WASHINGTON — Hours before a hearing in the case is set to take place, President Donald Trump lashed out about a lawsuit against members of his administration over their use of the Signal messaging app being assigned to the same judge at the center of his wrath amid the legal battle over the administration’s attempt to deport some Venezuelan migrants. 

What You Need To Know

  • Hours before a hearing in the case is set to take place, President Donald Trump lashed out about a lawsuit against members of his administration over their use of the Signal messaging app being assigned to the same judge at the center of his wrath amid the legal battle over the administration’s attempt to deport some Venezuelan migrants
  • On Truth Social, Trump called it “disgraceful” that the suit — filed by American Oversight over the chat in which top national security officials shared information on attacks in Yemen and accidentally included a journalist — was given to Judge James Boasberg
  • Trump went on to claim that Boasberg is “grabbing” cases involving the president, despite a spokesperson for the district court noting its rules dictate that cases are assigned to judges at random with limited exception
  • The spokesperson confirmed to Spectrum News that the American Oversight suit was given to Boasberg through the regular random case assignment process

In an overnight post on Truth Social, Trump on Thursday called it “disgraceful” that the suit — filed by the government watchdog group American Oversight over the chat in which top national security officials shared information on attacks in Yemen and accidentally included a journalist — was given to Judge James Boasberg. 

“There is no way for a Republican, especially a TRUMP REPUBLICAN, to win before him,” the president wrote after 1 a.m. Thursday. 

Trump went on to claim that Boasberg is “grabbing” cases involving the president, despite a spokesperson for the district court noting its rules dictate that cases are assigned to judges at random with limited exceptions. The spokesperson confirmed to Spectrum News that the American Oversight suit was given to Boasberg through the regular random case assignment process. 

The president also said in his post that it “probably doesn’t matter” either way, asserting that it would be “virtually impossible” for him to get a fair ruling in Washington and calling for an investigation into the nation’s court system. 

“There must be an immediate investigation of this Rigged System, before it is too late!” he wrote. 

The post came hours before Boasberg is set to preside over a motion hearing at 4 p.m. Thursday on the American Oversight case in which the government watchdog group is suing Trump Cabinet officials in the group chat, alleging they violated the Federal Records Act by using Signal, which allows for messages to be automatically deleted, to discuss attacks against Houthi targets. 

The Federal Records Act, which sets the rules around requirements for agency heads to preserve records, was amended in 2021 to “explicitly” include electronic records. 

The Signal conversation shared by the journalist who was inadvertently added to the chat — The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg — showed messages were set to disappear. 

Trump’s post marked the latest instance of the president and his allies heaping criticism on Boasberg and federal judges more broadly. 

Despite insisting he never has and never will defy a court order — an issue playing out in the ongoing legal saga over the administration’s deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants — the president has referred to Boasberg as a “lunatic” and “rogue” and called for his impeachment. His White House has labeled the judge a “Democrat activist.” 

Boasberg was promoted to the federal bench by former President Barack Obama but was first made a judge by Republican former President George W. Bush. 

The president’s call for impeachment — part of a growing trend among some Republicans and Trump allies — prompted a rare statement from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who said ousting a judge is not an “appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.” 

Boasberg is the judge who ordered a pause in Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act — a 1798 law that has been used three times before in history and previously only during times of war — to send more than 200 migrants the administration says are affiliated with a Venezuelan gang to prison in El Salvador without hearings. 

He has become the foremost figure in the administration’s feuds with the courts as the White House becomes increasingly vocal about judges they feel are holding up the president from implementing his agenda. 

Impeachment of a federal judge is very rare, and convicting one requires support from two-thirds of the Senate — a threshold the current upper chamber would be unlikely to meet. Nonetheless, members of the House GOP have filed articles of impeachment against judges, and Speaker Mike Johnson this week sought to stress the influence Congress has over federal courts, noting that it "can eliminate an entire district court."