The Trump administration told Judge James Boasberg on Monday night that it would not disclose additional information about its flights that deported migrants and said to do so would be to divulge state secrets.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and other top Justice Department officials argued that releasing further information about the flights carrying Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador would jeopardize national security.
“The court has all of the facts it needs to address the compliance issues before it,” the DOJ said in a filing. “Further intrusions on the executive branch would present dangerous and wholly unwarranted separation-of-powers harms with respect to diplomatic and national security concerns that the court lacks competence to address.”
In its invocation, the department included declarations from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. It argued not only national security could be compromised, but also relations with other countries.
For nearly 10 days, Boasberg, the chief judge of the district court in Washington, D.C., and an Obama appointee, has been requesting information from the Trump administration about the deportation flights. After Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to direct the deportations, Boasberg issued a 14-day block on the action.
DOJ GIVES SEALED ANSWER TO JUDGE BOASBERG’S QUESTIONS ABOUT DEPORTATION FLIGHTS
The judge has attempted to ascertain whether Trump administration officials allowed two deportation flights carrying what they believed to be Tren de Aragua gang members to reach El Salvador even after his order for them to return to the United States. There has been growing tension between the Trump administration and Boasberg, with President Donald Trump and some of his allies calling for his impeachment.
The DOJ signaled last week that it was considering asserting the privilege of state secrets. Boasberg expressed doubt that the privilege, first recognized by the Supreme Court in 1953, could be applied.
