Trump’s statements earned a rare rebuke from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who said that “impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”
A federal judge under attack from President Donald Trump for ruling against his administration in a case involving the deportation of alleged criminals has been assigned another lawsuit involving high-ranking government officials’ use of Signal to discuss sensitive military operations.
According to National Public Radio, Chief Judge James Boasberg of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia will oversee claims brought against several national security officials, who inadvertently added an Atlantic editor to their Signal group chat.
The lawsuit names defendants director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard; CIA director John Ratcliff; Treasury secretary Scott Bessent; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; and former FOX News host and current Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
All of the defendants, along with Vice President J.D. Vance and several others, were listed as members of the Signal group chat.
Intelligence experts, notes NPR, were quick to observe that applications like Signal, an end-to-end messaging platform, are not typically used to direct or discuss military operations of any type. The White House has admitted to a lapse in security protocol but maintains that none of the material discussed in the Signal chat was classified.
Boasberg drew President Trump’s ire after issuing a temporary restraining order against the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members, who were being transported to El Salvador for holding. However, while Boasberg ordered that the flights be either grounded or turned around, the aircraft continued onward to El Salvador.
Trump has since publicly castigated Boasberg, calling him a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge” in a social media post.
“I’m just doing what the VOTERS wanted me to do,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ [sic] I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!”
The president’s allies have also turned to the media in defending Trump’s policies. Sen Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, told FOX News that Boasberg is a “rogue judge” bent on harming the administration.
“These judges have proven they care more about unlawfully kneecapping President Trump’s agenda than accurately applying the facts to the law in each individual case,” Hawley told FOX News. “Congress can change that.”
Conservative Rep. Darrell Issa, of California, told FOX that Boasberg is biased and should offer to recuse himself from the case.
“The bias Judge Boasberg has already demonstrated toward President Donald Trump and his administration is unmistakable,” Issa said. “It is not a random act that Boasberg has the case and I don’t expect him to recuse himself, but that would be the best argument for the integrity of the court.”
The Trump administration’s critics, for their part, have said that the Trump administration’s actions are blatantly unlawful, neglecting or outright ignoring mandated separations of power between each branch of government.
Trump’s statements, in turn, earned a rare rebuke from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who said that “impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”
Sources
Federal judge who drew Trump’s anger picks up new case against administration
Judge fighting Trump over El Salvador deportations assigned to lawsuit over Signal chat leak
Join the conversation!