Attorney General Pam Bondi is reprimanding an anti-Trump judge overseeing the administration’s mass deportation case after recent inflammatory comments about the president sparked shockwaves.
Trump has been vocal about slamming judicial decisions unfavorable to his administration – including District Judge James Boasberg’s move to block deportation flights on March 15.
The president responded to the halt by calling for Boasberg’s impeachment and claiming he was trying to usurp the presidency.
He wrote on Truth Social that Boasberg, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, is a ‘Radical Left Lunatic Judge’ and ‘troublemaker.’
And during the time of Trump’s criticism, Judge Boasberg claimed at a private conference that the administration would cause a ‘constitutional crisis’ by going against federal judges.
Now, Trump’s Justice Department is taking action against the judge who is still overseeing one of the most consequential cases to the administration.
Bondi filed a misconduct complaint against Boasberg, stating that his remarks ‘undermined’ judicial integrity.
During the March Judicial Conference, Boasberg reportedly raised concerns to colleagues that Trump would cause a ‘constitutional crisis’ by disregarding federal court rulings.
A memo, reported earlier this month, summarized the working breakfast and noted that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who presides over the conference, defended Trump against Boasberg’s concerns.
Boasberg’s comments came right before he ordered the Trump administration halt removals of illegal immigrants to El Salvador as courts considered the legality of his mass deportation operations.
‘Today at my direction, [the Justice Department] filed a misconduct complaint against U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg for making improper public comments about President Trump and his Administration,’ Bondi wrote on Monday in a post to X.
‘These comments have undermined the integrity of the judiciary, and we will not stand for that,’ she added.
The week of March 11 this year, members of the Judicial Conference met in the nation’s capital for the first of its two regular meetings.
This group is the national policymaking body for federal courts, the website explains.
A memo from the gathering notes: ‘District of the District of Columbia Chief Judge James Boasberg next raised his colleagues’ concerns that the Administration would disregard rulings of federal courts leading to a constitutional crisis.’
‘Chief Justice Roberts expressed hope that would not happen and in turn no constitutional crisis would materialize,’ according to the memo.
It also said Roberts made clear ‘his interactions with the President have been civil and respectful, such as the President thanking him at the state of the union address for administering the oath.’
Just 12 days after the Federalist reported on the memo, AG Bondi took action against Judge Boasberg.
Revelations of the comments make clear an anti-Trump bias that Judge Boasberg holds.
Trump has been critical of Boasberg and claimed he is a ‘highly conflicted’ judge.
The president says that the judge is ‘disgraceful’ and suffering from ‘massive Trump Derangement Syndrome.’
The pause came after the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of five illegal Venezuela immigrants who Trump was deporting without due process.
The administration was using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
The wartime law is usually used during ‘declared’ conflicts to allow deportations without court proceedings. Boasberg argued it may not apply to a criminal gang since they are not a sanctioned government entity.