A federal appeals court panel voted 2-1 Friday to scrap a judge’s probable cause finding to hold Trump administration officials in criminal contempt for disobeying his order to turn around deportation flights ultimately destined for El Salvador.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled the administration was entitled to an intervention because U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s efforts to punish administration officials raised immediate concerns.

“The order forces a coequal branch to choose between capitulating to an unlawful judicial order and subjecting its officials to a dubious prosecution,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Neomi Rao, who was in the majority.

Rao was joined by U.S. Circuit Judge Gregory Katas, both Trump appointees.

U.S. Circuit Judge Cornelia Pillard, an appointee of former President Obama, dissented. She complimented Boasberg for his “skill and wisdom” handling the case, which has sparked impeachment threats from Trump and a barrage of public criticism from his supporters.

“Even when faced with what reasonably appeared to him to be........

© The Hill