A federal judge lashed out at the Trump administration Monday for refusing to answer questions about flights deporting Venezuelan migrants under the Alien Enemies Act after he ordered them to turn around the planes.

It was a remarkable hearing in which a Justice Department attorney repeatedly declined to provide details about the flights that landed in El Salvador on Saturday evening, saying he was “not authorized” to do so, a rare instance of an attorney rebuffing a judge’s questions.

U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg called the hearing after a Monday morning filing from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) arguing the government may have violated a court order halting the flights — apparently refusing to turn them around after the judge barred them.

At Monday’s hearing, Deputy Associate Attorney General Abhishek Kambli contended the judge’s oral command wasn’t binding because the judge didn’t include the instruction about airborne flights in his written order.

“I memorialize it in shorthand, but you're........

© The Hill