The Department of Justice has filed an official misconduct complaint against U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg, accusing him of making prejudicial public remarks about President Donald J. Trump. The comments are alleged to undermine judicial impartiality and violate established standards of judicial conduct.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on social media Monday that the department had submitted the complaint against Judge James E. Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington, “for making improper public comments” about the president and his administration.
A copy of the complaint, obtained by The New York Times, cites remarks Judge Boasberg allegedly made in March before Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and other federal judges during the Judicial Conference of the United States, which supervises the administration of federal courts.
According to the complaint, Judge Boasberg told the gathering that he believed the Trump administration would “disregard rulings of federal courts” and spark “a constitutional crisis.” These statements, the complaint claims, were an attempt to “improperly influence Chief Justice Roberts” and have “undermined the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.”
The Times noted it could not independently verify the comments in question. The remarks were first reported by The Federalist, a conservative outlet that said it obtained notes summarizing the closed-door meeting.
Judge Boasberg’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. He has faced sustained criticism from the Trump administration since ruling in March that Venezuelan migrants could not be deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century wartime statute. That decision came just days after the Judicial Conference meeting.
When the administration went ahead with the deportation plan despite his ruling, Judge Boasberg declared that officials had defied his order. He sought to initiate a contempt investigation, but those proceedings were halted in April by the federal appeals court in Washington, where they have remained stalled for months.
Although the administration has launched several high-profile attacks on the judiciary — including an unprecedented lawsuit against 15 federal judges in Maryland — Judge Boasberg has become a central target of the president’s frustration. President Trump previously called for his impeachment over the immigration ruling, a suggestion Chief Justice Roberts quickly dismissed in a rare public statement, calling impeachment “not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”
Two months later, the Supreme Court upheld an appeals court’s decision to block the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport migrants it accused of gang affiliation.
The misconduct complaint against Judge Boasberg was filed with Sri Srinivasan, the chief judge of the Washington appeals court, which oversees disciplinary matters for judges in the circuit. The Justice Department is asking that Judge Boasberg be removed from the deportation case, that an investigation be launched, and that he receive a public reprimand. The department is also requesting that the matter be referred to the Judicial Conference to consider recommending impeachment.
This complaint marks the latest chapter in the Trump administration’s ongoing conflict with the judiciary.
In February, the Justice Department filed a separate misconduct complaint against the judge handling a challenge to President Trump’s ban on transgender people in the military, accusing her of “hostile and egregious misconduct.”
Last month, the administration filed suit against the Maryland judges, claiming they had intruded on the president’s constitutional authority to “enforce the nation’s immigration laws.”
Earlier this month, Attorney General Bondi accused members of the federal judiciary in New Jersey of acting as “rogue judges” amid a dispute over the appointment of the state’s next acting U.S. attorney.
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