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Trump team moves to block DOJ testimony in Boasberg contempt probe, raising stakes in court showdown
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Lawyers for the Trump administration are seeking to shut down a revived contempt inquiry led by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, arguing in new filings that the court should cancel two scheduled witness examinations next week or allow the administration to block testimony on grounds of «executive privilege.»
In filings earlier this week, Justice Department lawyers argued the court is exceeding its authority. «At the outset, the Court’s inquiry exceeds its authority and is now intruding on the prerogatives of a co-equal branch,» they wrote, adding that criminal contempt falls within the executive branch’s power.
«Criminal contempt is a criminal offense, and the investigation and prosecution of crimes is [a] core executive power reserved to the Executive Branch,» they added.
The filings are part of a revived contempt inquiry that will bring to the fore longtime tensions between the Trump administration and the chief judge for the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., who sparked Trump’s ire earlier this year after he attempted to temporarily block the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador in March.
NOEM GREENLIT DEPORTATION FLIGHTS AFTER JUDGE’S EMERGENCY ORDER, DOJ REVEALS — FUELING CONTEMPT FIGHT
Judge James E. Boasberg, chief judge of the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, D.C. on March 16, 2023. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images) (Washington Post via Getty)
Boasberg this week requested testimony from two current and former Justice Department officials who played a key role in the Trump administration’s use of the 18th century wartime law to quickly deport the migrants to El Salvador in March, despite his temporary restraining order and subsequent oral order that attempted to block — for 14 days — the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to immediately deport the migrants.
He is now weighing whether senior Trump officials willfully defied that order. To wit, he ordered Drew Ensign, the Justice Department’s deputy assistant attorney general, to appear in court Monday for questioning and for cross-examination from lawyers representing the class of deported Venezuelan migrants.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW EL SALVADOR DEPORTATION FLIGHT CASE
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)
He also ordered testimony and cross-examination the following day from former Justice Department lawyer Erez Reuveni, who since parting ways with the Justice Department has publicly accused the administration of ignoring court orders — including in this case.
«The Court thus believes that it is necessary to hear witness testimony to better understand the basis of the decision to transfer the deportees out of United States custody in the context of the hearing on March 15, 2025,» Boasberg wrote in scheduling the appearances.
«The events surrounding this decision should shed light on this question,» he said.
The inquiry was revived after the D.C. Circuit, sitting en banc, vacated an earlier ruling and returned the matter to Boasberg. New details about the government’s handling of the March flights have already emerged, with additional disclosures expected in the coming days.
Still, court filings revealed that the Trump administration plans to fight those efforts at every turn.
«If the Court does proceed with testimony, it should grant a protective order with respect to privileged information or provide Defendants with an opportunity to seek appellate relief in advance of any testimony; and the Court should also limit the scope of the testimony and preclude Plaintiffs from participating,» they told Boasberg.
TRUMP FOE BOASBERG ORDERS DOJ TO DETAIL STATUS OF CECOT MIGRANTS SENT TO VENEZUELA
A person holds up a sign referencing the Centre for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT) prison in El Salvador during a May Day demonstration against President Donald Trump and his immigration policies in Houston, Texas, on May 1, 2025. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP)
Last month, DOJ officials identified DHS Secretary Kristi Noem as the official who authorized the transfer of the Venezuelan migrants after being briefed on Boasberg’s emergency order by lawyers for the Justice Department and acting general counsel for DHS.
Boasberg said earlier this week that it would be «premature» to refer anyone for prosecution under the revived contempt probe, and declined to immediately compel testimony from Noem at this stage in the process.
Noem said in a declaration of her own that she made that call based on legal advice from lawyers for the Justice Department, as well as the acting general counsel for DHS.
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The fresh action on the contempt issue is almost certain to spark the ire of some Republicans in Congress and from Trump himself, who has repeatedly excoriated Boasberg as an «activist judge» for his role in the Alien Enemies Act case and resulting inquiry.
Boasberg, for his part, has appeared unfazed.
«This has been sitting for a long time,» Boasberg said late last month of the contempt inquiry, «and I believe justice requires me to move promptly on this.»
The government, he added, «can assist me to whatever degree it wishes.»
donald trump,immigration,politics,supreme court,federal courts,judiciary
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Detalles, riesgos y un adiós en las profundidades del Pacífico: así será el cierre de la Estación Espacial Internacional
La Estación Espacial Internacional (EEI) es la estructura artificial más grande ensamblada en la órbita terrestre. Con una extensión similar a la de un campo de fútbol, fue concebida como base experimental, laboratorio y hábitat permanente para astronautas, científicos y cosmonautas de distintos países.
Desde el lanzamiento de su primer módulo en 1998, la Estación Espacial Internacional se mantiene como uno de los mayores logros en exploración humana; su existencia ha sido un hecho de cooperación técnica entre Estados Unidos, Rusia, Europa, Japón y Canadá.
Actualmente, la NASA y sus socios internacionales avanzan en su cierre definitivo. El plan, elaborado durante años y cuya ejecución definitiva está prevista para alrededor de 2030, establece que la estación sea retirada y destruida de manera controlada en el océano Pacífico, lo que pondrá fin a décadas de actividad en la órbita terrestre, informa la revista tecnológica Wired.
La retirada implica pasos planificados: primero, la NASA apagará los propulsores que mantienen la órbita de la EEI, permitiendo que la estación comience a descender gradualmente debido al roce con partículas atmosféricas. La tripulación seguirá a bordo para mantener sistemas críticos; sin embargo, unos meses antes del final programado, abandonará las instalaciones, que quedarán vacías y bajo control remoto.
Por último, la nave Space-X Dragon, preparada para este objetivo, acoplará a la estación y la guiará, mediante un impulso final, hasta una zona remota del océano Pacífico. Durante la reentrada, la mayoría de la estructura se desintegrará por el calor, quedando solo una fracción de restos que alcanzarán el mar.
El proceso de retiro de la Estación Espacial Internacional está atravesado por el constante incremento de basura espacial, un factor que puede obstaculizar la retirada segura. El espacio circundante contiene millones de restos de cohetes, satélites degradados y micrometeoritos moviéndose a 27.000 km/h (16.777 mph).
Muchos son demasiado pequeños para el monitoreo, pero lo suficientemente peligrosos para perforar el casco de la EEI. Aunque la mayor parte de los escombros no coincide con la altitud exacta de la estación, la zona nunca está completamente despejada. Los exteriores de la estructura evidencian abolladuras y grietas resultado de impactos constantes.
Para abordar este riesgo, la Red de Vigilancia Espacial, la red militar estadounidense de rastreo, monitorea unas 45.000 piezas espaciales de gran tamaño. La NASA mantiene una “caja de pizza”, zona de exclusión virtual que rodea la EEI, donde sensores especializados supervisan el espacio permanentemente.
Cuando un objeto tiene una probabilidad de colisión de al menos 1 en 100.000, los controladores ordenan maniobras evasivas. Pero estos sensores solo detectan fragmentos grandes y omiten piezas de entre 1 y 10 centímetros cúbicos, lo que deja una brecha vulnerable. Los escudos físicos como el Whipple pueden reducir el impacto de fragmentos pequeños, aunque resultan insuficientes ante restos medianos.
En la historia reciente de la EEI, emergencias de gravedad han sido infrecuentes. Han sucedido filtraciones menores, como la del módulo PrK, solucionadas por la tripulación. Cuando la presión interna desciende a niveles críticos, los sistemas esenciales están en riesgo de fallo y la evacuación puede ser inevitable. Si la estación sufre una perforación considerable, la reentrada podría volverse incontrolada y los restos dispersarse sobre zonas habitadas. La probabilidad de que esto ocurra, según estimaciones de la NASA, oscila entre 1 en 36 y 1 en 170 para un periodo de seis meses.
Ante una emergencia, los protocolos requieren que los astronautas intenten cerrar la fuga o aislar el módulo afectado. Si no es posible, deben refugiarse en los vehículos de evacuación y abandonar la estación. Otros peligros, como incendios por cortocircuitos o escapes de amoníaco tóxico, estadísticamente menos probables, también figuran en los planes de contingencia.
La operación final de la EEI requiere coordinación internacional. La estación depende de un consorcio de 23 países europeos, entre los que se encuentran Estados Unidos, Japón y Canadá. Rusia, que también forma parte, ha confirmado su colaboración en operaciones hasta 2028 y su cooperación en caso de emergencia.
Entre los protocolos alternativos para el descenso se contempla el uso de la nave rusa Progress si Dragon no está disponible. Sin embargo, cada variante técnica presenta desafíos, como la gestión remota de sistemas críticos en un entorno sin presión, la pérdida de control de la orientación y la posibilidad de dispersión de restos sobre zonas más extensas. El destino de la EEI está sujeto al rendimiento de sus sistemas, la vigilancia continua y la gestión de una basura orbital que no deja de incrementarse.
Estación Espacial Internacional,EEI,espacio,Tierra,órbita,ciencia,tecnología,cooperación internacional,exploración espacial,astronomía,paneles solares
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Firebrand anti-American cleric Alireza Arafi seen as contender to replace Iran’s Khamenei
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The Islamic Republic’s opaque and fractured governing system following the killing of its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, selected radical cleric Ayatollah Alireza Arafi to its interim leadership council on Saturday.
Ben Sabti, an Iran expert at the Institute of National Security Studies in Israel, said, «His name was brought up in the last two or three years. He is not a kind of politician but is part of exporting the revolution from the propaganda side.» A foundational pillar of the birth of the 1979 Islamic Republic was to export its violent Shiite ideology and foster radical Islamist revolutions across the globe.
«He’s been marinating in Khomeinist ideology his entire career. Khomeinism is a threat to U.S. interests,» Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, told Fox News Digital.
The founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s «Death to America» pledge is a core feature of Khomeinism, according to experts.
Women walk past electoral posters of Ayatollah Alireza Arafi in downtown Tehran, Iran, Feb. 21, 2024. (Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)
According to a UANI report, Arafi has long been agitating against the U.S. and Israel. «America will take its wish for Iran to abandon production of military hardware to the grave,» he is quoted as saying, and in a 2019 Friday prayer sermon he announced, «We will stay with our imam and leader to the end, when we humiliate [global] arrogance. Together with the Sayyed of the resistance, we say: Oh great leader of the world of Islam, we will be with you until the end, when the arrogant people in the world are defeated, and Israel is erased.»
Brodsky continued, «The fact that Iran’s system elevated Alireza Arafi to membership on the interim leadership council is a signal that he could be a leading candidate to replace Ali Khamenei as supreme leader.
Arafi is also being watched in Washington. In an interview with Fox News Digital on Sunday, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, described Arafi as «»a very hard-line cleric.»
Arafi promised «death» to protesters who knock over the turbans of Iranian Islamic clerics, according to UANI. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images/NCRI)
He noted, «Arafi has been promoted through the ranks — heading Iran’s seminary, leading Al-Mustafa University, and serving as a member of the Guardian Council and Assembly of Experts. Additionally, he has been Friday prayer leader of Qom, which is the center of the Iranian clergy. This provides him with religious, educational and government experience to replace Khamenei as supreme leader.»
IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER RUNS ‘STATE WITHIN A STATE’ THROUGH SECRET 4,000-PERSON NETWORK, REPORT SAYS
According to UANI, Arafi promised «death» to protesters who knock over the turbans of Iranian Islamic clerics. «Those who attack the turbans of the clergy should know that the turban will become their shroud,» Arafi said.
Brodsky added, «Arafi helped make Al-Mustafa University into a training ground and recruiting center for the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]. Al-Mustafa University was later sanctioned by the U.S. government under counterterrorism authorities. A weakness in his candidacy to replace Khamenei is that he has never been a core member of the military-security establishment in Iran and has never led a branch of the Islamic Republic’s government apparatus.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, the head of the judiciary, and Alireza Arafi, right, deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts, attend the meeting of the interim leadership council in an unknown location in Iran, March 1, 2026. (Handout via Reuters)
«He is also not a Sayyid. [sign of high respect for people of lineage from the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Shiite tradition.] But his serving on an interim leadership council will expose him to foreign policy and security issues to a greater extent, and position him as a formidable contender. Alireza Arafi is an indoctrinated follower of Khomeinism and spearheaded an effort to further Islamize Iran’s university and seminary system,» he said.
IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER ALI KHAMENEI DEAD AFTER IDF STRIKE HITS TEHRAN COMPOUND, ISRAELI SOURCE CONFIRMS
According to Iran Wire, an independent Iranian diaspora news outlet, «Alireza Arafi is a prominent hardline cleric, a member of the Guardian Council and the head of Iran’s seminaries, positions that place him at the center of the country’s religious establishment. His selection matters because the third member of the Temporary Leadership Council must be a theologian chosen by the Expediency Discernment Council — and Arafi is widely seen as a staunch loyalist to the core ideology of the Islamic Republic.»
On March 1, 2026, in Sana’a, Yemen. pro-Iran protesters brandish billboards depicting the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at a rally held to condemn the U.S.-Israel aerial attacks on Iran. (Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
Mardo Soghom, a veteran journalist and Iran expert, told Fox News Digital, «What I can say at this point is that there is no unified government with sufficient control over the country. The foreign minister admits the IRGC is on its own. Arafi would never have the authority or the control Khamenei had. It is a compromise candidate whom the IRGC can control and is not a threat to two factions.»
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Mariam Memarsadeghi, senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and founder and director of the Cyrus Forum for Iran’s Future, told Fox News Digital, «The regime or what remains of it is no different from a terrorist group. Now that the U.S. and Israel are bombing the U.S. and Israel, every leader the terror group chooses will be rightly eliminated. The Iranian people are elated. All decent human beings who believe in freedom should be elated.»
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