials in contempt of his order to return El Salvador citizen Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a high-security prison back to the U.S. smacked of desperation.
“So this is an interesting situation. You know, I’m not surprised we’re here because this judge seemed determined from the outset to hold him in contempt. Frankly, Brian, when I was reading the decision yesterday, I felt like it seemed a little desperate. I think the guy is embarrassed,” Urbahn began.
“He made this a very public thing for weeks. I can’t help but wonder if he thought the chief justice [John Roberts] was going to ultimately back him because, don’t forget, he had put out – the chief justice had put out that statement warning Trump and others, like, don’t criticize the judges. Let us handle things in the normal course,” she continued.
“I don’t know if that emboldened Judge Boasberg,” but the Supreme Court “didn’t” support him, she said. “They vacated his order. Finding – this should have been heard in Texas. Not before you in D.C., Judge Boasberg but yet, to your point, is he still demanding that the government comply with the order.”
“His argument is, even though the Supreme Court found” the way it did, “you should have obeyed this before they issued the order,” Urbahn explained. “The DoJ’s argument is you should have never issued this in the first place. This wasn’t your authority. It’s inherently invalid. The fact he is saying now I’m going to hold you in contempt however you can cure and it by the way that’s where it gets interesting, Brian.
She added:
The way he is saying they can get rid of this potential contempt situation is by complying with what the Supreme Court told them to do the tda members and other people deported on planes still need to have the process they would have had before they were removed which is going to be done in Texas via habeas petition where they challenge the removal. So it’s a little strange.
He puts on this big show in this decision but, in fact, the remedy he is giving them is something they already have to do because the Supreme Court told them to. And so, that’s why I think this is a little bit of a show. But, to your point, the significance of it saying well, you’re going to have to explain and we’re going to have to depose people is just why the Department of Justice is appealing and appealed it out of the gate.
Meanwhile, a federal appeals court on Thursday rejected the Trump administration’s emergency request to block a judge’s order requiring the U.S. government to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador with a violent criminal record and suspected gang affiliations.
Abrego Garcia was deported last month to the high-security “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT) in El Salvador. The appeals court ruling allows the lower court’s order to remain in effect for now.
The case centers on the deported “Maryland man,” whose return was mandated by Boasberg following a recent Supreme Court ruling. The Department of Justice had asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to overturn the order, but the court declined to do so.
The three-judge panel consisted of Judge Harvie Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee, Judge Robert King, appointed by President Bill Clinton, and Judge Stephanie Thacker, appointed by President Barack Obama.
In the court’s opinion, Wilkinson repeatedly referred to Abrego Garcia as a “resident,” even though Abrego Garcia is not a lawful U.S. resident, Fox News reported.