Justice Department files misconduct complaint against federal judge handling deportation case
Escalating the administration's conflict with U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that she directed the filing of the complaint against Boasberg 'for making improper public comments about President Trump and his administration.'
The complaint stems from remarks Boasberg allegedly made in March to Chief Justice John Roberts and other federal judges saying the administration would trigger a constitutional crisis by disregarding federal court rulings, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Associated Press.
The comments 'have undermined the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,' the complaint says, adding that the administration has 'always complied with all court orders.' Boasberg is among several judges who have questioned whether the administration has complied with their orders.
The meeting took place days before Boasberg issued an order blocking deportation flights that Trump was carrying out by invoking wartime authorities from an 18th century law.
The judge's verbal order to turn around planes that were on the way to El Salvador was ignored. Boasberg has since found probable cause that the administration committed contempt of court.
The comments were supposedly made during a meeting of the Judicial Conference, the federal judiciary's governing body. The remarks were first reported by the conservative website The Federalist, which said it obtained a memo summarizing the meeting.
Boasberg, the chief judge in the district court in the nation's capital, is a member of the Judicial Conference. Its meetings are not public.
The complaint calls for an investigation, the reassignment of the deportations case to another judge while the inquiry is ongoing and sanctions, including the possible recommendation of impeachment, if the investigation substantiates the allegations.
Trump himself already has called for Boasberg's impeachment, which in turn prompted a rare response from Roberts rejecting the call.
The complaint was filed with Judge Sri Srinivasan, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
More than 250 Venezuelans who were deported to a Salvadoran mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, were sent home to Venezuela earlier this month in a deal that also free 10 U.S. citizens and permanent residents who had been held by Venezuela.
But the lawsuit over the deportations and the administration's response to Boasberg's order remains in his court.
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Winnipeg Free Press
16 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
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Montreal Gazette
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- Montreal Gazette
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Vancouver Sun
an hour ago
- Vancouver Sun
Opinion: Choosing a distinctly Canadian adventure in place of a planned trip to the U.S.
Last week I learned my upcoming family vacation to trace our early French-Canadian roots in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia is 'mean and nasty,' according to the bully down south. You see, I'm 11th-generation Canadian and chose this adventure now because our original plans for New York are a no-go. My family, like many Canadians, has decided to spend our hard-earned toonies in support of our country. While proud of Americans buying American, the White House is name-calling Canadians for buying Canadian. When I saw this in the news, all I could do was roll my eyes. What nonsense. We don't like being bullied and threatened, hearing that our lakes and rivers are a 'faucet' or having our entire country trivialized. But it's not the bully, it's we who are the problem. Classic. A daily roundup of Opinion pieces from the Sun and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Informed Opinion will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The U.S. ambassador to Canada, while speaking at an annual gathering where Pacific Northwest provincial and state governments collaborate for mutual economic benefit, said the president thinks Canadians are 'mean and nasty.' His words and divisive sentiments went over like a lead balloon. Needless to say, this guy is clearly following Trump's orders on international capitulation rather than fulfilling the role of an ambassador supporting international co-operation. I doubt that anyone south of the 49th really thinks Canadians are going to offer our beloved 'sorry' for buying Canadian now that Trump has added name-calling to his repertoire for antagonizing us. As premiers and other Canadian leaders have pointed out, we'll take the names in stride, have a laugh and continue on our proud and mighty Canadian roads and transactions with elbows up a little higher. That's certainly what my family is doing. We can't wait to explore Canada and our ancestry more. Lucky for us, my aunt did a lot of research a few decades ago, so we know many of the churches where ancestors were baptized, married and buried. After enjoying poutine, smoked meat sandwiches and Cirque du Soleil in Montreal, we're renting a car so we can stop at those churches and communities on our way to la belle ville de Québec. The history in Québec will keep us busy for several days. The kids want to go to some of the iconic places they've seen in their children's books about Canada. I'm eager to see the Assemblée nationale de Québec. My husband has the Plains of Abraham on his list. From there, we're on the road to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. We'll stop to see the giant lobster in Shediac, but topping our must-sees is Acadian culture. In my aunt's research, she scouted out the area where our Acadian ancestors settled in the 1630s and '40s. After crossing the Atlantic, six-year-old Jeanne Trahan grew up in Port Royal, now Annapolis Royal. As a young mother, she built her home with her husband, Jacques Bourgeois, in an area that became the border between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia over a century later. In that century, my family traded with the Mi'kmaq and repeatedly turned Bostonian raiders into traders. Along with their Indigenous neighbours, Acadians had to first protect themselves from those raiders, but regularly, the bounty from trade and co-operation tamped down the aggression (perhaps Trump should take note here). Then in 1755, as one of the first acts of the Seven Years War between the French and English Crowns, the British rounded up my ancestors onto ships and deported them along with about 7,000 other Acadians to the 13 Colonies, the very places that would form the first United States of America. Some fled to the forest where their Mi'kmaq friends provided refuge and guided them to safety, other relatives stayed in the Colonies and became Americans after the Revolutionary War, and some went to the Louisiana Bayou, forming what is now Cajun culture. My direct line made their way back to Canada 20 years after the deportation. In those two decades, members of my family lost their communities, livelihoods, were forced into indentured servitude, were raped, and grieved missing and deceased children. Upon their return to Canada, it's incredible that they moved past vengeance in favour of building a peaceful bond across borders for the betterment of all. Future generations worked in the U.S. and travelled freely over the border to see friends and family. Records even show that one of my great-great-great uncles, l'oncle Joe Bourgeois, enlisted for the North in the American Civil War before finding life as a trader with Indigenous Peoples, ultimately making his way to Ktunaxa and Sinixt territories and a new city called Nelson in B.C. Tracing the places where my ancestors lived their lives isn't only interesting and a great way to spend a vacation, it also gives me and my children pride in being Canadian. Far from 'mean and nasty,' our history shows us that Canadians, from First Nations to new immigrants, are strong, resilient and resourceful. We are proud of who we are and what we bring to this world. We're not perfect, and we do apologize for that. But we're not going to apologize for standing up for ourselves and what is right in the search for peace. Like all bullies and their enablers, the current U.S. president and his ambassador to Canada don't get that. The day will come when they are no longer in power, like it has for others before, and when it does Canadians will still be Canadian, and we will have spent a lot of money in Canada. Michelle Mungall was a B.C. cabinet minister from 2017 to 2020. She is now an adviser in the energy industry and is writing her memoir, Minister Mom.
