A three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals on Tuesday ordered Chief Judge James Boasberg to end a contempt investigation of the Trump administration over its failure to comply with an order that it turn around deportation flights.

Boasberg attracted national attention as the judge overseeing a challenge to President Donald Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport suspected Venezuelan gang members.

The three-judge panel that Boasberg abused his discretion by continuing his investigation and found that the administration had a "clear and indisputable right" to the end of the probe.

"The district court proposes to probe high-level Executive Branch deliberations about matters of national security and diplomacy," the court asserted. "These proceedings are a clear abuse of discretion, as the district court’s order said nothing about transferring custody of the plaintiffs and therefore lacks the clarity to support criminal contempt based on the transfer of custody. Moreover, the government has already provided the name of the responsible official, so further judicial investigation is unnecessary and therefore improper."

As issue was the failure of the administration to turn around flights that had already departed after Boasberg demanded they return to the United States while en route to El Salvador.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.