Remember when Democrats claimed Trump would be the one to ignore court orders and trigger a constitutional crisis?
Turns out they were projecting again.
And an Obama judge just got hit with an ethics complaint after two words from a judicial conference exposed his entire anti-Trump scheme.
Judge Boasberg's secret surveillance operation finally exposed
Judge James Boasberg thought he could hide what he did in 2023.
The Obama appointee who serves as chief judge of the Washington, D.C. District Court approved secret nondisclosure orders that kept nearly a dozen Republican members of Congress in the dark for an entire year.
Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley's oversight just revealed that Boasberg greenlit special counsel Jack Smith's subpoenas targeting phone records of Republican senators and representatives as part of the "Arctic Frost" investigation into Trump.¹
The targets included Senators Lindsey Graham, Marsha Blackburn, Ron Johnson, Josh Hawley, Cynthia Lummis, Bill Hagerty, Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville, and Representative Mike Kelly.²
Boasberg's nondisclosure orders prohibited phone companies from telling these lawmakers their records had been seized.
Verizon complied with Smith's subpoenas and turned over the records.
AT&T pushed back on the "legal basis" for the surveillance and refused to hand over anything.³
That tells you everything you need to know about how legally shaky these subpoenas were.
The Center to Advance Security in America filed an ethics complaint that pulls no punches about what Boasberg enabled.
"Judge Boasberg enabled certain facets of what may be one of the biggest scandals in the history of the country," the complaint states. "Weaponizing the DOJ to surveil political opposition not only violates the rights of the subjects of the investigation, but also the American people who were unable to know the facts of the investigation due to the secrecy of it."⁴
Two words at judicial conference revealed his bias
Before Boasberg even got assigned to block Trump's deportation flights, he showed his hand at a March judicial conference.
In comments to Chief Justice John Roberts, Boasberg expressed fear that "the Administration would disregard rulings of federal courts leading to a constitutional crisis."⁵
Those two words – "constitutional crisis" – came before Trump ever had a chance to comply or not comply with any of Boasberg's orders.
The judge prejudged Trump's actions and assumed he would ignore court rulings.
That's not impartial justice.
That's political bias dressed up in a black robe.
Days after making those comments, Boasberg got assigned to hear the case challenging Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gang members.
He tried to force planes to turn around mid-flight.
He threatened contempt proceedings against Trump administration officials.
The Supreme Court later erased Boasberg's key ruling and found he lacked jurisdiction in the first place.
But not before Boasberg had already demonstrated exactly the kind of judicial activism he accused Trump of provoking.
CASA Director James Fitzpatrick told reporters that Boasberg's approval of the nondisclosure orders "could be a constitutional violation."⁶
"Boasberg should be immediately investigated and, if found to have violated judicial canons, must be disciplined to maintain the integrity and independence of the federal judiciary," Fitzpatrick stated.⁷
Boasberg faces potential impeachment
Republican Representative Brandon Gill from Texas filed articles of impeachment against Boasberg.⁸
The articles allege Boasberg violated federal law ensuring communications providers for Senate offices "shall not be barred, through operation of any court order or any statutory provision, from notifying the Senate office of any legal process seeking disclosure of Senate data."⁹
"Chief Judge Boasberg does not appreciate basic statute and contributed to the legal inquiries that violate the law indicating he is unfit to serve as Chief Judge," the articles state.¹⁰
This marks Gill's second impeachment effort against Boasberg.
He previously filed articles in March after Boasberg ordered the government to turn planes around that were carrying alleged gang members to El Salvador.
The Department of Justice also filed its own ethics complaint against Boasberg for "improper" comments he made at the judicial conference.¹¹
Senator Lindsey Graham called the secret surveillance of sitting senators' phone records "legal slander" and urged both a House impeachment probe and a Senate select committee investigation.¹²
"The misconduct here is worthy of a Watergate-style investigation," Graham stated.¹³
Here's what makes this whole situation so dangerous.
Boasberg justified keeping senators in the dark for a year by claiming disclosure "will result in destruction of or tampering with evidence, intimidation of potential witnesses and serious jeopardy to the investigation."¹⁴
That's the same kind of reasoning authoritarian regimes use to justify spying on political opposition.
The American people elected Trump to drain the swamp and root out corruption in Washington, D.C.
Judges like Boasberg who abuse their power to enable secret surveillance of members of Congress are exactly the kind of corruption Trump was sent to Washington to stop.
When a federal judge signs off on spying on sitting senators and then tries to hide it for a year, that's not impartial justice.
That's weaponization of the judiciary.
And Boasberg's own words at the judicial conference proved he was biased against Trump before he ever heard a single case involving the Trump administration.
¹ Katelynn Richardson, "Obama Judge Who Greenlit Secret Subpoenas Targeting GOP Hit With Ethics Complaint," Daily Caller News Foundation, November 9, 2025.
² Brooke Singman, "Jack Smith tracked private communications, calls of nearly dozen GOP senators during J6 probe, FBI says," Fox News, October 6, 2025.
³ Richardson, "Obama Judge Who Greenlit Secret Subpoenas."
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ "Judge Who OK'd Secret GOP Subpoenas Faces Ethics Complaint," KSFO-AM, November 8, 2025.
⁶ Richardson, "Obama Judge Who Greenlit Secret Subpoenas."
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Breck Dumas, "Major phone carriers reveal Jack Smith's subpoenas for Republican senators' records," Fox News, October 24, 2025.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Ibid.
