DOJ Files Misconduct Complaint Against Judge Boasberg

The Justice Department (DOJ) has filed a complaint alleging misconduct by James Boasberg, the chief U.S. district judge in Washington, D.C., who is overseeing several cases involving the Trump administration, NBC News has reported.

The DOJ complaint alleges that Boasberg made improper comments during a judicial conference in March, stating that "while there, Judge Boasberg attempted to improperly influence Chief Justice Roberts and roughly two dozen other federal judges by straying from the traditional topics to express his belief that the Trump Administration would 'disregard rulings of federal courts' and trigger 'a constitutional crisis.'"

Days after the alleged remarks, Boasberg, an Obama appointee, rejected the administration’s attempts to deport hundreds of Venezuelan nationals to a prison in El Salvador, finding many of the deportations abused due process, according to Politico. Despite the order, the administration sent most of the Venezuelans to El Salvador, a decision Boasberg had suggested flagrantly defied his order

The Supreme Court later vacated Boasberg's order, saying the Venezuelan men should have filed lawsuits in the Texas district where they had been held before they were deported.

In a five-page letter to Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Circuit of Court of Appeals in Washington, the DOJ said that "although his comments would be inappropriate even if they had some basis, they were even worse because Judge Boasberg had no basis,” NBC News reported.

The complaint stated that the Trump administration has complied with “all” court orders and that Boasberg didn’t identify any violations of court orders to justify “his unprecedented predictions.”

“Having assumed President Trump would defy court orders, Judge Boasberg issued a [temporary restraining order] and threatened sanctions - all on a false premise," the complaint says, noting that Boasberg spoke at the conference days before he ruled from the bench in the deportations case. "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.”

The complaint asked Srinivasan to refer the matter to a special investigative committee to determine whether Boasberg’s conduct constituted “conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts,” NBC News reported

It also requested that Boasberg’s Alien Enemies Act case be reassigned to another judge while the probe proceeds and that disciplinary action be imposed.

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