(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Attorney General Pam Bondi has filed a formal misconduct complaint against District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg, accusing him of making “improper public comments” against former President Donald Trump and attempting to sway the judiciary.
“These comments have undermined the integrity of the judiciary, and we will not stand for that,” Bondi wrote in a post on X, previously known as Twitter. The complaint, lodged with the Department of Justice, calls for Boasberg’s removal from a case involving Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act.
Boasberg, an Obama-era appointee, first drew criticism from the Trump administration in March after condemning the federal government for flying migrants to El Salvador. This occurred despite his ruling that deportations under the Alien Enemies Act should be temporarily halted and the planes turned around, according to The Hill.
Bondi’s complaint specifically targets remarks Boasberg allegedly made during a closed-door Judicial Conference meeting, which included Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and several federal judges. According to a report from The Federalist, Boasberg warned that the Trump administration might ignore court rulings, potentially triggering a “constitutional crisis.”
Bondi’s complaint characterizes the judge’s remarks as “inappropriate” and claims Boasberg sought to “improperly influence [Supreme Court] Chief Justice Roberts and roughly two dozen other federal judges.”
The case is now in the hands of Sri Srinivasan, chief judge of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He has several options: dismiss the complaint, find that corrective action has already been taken, or appoint a committee to further investigate. The DOJ is urging Srinivasan to assign a special investigative committee and to remove Boasberg from the case entirely.
During the height of the deportation dispute, Boasberg accused the Trump administration of acting in “bad faith” and said there was “probable cause” to hold officials in criminal contempt for ignoring his order. However, a federal appeals court temporarily blocked Boasberg from pursuing contempt proceedings.
Trump has since responded by calling Boasberg a “troublemaker and agitator,” demanding his impeachment. In a rare move, Chief Justice Roberts defended judicial independence, stating that “impeachment [is] not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”
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