Trump on deportation flight judge getting Signal chat case: ‘Disgraceful’
President Trump on Thursday doubled down on his criticism of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, calling him "disgraceful" after the judge was named to oversee the case involving a Signal group chat where Trump administration officials allegedly leaked war plans to The Atlantic's top editor.
Boasberg has most recently been in the spotlight for his handling of the case involving the administration's use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants that officials say were linked to the Tren de Aragua gang.
“How disgraceful is it that ‘Judge’ James Boasberg has just been given a fourth ‘Trump Case,’ something which is, statistically, IMPOSSIBLE,” Trump wrote early Thursday in a post on Truth Social.
With the addition of the Signal-related lawsuit against top Trump officials, Boasberg now oversees four lawsuits against the second Trump administration.
The federal judge was handed the case Wednesday after a lawsuit was filed by government watchdog group American Oversight. In its filing, the group argues that Trump officials violated their obligations under the Federal Records Act (FRA) regarding disappearing Signal messages about the recent attack on the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The information was revealed after Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to the text chain that contained attack plans including time, location and weapons.
The FRA was amended in 2021 and determined electronic messages from agency leaders must be kept as records. National security adviser Mike Waltz set some of the group’s messages to delete after a week and some after four, Goldberg’s reporting showed.
Several of those included in the chat, including Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard have acknowledged the "mistake," but stopped short of issuing an apology. Trump has also brushed off the breach.
With Boasberg assigned to the case, the president lavished more attacks on the judge after calling for his impeachment days earlier. The judge has also levied criticism on Trump.
The back-and-forth began after Boasberg issued a ruling to block the administration from using the 18th century law to conduct quicker deportations. When they continued flights, the judge ordered them to be turned around, to no avail.
White House officials argued that the planes had already taken off and were outside of U.S. airways, and thus the judge had no right to intervene or ask questions. Still, Boasberg pressed the administration for more information on the logistics.
In his Thursday post, the president claimed it would be unlikely for a Republican to win a case under Boasberg, who was appointed by former President Obama.
“Boasberg, who is the Chief Judge of the D.C. District Court, seems to be grabbing the ‘Trump Cases’ all to himself, even though it is not supposed to happen that way,” he wrote. “Is there still such a thing as the ‘wheel,’ where the Judges are chosen fairly, and at random”
Boasberg was randomly assigned to each of the four Trump-related cases.
Trump added that the "good thing" is that it is "virtually impossible" for him to get an "honest ruling" in Washington at all.
“Our Nation’s Courts are broken, with New York and D.C. being the most preeminent of all in their Corruption and Radicalism,” he said, pointing to his previous legal battles before taking office.
He called for an “immediate investigation” of what he called a "rigged" system.