Justice Department Files Misconduct Complaint Against Anti-Trump Judge

The Department of Justice on Tuesday filed a misconduct complaint against James Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington, for “improper” comments he made about President Donald Trump at a meeting of federal judges in March.

Boasberg claimed at the biannual closed-door meeting of the Judicial Conference of the United States that he was concerned the Trump administration “would disregard rulings of federal courts, leading to a constitutional crisis.”

The complaint, authored by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s chief of staff Chad Mizelle, alleges that Boasberg strayed from traditional topics to “attempt to improperly influence” the other justices, many of whom are presiding over active litigation involving President Trump.

“These comments have undermined the integrity of the judiciary, and we will not stand for that,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X.

Boasberg has come under fire for his attempts to block the Trump administration’s deportation policies, filing a temporary restraining order blocking the administration’s efforts to deport hundreds of illegal aliens and Tren de Aragua members to El Salvador, citing an abuse of due process.

The Obama appointee, who threatened the Trump administration with “consequences” if it continued its deportations, later had his order vacated by the Supreme Court. Last month, the Supreme Court made a landmark ruling against the constitutionality of universal injunctions, which lower courts were using to unilaterally block executive orders from being enforced.

The Justice Department’s complaint alleges that, following the conference, Boasberg “began acting on his preconceived belief that the Trump administration would not follow court orders.”

The complaint alleges that “Boasberg rushed the government through complex litigation, sometimes giving the Trump Administration less than 48 hours to respond and threatening criminal-contempt proceedings and the appointment of an outside prosecutor against senior Trump Administration officials for failing to comply with an order that had already been vacated.”

The Judicial Conference serves as the policymaking body for the federal court system and is headed by Chief Justice John Roberts. Its 27 members include each of the chief justices of the 13 federal circuits and a district judge from each circuit.

It is strictly reserved for discussing policy issues related to the federal courts, such as “budget, security, and facilities.”

“Although his comments would be inappropriate even if they had some basis, they were even worse because Judge Boasberg had no basis,” the complaint reads. It claims that the Trump administration has “always complied with court orders,” noting that Boasberg failed to provide examples of noncompliance alongside his remarks.

University of California, Berkeley law professor John Yoo criticized Boasberg in a recent interview for using an “inappropriate setting” to “try to get the Chief Justice of the United States to give his opinion on whether there is a constitutional crisis between the courts and the presidency.”

He said that Bosenberg was “trying to entrap the Chief Justice of the United States and get him on the record and join him to almost approve what he’s doing to spark this fight with President Trump.”

The complaint requests an investigation into Bosenberg’s conduct. If Bosenberg is found to have engaged in “willful misconduct,” the Justice Department is asking for a public reprimand and consideration of impeachment by the Judicial Conference.