Texas Congressman Seeks Impeachment of Federal Judge Over “Arctic Frost” Investigation
Washington, D.C. – Representative Brandon Gill of Texas is formally requesting the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg. Gill says Boasberg abused his power in a case known as the “Arctic Frost” probe.
Republicans, who support former President Donald Trump, have been critical of Boasberg. He was the judge who approved subpoenas and other actions in the investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith.
Gill stated that Boasberg has damaged the fairness of the court system and caused a crisis regarding the Constitution. He believes the judge unfairly used his authority against political opponents, including Republican members of Congress.
According to Gill, Judge Boasberg helped the Justice Department spy on Republican senators through the “Arctic Frost” scandal. He feels Boasberg’s actions show he is not fit to be a judge.
The request to impeach Boasberg accuses him of abusing his power.
The claim is that Boasberg allowed Special Counsel John Smith to issue unnecessary orders that kept information secret during the “Arctic Frost” investigation. These orders affected members of Congress who were doing their jobs, protected by the Constitution.
The “Arctic Frost” documents, which were edited to remove sensitive information, were recently released by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa. These documents showed that phone records of several senators and one member of the House were subpoenaed. Orders were also sent to phone companies Verizon and AT&T, telling them not to inform the lawmakers about the subpoenas. Verizon followed the order, but AT&T did not.
Boasberg signed both the subpoenas and the orders, which has led to strong criticism from Republicans. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas called the investigation a serious overreach of power.
Federal judges have the power to decide whether to approve such orders. It is not clear what information Boasberg reviewed before approving the requests for the senators’ phone records. Much of the information related to the investigation is still classified or has been heavily edited.
Republicans who were affected by the subpoenas argue that they may violate the part of the Constitution that protects lawmakers from being questioned about their work in Congress.
This is not the first time Boasberg has faced criticism from Republicans.
Earlier this year, Republicans threatened to impeach him after he temporarily stopped the Trump administration’s deportation flights of migrants to El Salvador.
However, Gill and other Republicans stopped pushing for impeachment at that time after Republican leaders in the House suggested that it might not be the best way to bring about change.
