Chief Justice John Roberts took President Trump to task on Tuesday for suggesting that a federal judge should be removed from the bench after blocking the immediate deportation of Venezuelan gang members.
Roberts issued an unusual rebuke in direct response to Trump’s remarks about Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., stating: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.
“The normal appellate review process exists for that reason,” he added.
The former president, now 78, lashed out at Boasberg following a ruling on Saturday that prevented him from using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to expel members of the Tren de Aragua gang without due process. The judge’s decision imposed a temporary 14-day ban on the deportations and ordered that flights already en route turn back to the U.S.
“This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, was not elected President,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“He didn’t WIN the popular VOTE (by a lot!), he didn’t WIN ALL SEVEN SWING STATES, he didn’t WIN 2,750 to 525 Counties, HE DIDN’T WIN ANYTHING! I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE, BUT FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR THIS HISTORIC VICTORY.
“I’m just doing what the VOTERS wanted me to do. This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ [sic] I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!! WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
Trump’s call for Boasberg’s removal was quickly taken up by Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), who introduced articles of impeachment with the backing of five other lawmakers. The resolution accused Boasberg of “usurp[ing] the Executive’s constitutional authority” with a ruling influenced by politics.
Impeachment in the House requires a simple majority, a threshold that the slim Republican majority could potentially meet. However, removing a judge from office necessitates a two-thirds vote in the Senate, where Republicans control just 53 of 100 seats, making removal unlikely.
Throughout American history, only eight federal judges have been both impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate. The most recent was Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. of Louisiana, who was found guilty of corruption and perjury in 2010.
Boasberg was appointed to his position in 2011 by then-President Barack Obama. Among his high-profile rulings was the 2021 sentencing of FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith to a year of probation for falsifying an email used to justify a surveillance warrant against Trump’s 2016 campaign aide, Carter Page.
Even as he attacked Boasberg over immigration, Trump had recently criticized media figures who had publicly scrutinized judges presiding over a since-dismissed criminal case against him involving classified documents.
“They were playing the ref. I don’t think it’s legal, they might as well go out and just shout it in a courthouse,” Trump said in an impassioned speech at the Justice Department on Friday.
“They wanted to scare the hell out of the judges,” he continued.
“The New York Times will write whatever these people say, and the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, and MSDNC and the fake news, CNN and ABC, CBS and NBC, and they’ll write whatever they say. And what do you do to get rid of it? You convict Trump. All you have to do is be really tough on him and ultimately convict him and they leave you alone. It’s totally illegal what they do.”
{Matzav.com}The post Chief Justice John Roberts Rebukes Trump For Saying Judge Who Blocked Deportation Flights Should Be Impeached: ‘Not An Appropriate Response’ first appeared on Matzav.com.