Chief Justice John Roberts rebukes Trump for saying judge who blocked deportation flights should be impeached: ‘Not an appropriate response’
WASHINGTON �Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts scolded President Trump on Tuesday for demanding that a federal judge who blocked the swift deportation of Venezuelan gang members be impeached.
In a rare direct response to a presidential statement, Roberts rebuked Trump’s morning polemic against Chief DC US District Judge James Boasberg.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” the chief justice wrote.
“The normal appellate review process exists for that reason.”
Trump, 78, went off on Boasberg after the judge ruled Saturday that the president could not immediately invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport members of Tren de Aragua without any hearing �nbsp;instituting a 14-day restraining order and demanding that deportation flights already in the air return to the US.
“This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, was not elected President,�nbsp; 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 Judgesâ€?[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!!!â€?/p>
Shortly after Trump’s statement, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) introduced articles of impeachment with five co-sponsors â€?accusing Boasberg of “usurp[ing] the Executive’s constitutional authority” with a “politically motivated ruling.”
Impeachment requires a bare majority in the House, which is narrowly controlled by Republicans. A subsequent decision to remove an officeholder requires a two-thirds vote by the Senate, where the GOP holds just 53 of 100 seats.
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Attorney General Pam Bondi also has blasted Boasberg, saying in a Monday night interview on Fox News that the judge “is attempting to meddle in national security and foreign affairs and he can’t do it.”
“You know, this one federal judge, again, thinks he can control foreign policy for the entire country, and he cannot,�Bondi said.
Boasberg on Tuesday set a noon Wednesday deadline for the Justice Department to provide more information on the deportation of alleged Tren de Aragua members under the 18th-century law, which was last invoked during World War II.
Eight judges have been impeached and convicted in US history �most recently Louisiana US District Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr., who was found guilty in a Senate trial of corruption and perjury in 2010.
Boasberg was nominated to the federal bench in 2011 by President Barack Obama.
His notable rulings include sentencing FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith to one year of probation in 2021 for doctoring an email in a court submission to secure a surveillance order against Trump’s 2016 campaign adviser Carter Page.
Trump publicly pressured Boasberg on the immigration case despite slamming pro-Democratic media personalities Friday for criticizing judges in a since-discontinued criminal prosecution of himself for allegedly mishandling 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 a fiery speech at the Justice Department.
“They wanted to scare the hell out of the judges,” Trump added.
“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.”
Trump and Roberts have clashed before over the president’s criticism of judges.
In 2018, Roberts reprimanded Trump for saying that Oakland, Calif. US District Judge Jon Tigar — who had ruled against the 45th president’s prohibition on asylum for people who illegally entered the US — was “an Obama judge.”
 “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,” Roberts said at the time.
Trump was unrepentant, responding on social media: “Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have ‘Obama judges,â€?and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country.”