DOJ sees ‘breach’ of judicial oath in judge’s leaked Trump criticism – Washington Examiner
DOJ sees ‘breach of the judicial oath’ in judge’s leaked Trump criticism
Department of Justice officials are criticizing what they say were expressions of clear bias against President Donald Trump in private comments from a top federal judge, following a report Wednesday on leaked notes from a judicial conference in March.
The reported conversations, described in a memorandum obtained by The Federalist, refer to remarks made at a meeting involving United States District Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, during the March 2025 gathering of the Judicial Conference, a policymaking body made up of top federal judges. Boasberg reportedly told fellow judges and Chief Justice John Roberts that his colleagues were “concern[ed] that the Administration would disregard rulings of federal courts leading to a constitutional crisis,” according to notes about the meeting obtained by the outlet.
Responding to the leaked notes on Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche described the judge’s remarks as “a serious breach of the judicial oath and a threat to the rule of law.”
“This memo confirms that at least some federal judges were predisposed against the Trump administration,” Blanche wrote in a post on X. “Every litigant, regardless of politics, is entitled to a fair forum.”
Other senior DOJ officials, including Chad Mizelle, called the report “very troubling” and said it “perhaps explains the completely lawless order issued by Judge Boasberg (which was unsurprisingly stayed by the D.C. Circuit).”
The Judicial Conference meeting was held the week of March 11, when Roberts and roughly 30 federal judges, including Boasberg, gathered in Washington to review policy and administrative issues across the judiciary. A summary of the meeting said Boasberg warned Roberts of possible constitutional friction due to what he anticipated would be Trump’s defiance of federal rulings, prompting the chief justice to downplay his concerns.
“Chief Justice Roberts expressed hope that would not happen and in turn no constitutional crisis would materialize,” the Federalist reported from the meeting notes it obtained, which also claimed Roberts said “his interactions with the President have been civil and respectful.”
Boasberg’s comments notably came just days before he entered a temporary restraining order on March 15, instructing the Trump administration to return planes carrying illegal immigrants from Venezuela that were already en route to a prison facility in El Salvador. The order was only entered after planes had already departed, and the aircraft were thus not turned around. Progressive immigration rights groups and Democrats claimed the Trump administration had defied Boasberg’s order.
Boasberg, who was first confirmed under former President George W. Bush to the Superior Court in D.C. before former President Barack Obama later nominated him to his current post, came under fire from conservative critics earlier this year when he issued the temporary injunction halting the Trump administration’s removal of illegal immigrants to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act, a decision later reversed by the Supreme Court. The DOJ argued that Boasberg lacked jurisdiction, and his ruling fueled allegations of judicial bias against the administration.
The report about his private comments just days before ruling aggressively against the Trump administration will likely deepen those criticisms.
The controversy surrounding Boasberg’s handling of the Alien Enemies Act case has surfaced as the Senate Judiciary Committee weighs the nomination of former senior DOJ official Emil Bove to the Third Circuit, where a vote on his nomination is scheduled for Thursday. Bove, who served during the period in question, has been accused by a former DOJ attorney-turned-leaker of instructing government lawyers to ignore court orders; an allegation Bove firmly denied under oath at his confirmation hearing last month.
“I have never advised a Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order,” Bove testified.
The Judicial Conference ordinarily only releases an outline of the meeting called the “Reports of the Proceedings,” alongside a follow-up interview with press members. The Washington Examiner has not independently verified the meeting notes described in the Federalist report, and no public reference to this conversation was made following the judicial policymaking body’s bi-annual meeting.
TRUMP LEGAL WINS MUDDLED BY CONTINUED LOWER COURT LOSSES
Still, the allegations stemming from the notes amplify concerns about political bias among lower court judges. Currently, 15 active judges serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Of those, Democratic presidents appointed 11, and four were appointed by Republican presidents, which has fueled criticisms of imbalance in cases handled by the federal district court.
The Washington Examiner contacted Roberts and Boasberg for comment. Peter P. Kaplan, Communications and Public Affairs Officer for the Judicial Conference, declined to comment.
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