Same As it Ever Was

 ...and right after I finished the last two posts, this popped up on NBC:

Judge [Boasberg] finds cause to hold Trump administration in criminal contempt over deportation flights

This is the judge that ordered the Administration to return the planes carrying "suspected" gang members to El Salvador to US soil so he could apply, y'know, due process and the rule of law.  If I remember, the Administration said, "Oops... they've left US airspace... nothing we can do... how about that.  And no, we're not bringing them back."

Meanwhile, on the Lawfare podcast*, this, in the words of Heather Cox Richardson, happened:

Anna Bower, Roger Parloff, and Ben Wittes of Lawfare watched the hearing and explained that Judge Xinis is now building the evidence to determine whether individuals in the administration have acted in contempt of court.

This is concerning the Abrego Garcia case, which is, in turn, what the cartoon in the previous post is about.

Don't get your hopes up.  In both cases, what the Administration is accused of is verifiably true, and proving it in court should be simple.  However, it will all be a waste of time, because the Supreme Court ruled on July 1 of last year:

The Court thus concludes that the President is absolutely immune from criminal prosecution for conduct within his exclusive sphere of constitutional authority. Pp. 6–9. (2) Not all of the President's official acts fall within his “conclusive and preclusive” authority.

In the words of the ACLU National Legal Director David Cole, "...the Supreme Court today for the first time in history places presidents** substantially above the law."

So:  same as it ever was.  Trump knows he's immune, and that's why he's breaking laws left and right.  Get used to it.

* - And it was on this podcast that we learned how to pronounce U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis' surname:  "Eye-knees."  Now you know.

** - But maybe they can get Lil' Marco on this.  One can only hope.