Why does Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt want this federal judge impeached? | Opinion
Eric Schmitt, the junior U.S. senator from Missouri, wants House Republicans to impeach James Boasberg, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Boasberg’s alleged wrongdoing? He dared to call out officials in President Donald Trump administration for their clear disregard for the rule of law.
Schmitt is a MAGA-branded former Republican attorney general of Missouri. On Tuesday, Schmitt accused Boasberg of judicial abuse after a federal appeals court halted Boasberg’s contempt investigation into Trump administration officials.
Schmitt took to social media to air his grievance against Boasberg, despite a slim chance of Boasberg being removed from the bench, as the Hill reported.
In a post on X, Schmitt wrote: “The D.C. Circuit ruled Boasberg’s contempt crusade against Trump officials is an ‘improper investigation’ and ‘clear abuse of discretion.’ He tried to imprison Trump officials for deporting Venezuelan gang members. I’m calling on the House: Impeach Rogue Judge Boasberg.”
With all due respect, Senator, don’t you have better things to do with your time than to take to social media to air trumped up grievances?
Besides, Boasberg had good reason to threaten Trump administration officials with criminal contempt — former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem included — for basically ignoring his order to stop deportation flights to El Salvador.
In a 2-1 decision, two Trump-appointed judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Boasberg did not have the legal authority to investigate whether Trump administration officials violated his order not to deport immigrants to El Salvador without giving them due process to challenge their removal orders.
But in a dissent opinion, Judge J. Michelle Childs, a Biden appointee, argued that the ruling could undermine judicial authority — and she wasn’t wrong.
“Contempt of court is a public offense, and the fate of our democratic republic will depend on whether we treat it as such,” Childs wrote. “In the many forms in which it can be committed, contempt degrades the power that the people, through their Constitution and Congress, gave the federal courts. Without the contempt power, the rule of law is an illusion, a theory that stands upon shifting sands.”
When it comes to law and order, Schmitt has seemingly taken his cue from Trump by attacking judiciary rulings MAGA folks don’t like. That was clearly the case here, and it wasn’t a good look for Missouri’s former attorney general.
