WASHINGTON — Judge James “Jeb” Boasberg, the federal judge who ruled against Donald Trump’s deportation strategies and is now the target of impeachment calls, is familiar with high-stakes political cases, including those involving Trump himself.
During his 14-year tenure as a federal judge, Boasberg has handled sensitive grand jury matters arising from the special counsel’s investigations into Trump. He also oversaw improvements in the Justice Department’s national security surveillance practices following the Trump-Russia investigation and presided over sentencing hearings for individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Boasberg, a former homicide prosecutor in Washington, D.C., and a Yale University graduate (both for undergrad and law), is known among his peers as a principled and respected jurist. He has bipartisan support, having been appointed to the federal bench by President Barack Obama in 2011 and to the D.C. Superior Court by President George W. Bush a decade earlier.
During his confirmation process for the federal court, then-Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, who later became Attorney General under Trump, questioned Boasberg on whether judges should base decisions on desired outcomes or solely on the law and facts.
Boasberg responded, “Judges should not work from a desired outcome in assessing the law and facts. Instead, they should follow the law and facts to whatever outcome they dictate.”
Trump grand juries
As chief judge of Washington’s federal court, Boasberg had a unique perspective on special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into Trump, overseeing the grand jury proceedings where numerous witnesses testified in secret.
In this capacity, he resolved confidential disputes regarding witness cooperation, such as when then-Vice President Mike Pence challenged a subpoena compelling his testimony. In 2023, Boasberg issued a sealed ruling requiring Pence to testify before the grand jury investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, while also acknowledging that some questions could be restricted.
Trump was later indicted, but the case, along with a separate case concerning classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, was dropped by prosecutors after Trump’s presidential victory last November.
Boasberg presided over many cases related to the January 6th Capitol riot, often handing down sentences that were lighter than those recommended by prosecutors, demonstrating a calm and patient demeanor.
In one instance last year, he calmly listened as a Proud Boys member verbally attacked and insulted him during a sentencing hearing. The defendant, Marc Bru, called him a “clown” and a “fraud” overseeing a “kangaroo court.”
“I’m happy to let you say whatever you wish, but again, I haven’t interrupted you. The government hasn’t interrupted you. I have treated you with courtesy in all of these proceedings,” the judge told Bru before sentencing him to six years in prison.
During the sentencing of Ray Epps, who was targeted by right-wing conspiracy theories and death threats for his role in the Capitol riot, Boasberg clearly described the event as an “insurrection by supporters of the former president and not some violent act instigated by antifa or the FBI.”
Top job on surveillance court
Boasberg is also known among Trump’s allies for his role as a judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) while the FBI investigated potential collusion between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.
A Justice Department inspector general report identified several errors during that investigation, including significant errors and omissions in applications submitted to the FISC to surveil a former Trump campaign national security advisor.
As presiding judge of the FISC, Boasberg reprimanded the Justice Department for failing to be candid with the court regarding those applications, stating that the frequency and severity of the errors during the Russia investigation had “called into question the reliability of the information proffered in other FBI applications.”
In response, he mandated that the Justice Department provide information about its efforts to implement reforms aimed at improving the accuracy of warrant applications submitted to the FISC.
While he has criticized the FBI and its surveillance practices, Boasberg has also faced renewed scrutiny from Trump supporters for what they consider a lenient probation sentence given in 2020 to an FBI lawyer who admitted to altering an email relied upon by the Justice Department during its surveillance of Trump campaign advisor Carter Page during the Russia investigation.
A tangle over deportations
The most recent controversy arose when Boasberg blocked deportation flights under wartime authorities from an immigration law invoked by Trump.
Trump issued a proclamation stating that the law was newly in effect due to what he claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. His administration is paying El Salvador to imprison alleged members of the gang.
After two deportation flights continued to El Salvador despite Boasberg’s verbal order that they be turned around to the U.S., Boasberg convened a hearing on Monday to discuss the Trump administration’s “possible defiance” of his ruling.
The Justice Department is seeking Boasberg’s removal from the case, and Trump amplified the conflict with the judiciary on Tuesday with a social media post calling the judge an unelected “troublemaker and agitator” and urging his impeachment in capital letters.
The post drew a public rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who stated: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
Associated Press writer Michael Kunzelman in Washington contributed to this report.