The White House is trying to have it every way possible in a high-stakes dispute over its speedy deportation of hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador. It is unlikely to end tidily, which may very well have been the point all along.

A New York Times review of flight data showed that at the time of a federal judge’s order, two flights were in the air, and one had not yet taken off.

The Trump administration says it did not defy a weekend court order to halt the use of wartime powers to fast-track deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. They’re also trying to push the judge who issued the ruling off the case.