Judges warn Trump risks public perception of lawlessness in his fight with courts [View all]

Source: Reuters

April 17, 2025 4:28 PM EDT Updated 9 min ago


NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court urged the Trump administration on Thursday to back off from its escalating confrontation with the judiciary, warning that both the executive and judicial branches risk losing public confidence. In a strongly worded unanimous opinion, a three-judge panel rejected President Donald Trump's administration's request to stop a judge from probing what the government had done to secure the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a migrant it acknowledged having wrongly deported to El Salvador.

The judges, part of the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said the executive branch represented by the administration and the courts were "grinding irrevocably against one another in a conflict that promises to diminish both."

"We yet cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos. This case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time," wrote U.S. Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson. Wilkinson is an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, a Republican like Trump.

Asked to comment on the appeals court decision, a Justice Department spokesperson referred to Attorney General Pam Bondi's posts on X on Monday and on Wednesday asserting that Abrego Garcia belonged to the MS-13 street gang. An immigration judge in 2019 granted Abrego Garcia protection from deportation to El Salvador after finding he was likely to be persecuted by gangs if returned there, court records show. Abrego Garcia's lawyers and family members deny he was part of MS-13.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-challenges-judges-probes-compliance-with-deportation-orders-2025-04-17/

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Link to ORDER (PDF viewer) - https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25900495-2025-04-17-court-order-dckt/

Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25900495/2025-04-17-court-order-dckt.pdf


There is no hypothetical "risk" of a "perception". IT IS PURE UNADULTERATED LAWLESSNESS. COMPLETE AND UTTER.

EVERY SINGLE THING HE HAS DONE HAS BROKEN SOME LAW..

And regarding this -



At this point, Raygun and 45 are like polar opposites.