A federal judge already has enough evidence to order a criminal contempt trial of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — and needs no further investigation to do it.
That's the conclusion of Marty Lederman, a Georgetown Law professor and former senior Justice Department official, writing Monday for Just Security.
Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has all he needs to act — if a federal appeals court lets him.
"The evidence the judge has already elicited is more than sufficient…" Lederman wrote.
The case goes back to March 2025. Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order — a court order blocking further action while a case is heard — prohibiting the deportation of Venezuelan detainees to El Salvador's Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo prison. Two deportation flights took off anyway, mid-hearing.
Senior Department of Justice officials, including Blanche and then-Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, had separately advised then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem she could proceed — telling her the written court order didn't mean what the judge's oral ruling had said minutes earlier. The Civil Division lawyers actually arguing the case were kept in the dark.
Boasberg launched a contempt investigation. A divided appeals court panel shut it down in April, issuing a writ of mandamus — a legal order forcing a lower court to act — that halted the probe. That ruling is now before the full appeals court on a petition for rehearing.
Lederman argued the panel got it wrong, and that Blanche and Bove's legal advice to Noem amounted to an "egregious" violation of the rule of law.
"The evidence demonstrating those facts would also be sufficient to support a notice of criminal contempt to Blanche and Bove," he wrote — a formal charge that would initiate a trial.
The stakes extend beyond the courtroom. President Donald Trump nominated Blanche to permanently lead the Justice Department, setting up what is expected to be a heated confirmation battle. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said it is "hard to say" whether Blanche can win confirmation.
The Senate has yet to schedule a confirmation hearing.
