My plan to take Saturday off lasted about 13 minutes. I have just received the (purchased) transcript from Thursday's hearing before Jeb Boasberg. Lots of good stuff especially as I develop a fuller timeline of what went down behind the scenes on March 15. This really caught my eye. Remember the whole "THESE CASES ARE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED" bit by Boasberg and others? No one really believes this...right? Also--during the start of the 5pm Zoom hearing on March 15, Boasberg apologized for his casual dress saying he had gone "away" for the weekend and did not bring a tie or his robe. He knew this case was coming. He wanted this case. He wanted to stop the deportations and most importantly--he wanted to set a contempt trap for the Trump administration.

One source of Boasberg's beef with Trump adm is that they dared to prepare and then deport illegals under President Trump's Alien Enemies Act proclamation without HIS approval. He has suggested repeatedly that since HE had scheduled a 5pm hearing to consider turning the ACLU lawsuit into a class action covering ALL illegals under AEA that the Trump adm should have waited until HE acted before proceeding. This is not judicial restraint or a careful balance of powers. This is Boasberg giving away the notion that the executive branch should WAIT FOR APPROVAL from the judicial branch before taking action on matters clearly under the purview of the presidency including foreign policy and diplomacy. Boasberg knew throughout the day that ICE was rounding up the TdA gang bangers covered by the proclamation. So he rushed not only to convert the initial lawsuit into a class, but entered a second temporary restraining order prohibiting their removal and absurdly demanding the return of planes carrying the illegals.

One set of exchanges during Thursday's hearing I believed was way out of line for Boasberg was his interrogation of DOJ atty Drew Ensign over which Trump officials were listening to the 5pm hearing on March 15. On what basis can he demand those answers?