Who is James Boasberg, the federal judge DOJ accuses of misconduct?
The Department of Justice filed a misconduct complaint against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Monday, in the Trump administration’s latest escalation of its pressure campaign on judges it views as blocking President Trump’s agenda.
Boasberg has frequently found himself at odds with the president since ruling against the administration in March in a high-profile deportation case.
But the latest move thrusts Boasberg back into the spotlight, as the DOJ calls for Boasberg to be removed from the immigration case, investigated for alleged misconduct and referred for appropriate discipline.
What is Boasberg’s background?
Boasberg became chief judge of the district court in March 2023, 12 years after former President Obama first appointed him to the federal bench.
He previously served for nearly a decade as an associate judge of the D.C. Superior Court and was an assistant U.S. attorney for D.C. before that. He is a graduate of Yale Law School.
How has he ruled on cases involving Trump admin?
Boasberg oversees multiple cases involving the Trump administration and has issued several rulings that have angered the president and his allies.
Boasberg has seen the sharpest backlash for his handling of a challenge to Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, which the president first invoked in mid-March to swiftly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to a notorious megaprison in El Salvador.
Boasberg was assigned the case and immediately ordered any airborne flights to El Salvador to turn around and return to U.S. soil.
Flights of migrants still arrived in El Salvador, and Boasberg has since accused the Trump administration of willfully violating his ruling. The judge moved toward contempt, though an appeals court has for months halted the proceedings.
Boasberg presided over another high-profile case against the administration related to the so-called “Signalgate.” Five top Trump officials were sued following revelations that they discussed a military strike in a group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal — and unintentionally included a journalist.
They had asked Boasberg to order the officials to preserve all Signal communications and recover chats that had been deleted, but Boasberg largely rejected the request, saying it was too late to order the recovery of the deleted messages. Boasberg did order administration officials to take steps to preserve Signal chats across the government at risk of being deleted.
Boasberg oversees two lawsuits related to requests for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to preserve its records, but Boasberg has declined to take action on the cases, noting another judge has taken action in a similar case.
Boasberg oversees a case challenging the Trump administration’s agreement with the Salvadoran government to house more than 200 migrants deported to the notorious megaprison. But the lawsuit remains in its early stages, and Boasberg has not ruled on the matter yet.
What accusations did the DOJ level against him?
The Monday complaint alleges misconduct and demands that Boasberg be removed from the high-profile deportation case, which was brought in March, and investigated and potentially disciplined.
“Judge Boasberg’s actions have harmed the integrity and public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary,” Justice Department Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle wrote in the five-page complaint, which was obtained by The Hill.
The complaint centers on comments Boasberg reportedly made to fellow judges at a March 11 meeting of the Judicial Conference, the federal judiciary’s policymaking arm.
The Federalist, a conservative outlet, earlier this month reported that Boasberg said he was concerned “that the Administration would disregard rulings of federal courts leading to a constitutional crisis.”
The Justice Department’s new complaint alleges Boasberg has ethical obligations to promote public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary and refrain from public comments about matters pending in any court.
“These comments have undermined the integrity of the judiciary, and we will not stand for that,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on the social platform X.
The complaint was sent to Sri Srinivasan, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Federal law provides that Srinivasan can dismiss the complaint, find that appropriate corrective action has been taken or appoint a committee to pursue further reprimand.
The Hill has requested comment from Boasberg through a court spokesperson.
Zach Schonfeld contributed.