Articles of Impeachment Filed Against Federal Judge James Boasberg

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The U.S. district judge who has become a face of the anti-Trump movement in federal courts is facing some legal problems of his own.

Texas Republican Rep. Brandon Gill announced on Tuesday that he has filed articles of impeachment against Judge James Boasberg over Boasberg’s role in the FBI’s investigation of Republican lawmakers during the Biden administration.

“Judge Boasberg is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, is unfit for office, and should be impeached,” Gill wrote in a post on the social media platform X.

Boasberg was appointed to the federal bench in 2011 by then-President Barack Obama, according to Boasberg’s bench biography. He has served as the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia since March 2023.

Boasberg’s latest turn in the spotlight stems from the revelation that he was the judge who approved subpoenas related to the FBI’s “Arctic Frost” probe, which grew into now-former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of now-President Donald Trump for allegedly interfering with the results of the 2020 election.

Smith obtained Boasberg-approved subpoenas that allowed him to monitor the phone records of Republican lawmakers, as well as Republican Party officials around the country.

And as Fox News reported Tuesday, Boasberg also signed off on gag orders that aimed to prevent phone carriers from informing their customers about the government scrutiny.

Will Boasberg be impeached?

Yes: 76% (41 Votes)

No: 24% (13 Votes)

One of the lawmakers targeted, outspoken conservative Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, called last week for the House of Representatives to impeach Boasberg.

At a news conference last week, hosted by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Cruz issued a fiery call for Boasberg’s impeachment.

Cruz called Boasberg a “radical leftist judge who is out of control.”

“I am right now calling on the House of Representatives to impeach Judge Boasberg,” Cruz said.

Gill told Fox News Digital that the measure is more than warranted.

“Chief Judge Boasberg has compromised the impartiality of the judiciary and created a constitutional crisis. He is shamelessly weaponizing his power against his political opponents, including Republican members of Congress who are faithfully serving the American people within their jurisdiction,” he said.

“Judge Boasberg was an accomplice in the egregious Arctic Frost scandal where he equipped the Biden DOJ to spy on Republican senators. His lack of integrity makes him clearly unfit for the gavel. I am proud to once again introduce articles of impeachment against Judge Boasberg to hold him accountable for his high crimes and misdemeanors.”

It’s the second time Gill has filed a motion to have Boasberg removed from the bench. The first was in March, when Boasberg infamously ordered planes carrying deported members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to turn around in mid-flight and return the illegal aliens to American soil.

It was an order that was ignored, which infuriated Boasberg, who indicated he could hold the administration in contempt of court.

Fortunately for the Trump administration and its deportation process, Boasberg was overturned by a federal appeals court in a 2-1 vote, with one of the appellate judges slamming Boasberg’s behavior.

“The district court’s abuse of the contempt power is especially egregious because contempt proceedings against senior Executive Branch officials carry profound ‘separation of power[s] overtones’ that demand the most ‘sensitive judicial scrutiny,’” Judge Neomi Rao wrote.

The articles of impeachment are only the beginning of a lengthy process for removing a federal judge, as the articles have to be investigated by a committee before being presented to the entire House for a vote.

If a majority of the House votes to impeach, an impeachment trial would then go to the Senate, where a two-thirds majority would be required to convict.

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