A prison guard transfers deportees from the U.S. to the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on Sunday. (El Salvador presidential press office via AP)
Boasberg ordered the Justice Department on Tuesday to answer five questions, submitting declarations to him under seal by noon on Wednesday: "1) What time did the plane take off from U.S. soil and from where? 2) What time did it leave U.S. airspace? 3) What time did it land in which foreign country (including if it made more than one stop)? 4) What time were individuals subject solely to the Proclamation transferred out of U.S. custody? and 5) How many people were aboard solely on the basis of the Proclamation?"
However, the Justice Department said in their filing today that "Defendants are currently evaluating whether to invoke the state secrets privilege as to portions of the information sought by this Court’s order."
"Whether and how to invoke that privilege involves both weighty considerations and specific procedures that are not amenable to the 21-hour turnaround period currently provided by this Court’s order," it continued.
"The underlying premise of these orders, including the most recent one requiring the production of these facts ex parte today at noon, is that the Judicial Branch is superior to the Executive Branch, particularly on non-legal matters involving foreign affairs and national security. The Government disagrees. The two branches are coequal, and the Court’s continued intrusions into the prerogatives of the Executive Branch, especially on a non-legal and factually irrelevant matter, should end," the Justice Department added.
It also said "disclosure of the information sought could implicate the affairs of United States allies and their cooperation with the United States Government in fighting terrorist organizations" and "such disclosure would unquestionably create serious repercussions for the Executive Branch’s ability to conduct foreign affairs."
IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES HIT JUDGE WHO ORDERED TRUMP TO STOP DEPORTATION FLIGHTS
In this photo provided by El Salvador's presidential press office, prison guards transfer deportees from the U.S., alleged to be Venezuelan gang members, to the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on Sunday, March 16. (El Salvador presidential press office via AP)
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News in an interview that a plane carrying hundreds of migrants, including more than 130 persons removed under the Alien Enemies Act, had already "left U.S. airspace" by the time the order was handed down.
Fox News' Breanne Deppisch and David Spunt contributed to this report.
Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-doj-hammers-judges-digressive-micromanagement-seeks-more-time-answer-5-questions