On Thursday, attorneys representing President Donald Trump's administration will appear in federal court for a hearing pertaining to a controversial deportation order. And one former federal prosecutor doesn't think the administration will fare well.
The Trump Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is having to defend its deportations of immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered couldn't be done without fully weighing arguments for and against the invocation of the Act (which was last used during World War II). During an interview with CNN host Brianna Keilar, Michael Moore — who former President Barack Obama appointed as U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia — said he wouldn't want to be on the government's side of Boasberg's courtroom given what he believes will happen in the hearing. Moore opined that Boasberg has likely "had enough" of the administration's disregarding of his rulings.
"I think they've essentially just flouted all the power they can and sort of spit in this judge's face," Moore said. "This hearing is not going to go well for the government, I expect, and I'm sure that this judge is probably loaded for bear. And it'll be a tough a tough, tough afternoon for the government's lawyer."
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Moore cast doubt on the Trump administration's previous attempt to invoke the state secrets privilege in reference to the deportation plane's time of takeoff and flight path on March 15, 2025, when it deported Venezuelan immigrants it claimed were members of the "Tren de Aragua" gang. That information is particularly important given the timeline of when Boasberg ordered the planes be turned around and when the planes landed. Should he discover that the administration knew of the order to send the planes back but defied him anyway, it could result in contempt proceedings — meaning some administration officials could potentially be jailed.
He also noted that the administration trying to claim state secrets was "interesting," given the recent scandal in which top administration officials were embarrassed after accidentally inviting a journalist to a group text conversation on the app Signal in which sensitive attack plans were discussed.
The former prosecutor also observed that the administration has already admitted that it made a mistake when it sent a Maryland man to a notorious El Salvadoran prison as part of those flights. But the Trump DHS has argued that it can't have the man sent back to the U.S. as he is no longer under American jurisdiction. Moore predicted that Boasberg wouldn't buy that argument and would likely order the government to free the man sent to El Salvador by mistake and bring him back to the United States.
"No matter what you think about his past or whatever else, the administration has come in now and said, 'we made a mistake. Sorry. So bad.' We've got him down there in the prison, and he's a little more now than, I guess, a stage prop for [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem," Moore said. "The judge said, 'this is exactly why I said I don't want you sending those planes. We had to have a hearing. Now you're saying you can't get people back.' And that's the kind of irreparable harm that is necessary for courts to issue injunctions and to actually freeze an administration from being able to move forward with their executive actions, like we've seen.
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Watch Moore's segment below, or by clicking this link.