The administration widened its battle against federal judges this week, filing a formal misconduct complaint against Judge James Boasberg over comments he made accusing President Trump of creating a “constitutional crisis” by ignoring court rulings.
The comments came during a closed-door meeting of judges in March, though they were reported publicly only this month.
Just days after Judge Boasberg said he doubted the president would abide by court rulings, the jurist found himself in the middle of the very constitutional clash he’d predicted when he tried to force Homeland Security to halt the deportation of Venezuelan terrorism suspects to El Salvador.
“These comments have undermined the integrity of the judiciary, and we will not stand for that,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in announcing the complaint Monday.
The complaint comes soon after Judge Boasberg, an Obama appointee who is the chief judge on the district court in Washington, said he’s still considering criminal contempt charges against Trump officials who he believes defied his March 15 orders to halt the airplanes.
Justice Department Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle, who signed the complaint, said Judge Boasberg’s private comments presaged a string of “erroneous rulings” based on his preconceived notion that Mr. Trump was going to defy court orders.
“His comments on March 11 appear to have been improperly implemented from the bench. Having assumed President Trump would defy court orders, Judge Boasberg issued a [temporary restraining order] and threatened sanctions — all on a false premise,” Mr. Mizelle wrote. “Such conduct violates litigants’ trust in an impartial judiciary and falls below the standards that safeguard the integrity of the judiciary and public confidence in that integrity.”
He asked Judge Boasberg’s superiors at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to boot the judge from the deportation case and institute a broader investigation of his conduct.
The complaint is the latest jab by the Justice Department against judges who have stood as roadblocks to the president’s agenda.
In March, the department demanded District Judge Beryl Howell recuse herself from a Trump case where he tried to punish a prominent Democrat-connected law firm for spreading disinformation in the 2016 election. The department cited her past rulings and comments that it said showed “disdain” and “hostility” to the president.
Judge Howell, an Obama appointee, refused to recuse, saying she didn’t believe her comments decrying authoritarianism and “big lies” about Mr. Trump’s claims about the 2020 election results crossed any lines.
The Justice Department has also filed a formal complaint against District Court Judge Ana Reyes for courtroom “misconduct” after she attacked the president’s orders limiting transgender troops as un-Christian.
In an unprecedented move, the department filed a lawsuit against the entire U.S. District Court in Maryland, naming all active judges as defendants after the court announced a policy granting an automatic short-term stay of deportation for any migrant who filed a habeas petition seeking release from detention.
Department lawyers said that blanket policy usurped the president’s decision-making without giving him a hearing or even allowing briefs to be filed defending his actions.
The court has defended its stance, saying it worries the government may try to speed up deportations to keep its judges from hearing cases.
Judge Boasberg was a previous target with the Justice Department, which tried to boot him from the Venezuelan deportation case in March and called him an “out-of-control judge.”
For his part, Judge Boasberg called the Justice Department lawyers “intemperate and disrespectful” and said he’d never been treated in that fashion by litigants in his courtroom.
In the new complaint, the Justice Department said his offending comments came during a meeting of the Judicial Conference, which is a gathering of judges to hash out rules for the federal courts.
Specifically, he is reported to have told Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and roughly two dozen other federal judges that he believed the Trump administration would “disregard rulings of federal courts” and create a “constitutional crisis,” according to the complaint.
Mr. Mizelle said Judge Boasberg violated Canons of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges 1, 2(a) and 3(a)(6), which say a judge should protect the integrity of the courts and not make public comments while deciding a proceeding before him.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.