It would appear that Attorney General Pam Bondi has had enough of Judge James Boasberg.
Boasberg initially ruled against Trump in an immigration case, but the decision was reversed due to the fact that the judge did not have jurisdiction over the case at issue.
Now, after several more questionable rulings by Boasberg, Bondi has filed a complaint in an effort to have the judge removed from the bench.
The administration pushed back against one particular ruling made by Boasberg almost immediately after it was issued.
Due to the government's subsequent lack of enforcement of Boasberg’s order, the judge publicly stated that he was considering “contempt” proceedings against members of the Trump administration.
The problem was that Boasberg did not have jurisdiction in the case to begin with, as the U.S. Supreme Court determined.
If he were an honest judge instead of an activist, Boasberg would have declined the case from the outset and directed the plaintiffs to file the case in the appropriate court instead of judge shopping for a friendly jurisdiction.
As the case proceeded, Boasberg wised up a bit by canceling a future court date.
He did so because the Trump administration had taken the case directly to the Supreme Court, which ruled that Boasberg had no authority over the matter because his court did not have jurisdiction.
The case, if you recall, involved the deportation of Venezuelan illegals who were alleged gang members.
Trump was trying to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport them, a theory Boasberg rejected. He also objected to the fact that the administration had deported the individuals before they had an opportunity to fight the deportations in court.
Some believe that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has the authority to discipline judges in matters such as this, but that is not the case. The process requires a complaint to be filed and reviewed for action. And if there are enough successful complaints, a judge may be forced to leave the bench.
This week, Bondi took the first steps toward making that happen by filing an official complaint against Boasberg. Bondi’s chief of staff Chad Mizelle stated, "The Department of Justice respectfully submits this complaint alleging misconduct by U.S. District Court Chief Judge James E. Boasberg for making improper public comments about President Donald J. Trump to the Chief Justice of the United States and other federal judges that have undermined the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.”
The complaint details Boasberg’s comments and actions, concluding, "Taken together, Judge Boasberg’s words and deeds violate Canons of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, and, erode public confidence in judicial neutrality, and warrant a formal investigation."
I have been very open about my belief that many of Trump’s executive orders have been unconstitutional, and therefore illegal, but some of the orders were properly written and should have been deemed enforceable. However, we saw a record number of nationwide injunctions, many of them overturned upon appeal or when reviewed by the Supreme Court. Not all of these judges were what Trump has called “activist” in nature, but I do believe that Boasberg is one of them, and the fact that he was taking cases in which he knew he had no jurisdiction proves it. He is not a jurist, he is an activist, and I hope Bondi goes after him with everything she has.
