Trumps continued ‘stonewalling’ of judge could lead to ‘Constitutional crisis’: analyst

CNN analyst Jennifer Rodgers said Friday the standoff between the Trump administration and the chief judge of the trial-level court in Washington, DC is “almost unheard of, adding that the administration is “stonewalling the judge.”Rodgers told CNN it was unusual that the judge is seeking information to determine if his order has been violated and the administration is not giving that information. “He needs to hold a hearing for this,” she added.”In the context of the DOJ (Department of Justice), government lawyers defying a judge, is almost unheard of,” Rodgers said.READ MORE: (Opinion) Trump voters got exactly what they wanted — so why are people complaining?When asked what the impact of this impasse is, she said if the administration would continue to defy the judge’s order, “we’re in constitutional crisis land, right where you have branches not listening to other branches.”On Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg indicated that he is assessing whether there is “probable cause” to hold Trump administration officials in contempt for breaching his directives that paused the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members.Boasberg’s remarks represent a notable intensification in the conflict between the administration and the chief judge of the trial-level court in Washington, DC, regarding deportation flights that were permitted to proceed last month, despite his orders to immediately return the planes while a legal challenge against Trump’s broad wartime powers is pending.The CNN commentator added that the administration’s act of “stonewalling” the judge is “destroying” the DOJ lawyers’ credibility.READ MORE: ‘What on Earth?’ GOP Senate chiefs of staff left puzzled by Stephen Miller’s ‘arrogant’ presentation”This is like decades and decades of credibility that Justice Department lawyers have built up with judges, that they’re forthright, they give the judges the information they’re seeking,” she said, adding, “They are obviously destroying that credibility.”She added that the lawyers may be resigning to save their reputation.”You might start to see the sort of resignations that happened in the Eric Adams matter, where they’re saying, we’re not going to do that anymore at the expense of our own personal and professional reputations,” she said.Watch the full segment below, or by clicking this link.READ MORE: (Opinion) How the anti-Trump backlash is growing

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