Politico reports:

A federal judge said Monday that the Trump administration had put her security at risk by posting a “patently false” allegation that she knowingly released an ICE detainee with an international warrant for murder.

Justice Department attorney Kevin Bolan profusely apologized to Rhode Island-based U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose for the press release posted last week by the Department of Homeland Security, which Bolan acknowledged “simply was not true.”

Bolan said that he didn’t tell the judge about the foreign arrest warrant because Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials instructed him not to. The officials, Bolan said, were concerned that law enforcement in the Dominican Republic, where the warrant was issued, had not signed off on sharing that information.

But DuBose noted that the Trump administration itself had publicly disclosed the existence of the warrant in a press release earlier last month. She also noted that the April 30 release slamming her — “Activist Biden Judge Releases Violent Criminal Illegal Alien Wanted for Murder”— remained online Monday.

“The April 30th, completely erroneous and dangerous press release is still on their website,” the judge complained, adding, “It puts people at risk. It’s a threat to judicial security.”

“I’m not trying to make this political,” the Biden appointee added. “It’s also very important that the public has the facts. As long as this particular post is out there, it’s setting up a false narrative.”

DuBose appeared particularly aggrieved that Bolan knew about the arrest warrant and intentionally withheld that information from her, although she later said she believes that ICE is primarily responsible for what she called “misconduct.” She noted that if there was a legitimate concern about confidentiality, Bolan could simply have filed something under seal to alert the judge. [Continue reading…]