Bob Schwartz

Tag: Department of Justice

January 27, 2026

Under Trump federal judicial contempt is hollow punishment

“Minnesota’s top federal judge has summoned the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to appear before him on Friday, warning he may be held in contempt for allegedly defying court orders.”

Many in the Trump administration, including phony U.S. Attorneys like Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan, have defied federal judicial orders and been threatened with contempt of court.

There is an overwhelming problem with enforcing such contempt, which is issued at the discretion of a federal judge.

Look closely at the seal above. Federal contempt is enforced by the U.S. Marshals Service. The U.S. Marshals Service is a division of the Department of Justice. Marshals work for Pam Bondi at the Department of Justice, who works slavishly for Trump.

Meaning: From Trump down to the lowest official in the federal government, anyone who defies a court order and is found in contempt has no worries, since the U.S. Marshals Service can be ordered to stand down by Pam Bondi and not enforce those orders.

I would include this as a footnote to any coverage that includes possible contempt of an administration official or worker for defying a federal court order.

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May 2, 2018

Why Trump May Not Fire Department of Justice Officials (It’s Not Impeachment, a Constitutional Crisis or the Rule of Law)

It increasingly sounds like Trump is ready to rush in and try to stop the Mueller investigation:

A Rigged System – They [Department of Justice] don’t want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal “justice?” At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!

Trump actually has no idea what the constitutional powers of the three branches of government are. He may not even know there are three co-equal and balanced branches of government. The only thing he knows is that he is THE PRESIDENT and that is the most powerful position in the world, EVER.

Trump’s firing people responsible for investigating him is wrong, is incident to a constitutional crisis, and breaches the fundamentals of the American rule of law. That won’t stop him. But this might:

If Trump proceeds with his improper intervention, every responsible lawyer currently working on his behalf, and every responsible lawyer being asked to represent him, should and may leave and run the other way. Because by continuing or taking on that work in the aftermath of such action by Trump, they are complicit—even if tangentially and collaterally—in supporting those actions. There is a case to be made that by continuing in those circumstances, lawyers are in breach of their oaths (lawyers are all sworn officers of the court) and of the rules of professional conduct.

All of which is not meaningful or comprehensible to Trump. But he might notice that there are fewer quality lawyers willing to touch his legal problems, and that number will get infinitely smaller if he carries out his threats.

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