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Fox News contributor and National Review editor Andy McCarthy railed against President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice for defying a judge’s order on Monday, calling the move a “terrible legal strategy.”
Weighing in on the Trump administration’s decision to deport several hundred Venezuelans accused of being members of the designated foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua, McCarthy wrote that it was “near certain that the administration knowingly defied an order” issued by Chief Judge James Boasberg “to suspend the initiative to deport the Venezuelans, which included an admonition to turn around any deportation flights that had already departed and return the detainees to the United States.”
McCarthy went on to criticize the Trump administration for “being confrontational” and “gratuitously provocative” with Judge Boasberg with its statement that it was “not prepared to disclose any further national security or operational security details” about the deportations with the court.
“It should go without saying that, at the Justice Department, the rule of the road is that, in the absence of a true emergency, the government complies with judicial orders, even if the orders are patently lawless, until it can get them reversed,” he explained. “It’s all right to complain bitterly about court orders, but they are not to be ignored, much less knowingly flouted.”
McCarthy concluded by suggesting that the Trump administration intentionally covets a fight with the judge, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, so the clash could be “portrayed as yet another instance of Democrats and Democrat-appointed judges siding with alien lawbreakers over Americans.”
“Usually, the government tries to prevent fireworks in its dealings with the federal courts,” he noted. “Here, the government seems to be intentionally instigating fireworks. That seems like a terrible legal strategy, but it may be winning politics . . . at least for a little while.”
McCarthy is no stranger to criticizing Trump. In 2021, following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, McCarthy accused Trump of committing an “impeachable offense” and inciting an “insurrectionist mob.”
The National Review contributing editor also criticized Trump during his indictment over the handling of government documents, claiming his “cries” of a “witch hunt” rang “hollow.”
