Top Democrat demands results of misconduct complaint against federal judge

WASHINGTON (CN) — Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse this week urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to publicly disclose the results of a misconduct complaint filed against Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, as the D.C. jurist faces renewed threats of impeachment from congressional Republicans.

Boasberg, a frequent political foe of the Trump administration who most recently weighed holding the Justice Department in contempt of court over accusations it defied a judicial order, was the target of a formal complaint over the summer contending that he made improper public comments about President Donald Trump.

And the Justice Department complaint has since been used as fodder for Republicans who in recent weeks renewed efforts to impeach Boasberg, framing the Barack Obama appointee as a political activist using his position to tip the legal scales against the Trump administration and its agenda.

Writing in a letter to Bondi dated Monday, Whitehouse argued that the misconduct complaint was “unfounded and without merit.”

“It appears to be part of a campaign to harass and threaten Chief Judge Boasberg as he investigates whether your department committed contempt of court and requires your team to answer questions under oath versus on X,” the Rhode Island Democrat wrote.

In its complaint, filed with the U.S. Judicial Conference in July, the Justice Department said Boasberg has “undermined the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary” with comments he made during a Judicial Conference meeting about the Trump administration possibly disregarding court orders.

“Although his comments would be inappropriate even if they had some basis, they were even worse because Judge Boasberg had no basis — the Trump administration has always complied with court orders,” the agency said.

Though the text of the complaint itself has been made public, it’s unclear whether the matter has been resolved or if the Judicial Conference has determined that Boasberg did in fact violate the judicial code of conduct. Whitehouse pointed out in his Monday letter that the Justice Department would get a copy of any such resolution after the Judicial Conference makes an initial decision. He requested that Bondi turn over the results of the complaint as soon as they are made available.

“Should the result of your complaint be its dismissal, or a finding of no misconduct, then continued use of your complaint as a rhetorical weapon to bring pressure against a federal judge would be both improper and unfounded,” Whitehouse told the attorney general. “I’m sure you wouldn’t want that.”

The Justice Department did not immediately return a request for comment.

Republican lawmakers in recent weeks have again revved up their efforts to impeach Boasberg and other federal judges who they argue abused their offices to hand the Trump administration legal defeats.

During a contentious hearing last week in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Texas Senator Ted Cruz argued that the D.C. federal judge and Maryland-based U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman “meet the standard for impeachment and for conviction and removal from office.”

Republicans on the panel cited the Justice Department complaint against Boasberg, as well as reports that he allowed special counsel Jack Smith to conceal efforts to secure phone toll records of sitting senators in his 2020 election interference probe, as evidence that the judge had violated his code of conduct.

But an incensed Whitehouse contended that his colleagues across the aisle were coordinating to “egg on” threats against Boasberg at a time when threats against federal judges are already skyrocketing.

“There was a time when I’d have hoped the Senate Judiciary Committee would not be roped into a scheme to amplify pressure and threats against a sitting federal judge, but here we are,” he said.

Though Congress has constitutional authority to impeach federal judges, it’s a power that has been used sparingly throughout American history. Only a handful of judges have ever been successfully removed from office — mostly for criminal activity.

And Republican leadership under the second Trump administration has been skeptical about using impeachment as a tool of retribution against federal judges they view as politically biased against the president. House Speaker Mike Johnson has long shied away from the prospect and has instead held up legislative solutions such as a bill reducing the scope of nationwide injunctions as a “silver bullet” to so-called activist judges.

But Cruz last week appeared confident that the political winds would shift, saying he believed impeachment efforts against Boasberg and Boardman would clear the House and move to trial in the Senate.

The Texas Republican told Courthouse News that the judges’ conduct was “the most indefensible” and that they had clearly deviated from their oath of office. He did not say whether he thought Johnson had changed his mind on impeaching judges.

Amid earlier talk of judicial impeachments last spring, the Supreme Court issued a rare public statement condemning efforts to remove lower court jurists. Chief Justice John Roberts said that impeachments were not an “appropriate response” to judicial rulings with which Congress disagrees.

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