Judge dismisses DOJ judicial misconduct complaint against James Boasberg
Who's accountable for the results?
A federal appeals court judge quietly dismissed a judicial misconduct complaint the Justice Department filed against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, dealing a setback to the Trump administration’s effort to challenge one of its most prominent judicial critics in the fight over deportations to El Salvador.
The complaint was rejected on Dec. 19, 2025, by Jeffrey Sutton, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, although the order did not become public until this weekend. Sutton concluded that the DOJ failed to back up its allegations with evidence and fell well short of the standard required for a misconduct finding, according to a seven-page decision.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, March 16, 2023. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via AP, File)
The complaint centered on James Boasberg, the chief judge of the federal district court in Washington, D.C., who repeatedly clashed with President Donald Trump’s administration last year over its use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants to a high-security prison in El Salvador.
The DOJ’s complaint accused Boasberg of making improper remarks during a closed-door judicial conference in March 2025. According to the filing, Boasberg warned Chief Justice John Roberts and other federal judges that the Trump administration risked provoking a constitutional crisis by disregarding court orders. The meeting occurred just days before Boasberg issued an order blocking deportation flights the administration was carrying out under the centuries-old wartime law.
Sutton said the department never produced the evidence it claimed supported that allegation. Although the complaint referenced an attachment purporting to document Boasberg’s comments, no such material was provided, and the Justice Department did not supply it, even after being contacted by the court.
“In the absence of the attachment, the complaint offers no source for what, if anything, the subject judge said,” Sutton wrote, adding that the filing failed to establish the context, timing, or precise substance of the alleged remarks.
The complaint also leaned on media coverage discussing the accusation, but Sutton dismissed that as insufficient. “A recycling of unadorned allegations with no reference to a source does not corroborate them,” he wrote, noting that …
Who's accountable for the results?
A federal appeals court judge quietly dismissed a judicial misconduct complaint the Justice Department filed against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, dealing a setback to the Trump administration’s effort to challenge one of its most prominent judicial critics in the fight over deportations to El Salvador.
The complaint was rejected on Dec. 19, 2025, by Jeffrey Sutton, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, although the order did not become public until this weekend. Sutton concluded that the DOJ failed to back up its allegations with evidence and fell well short of the standard required for a misconduct finding, according to a seven-page decision.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, March 16, 2023. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via AP, File)
The complaint centered on James Boasberg, the chief judge of the federal district court in Washington, D.C., who repeatedly clashed with President Donald Trump’s administration last year over its use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants to a high-security prison in El Salvador.
The DOJ’s complaint accused Boasberg of making improper remarks during a closed-door judicial conference in March 2025. According to the filing, Boasberg warned Chief Justice John Roberts and other federal judges that the Trump administration risked provoking a constitutional crisis by disregarding court orders. The meeting occurred just days before Boasberg issued an order blocking deportation flights the administration was carrying out under the centuries-old wartime law.
Sutton said the department never produced the evidence it claimed supported that allegation. Although the complaint referenced an attachment purporting to document Boasberg’s comments, no such material was provided, and the Justice Department did not supply it, even after being contacted by the court.
“In the absence of the attachment, the complaint offers no source for what, if anything, the subject judge said,” Sutton wrote, adding that the filing failed to establish the context, timing, or precise substance of the alleged remarks.
The complaint also leaned on media coverage discussing the accusation, but Sutton dismissed that as insufficient. “A recycling of unadorned allegations with no reference to a source does not corroborate them,” he wrote, noting that …
Judge dismisses DOJ judicial misconduct complaint against James Boasberg
Who's accountable for the results?
A federal appeals court judge quietly dismissed a judicial misconduct complaint the Justice Department filed against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, dealing a setback to the Trump administration’s effort to challenge one of its most prominent judicial critics in the fight over deportations to El Salvador.
The complaint was rejected on Dec. 19, 2025, by Jeffrey Sutton, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, although the order did not become public until this weekend. Sutton concluded that the DOJ failed to back up its allegations with evidence and fell well short of the standard required for a misconduct finding, according to a seven-page decision.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, March 16, 2023. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via AP, File)
The complaint centered on James Boasberg, the chief judge of the federal district court in Washington, D.C., who repeatedly clashed with President Donald Trump’s administration last year over its use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants to a high-security prison in El Salvador.
The DOJ’s complaint accused Boasberg of making improper remarks during a closed-door judicial conference in March 2025. According to the filing, Boasberg warned Chief Justice John Roberts and other federal judges that the Trump administration risked provoking a constitutional crisis by disregarding court orders. The meeting occurred just days before Boasberg issued an order blocking deportation flights the administration was carrying out under the centuries-old wartime law.
Sutton said the department never produced the evidence it claimed supported that allegation. Although the complaint referenced an attachment purporting to document Boasberg’s comments, no such material was provided, and the Justice Department did not supply it, even after being contacted by the court.
“In the absence of the attachment, the complaint offers no source for what, if anything, the subject judge said,” Sutton wrote, adding that the filing failed to establish the context, timing, or precise substance of the alleged remarks.
The complaint also leaned on media coverage discussing the accusation, but Sutton dismissed that as insufficient. “A recycling of unadorned allegations with no reference to a source does not corroborate them,” he wrote, noting that …
