A federal judge humiliated a Justice Department attorney after he tried to shut down questions about Stephen Miller’s role in Chicago’s ICE crackdown.
Government lawyer Sarmad Khojasteh stumbled through objections to a demand from plaintiffs to hand over details of communications between Miller and Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino.
The argument came during Bovino’s deposition as part of a lawsuit about immigration agents’ aggressive tactics during the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago, prompting an intervention from U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis.
During the testy exchange, Khojasteh repeatedly cut across the bench and even continually misnamed the operation “Midway Drift.” He also had to apologize for being new to the case, according to a transcript reported on by the Chicago Tribune.
Khojasteh complained to Ellis that he had prepped Bovino for a narrow set of issues saying, “I mean, they asked today about communications with Stephen Miller. They asked today about body cam [footage] from the Los Angeles [immigration operation]. I feel sandbagged right now.”
Ellis responded that such lines were relevant if they illuminated what Bovino told officers and how they had shaped force decisions on the streets of Chicago.
“This is the problem when… we’ve got a revolving door of attorneys and they haven’t been here for the entire thing,” Ellis told Khojasteh. “They haven’t sat through people’s testimony, they haven’t sat through these hearings, and so now I’m having to explain myself multiple times. And I find it at this point extremely frustrating and a waste of time.”
The Obama-appointed judge added, “If you interrupt me one more time… It’s enough. It’s enough,” before ruling that targeted questions about communications with Miller, 40, were fair if tied to field directives and use of force.
“For example, questions about communications with Mr. Miller may be perfectly within bounds if they talked about, ‘This is how I want this operation to go,’” Ellis said.
Miller—the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and the president’s homeland security adviser—is widely seen as the architect of the administration’s hard-line deportation tactics, and was behind its reported target of 3,000 daily immigration arrests.
“If Mr. Miller said that to Mr. Bovino and that was in Mr. Bovino’s mind as to justify the force being used, they can ask about that,” the judge said.
Bovino was identified in testimony as the leader of the Chicago push, which Ellis said mean it was relevant to ask him not just about his own actions, but “what he is telling agents and officers is the appropriate use of force out in the field.”
The 55-year-old has faced claims that agents under his command used chemical agents in neighborhoods and against reporters, triggering court limits on force, mandatory body cameras, and conspicuous ID.
Ellis last week ordered Bovino to make daily court check-ins—paused upon appeal—and sweeping disclosures of use-of-force reports and footage as allegations mounted around Halloween-week deployments.
The judge also commanded Bovino to wear a body camera after he admitted he didn’t even know how to use one, and ensure agents display visible identifiers.
Bovino has emerged as the public face of the operation amid scrutiny of tactics in Los Angeles and now Chicago, where his “Green Army” has deployed tear gas and manhandled residents and reporters during demonstrations against the administration’s immigration actions.
He and the Department of Homeland Security have also faced scrutiny over promo videos in which he is photographed in an “SS-style” trench coat.
An injunction hearing on Wednesday is set to determine more permanent limits on force.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Justice Department, DHS, and the White House for comment.
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