Trump’s Least Favorite Judge Has Friends in High Places
To President Trump, Judge James E. Boasberg is “a troublemaker” and a “Radical Left Lunatic.” But his record and biography, including a friendship with Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, say otherwise.
Before they were federal judges, James Emanuel Boasberg and Brett M. Kavanaugh were classmates at Yale Law School and housemates in a red brick off-campus townhouse, where they forged a bond that carries forward to this day.
Their friendship, according to interviews with six law school classmates, draws on a foundation of commonalities: Both men are the sons of attorneys and attended elite private high schools in Washington — Georgetown Preparatory for Justice Kavanaugh, St. Albans for Judge Boasberg. Both went to Yale as undergraduates. Both were first appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush. As judges, they overlapped for more than seven years at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C.
The two jurists, neither of whom commented for this story, “have a lot in common,” said Amy Jeffress, a former law school classmate, who said Judge Boasberg and Justice Kavanaugh have been close since she knew them in school.
Friends and colleagues describe Judge Boasberg, who goes by Jeb, as a moderate, known for his calm temperament and thoughtful jurisprudence. He is also a particularly well-respected jurist with deep ties to members of the conservative legal establishment, such as Justice Kavanaugh.
In 2018, President Trump elevated Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Last month, the president called for Judge Boasberg to be removed from the bench after he issued an order temporarily stopping the administration from using the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime law, to deport men accused of being Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. Mr. Trump called Judge Boasberg, 62, “a Radical Left Lunatic, a troublemaker and agitator.”
Lawyers, court watchers and other judges who know Judge Boasberg say that out of the 635 trial court judges on the federal bench, Mr. Trump has chosen an especially hard target to paint as an out-of-step radical.
“He and I might have different views about how to interpret a statute or the Constitution, but in every case in which I reviewed his work, I found him to be the epitome of an impartial judge doing his best to apply the law faithfully,” said Thomas B. Griffith, a retired judge who served for 15 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit after being nominated by President George W. Bush.
In a hearing on Thursday, Judge Boasberg said he would soon rule on whether there was probable cause to hold the administration in contempt for ignoring his order last month barring about 100 Venezuelan deportees from being flown to El Salvador. A contempt ruling would represent a new level of constitutional tension between the judiciary and the administration.
Kenneth Christmas, who lived with Judge Boasberg and Justice Kavanaugh in the townhouse at 61 Lake Place in New Haven, Conn., said Mr. Trump’s characterization of Judge Boasberg did not match up with the man he knew. Mr. Christmas said the commonalities between the two jurists went beyond their backgrounds.
“In our group, they are the ballast,” he said. “They both stand their ground. They have a viewpoint, but they both are eager to hear what the other side has to say.”