4 things to know about Judge Boasberg as he battles Trump over deportation flights

Judge James “Jeb” Boasberg’s time leading the federal trial court in Washington, D.C., had already proved memorable before last weekend.

But his role overseeing a new case that challenges the deportation of hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador has cast an even brighter light on the longtime judge and his work. Boasberg has demanded answers from the Justice Department about whether it followed his orders, and if not, why.

For his part, President Trump posted on social media Tuesday that Boasberg should be impeached for acting as a check on executive branch authority. Legal experts said that’s part of a broader campaign by the White House and its allies to intimidate members of the federal judiciary that have blocked some of Trump’s efforts to dismantle the federal government.

Jeremy Fogel, a retired federal judge, said no judge in the nation’s history has been removed “because of dissatisfaction with his or her rulings.”

But threats of impeachment “contribute to a toxic environment that increases the difficulty of an already difficult job,” said Fogel, who now leads the Berkeley Judicial Institute.

Chief Justice John Roberts took the rare step of making a statement about the role of judges after Trump’s post Tuesday.

“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”

Boasberg, 62, has not commented aside from his official rulings and statements from the bench. Here are four things to know about him.

1. Boasberg played basketball at Yale University, and future Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was one of his roommates in law school

Boasberg’s playing days are over after a knee replacement several years ago. But his friend and former colleague Ron Machen said the judge “was actually pretty good” on the basketball court.

2. Boasberg spent years as a top homicide prosecutor in D.C., in an era when violent crime was high

Boasberg joined the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington in 1996, and stayed for more than five years. Former colleague Glenn Kirschner said Boasberg “never lost a homicide case,” despite taking some of the most difficult assignments in the office at the time.

“He had this way of connecting with people from all walks of life and it was genuine,” Kirschner said.

3. He decided several key legal issues in the Justice Department’s criminal cases against Donald Trump

Boasberg spent about nine years as a judge on D.C.’s municipal court before being promoted to the federal bench by then-President Obama. The Senate confirmed him in a unanimous vote in 2011.

For the past couple of years, he’s served as chief judge of the federal district court, a tenure that’s spanned two of the now defunct federal investigations of Donald Trump.

Boasberg issued a ruling that directed former Vice President Mike Pence to testify to a grand jury as part of a special counsel probe into Trump and the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

His law clerks often go on to be selected to clerk for justices on the U.S. Supreme Court.

4. He prizes collegiality

Boasberg has worked to foster a collegial environment at the courthouse, regularly hosting lunches for judges.

He’s also made trips to his alma mater, Yale, for speaking engagements with fellow judge, Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, stressing their shared commitment to the rule of law.

“We socialize with each other, and we genuinely respect each other,” Friedrich said. “You can become better lawyers and better people by listening to the other side.”