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Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, a frequent thorn in President Donald Trump’s side, ordered court procedures to require notice when a grand jury refuses to approve an indictment, at least temporarily.
The move, ordered earlier this month, follows the Trump administration’s failed effort to secure charges against six Democrat members of Congress, which Trump and his backers have called the “seditious six” for telling U.S. service members not to obey illegal orders.
“This Court has reviewed current practices relating to the return of indictments and notification of instances in which a grand jury has declined to indict,” Boasberg wrote in the March 4 order.
“In furtherance of the interests of consistency and transparency, and pursuant to its authority under Rule 57.14(b), this Court finds that notification should be provided to the duty magistrate judge whenever a grand jury fails to concur in an indictment, regardless of whether the defendant has already been charged.”
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U.S. Chief District Judge James Boasberg and President Donald Trump have had a long sordid history of opposition between judiciary and presidential candidate and now judiciary and president. (Getty Images)
The order bullet-pointed three directives:
“When a grand jury fails to concur in an indictment in a GJO [Grand Jury Original] investigation, the foreperson shall promptly and in writing report the lack of concurrence to the duty magistrate judge under seal;
“Notifications provided pursuant to this order shall be maintained in the confidential files of the Clerk’s Office and will not be made public absent order of the Court; and
“This order shall remain in effect for 120 days, during which time the Court will consider the adoption of a local rule requiring such notifications. See LCvR 1.1(b).”
Trump’s Justice Department had sought potential grand jury indictments of six Democrats in November — Reps. Jason Crow, D-Col.; Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H.; Chris Deluzio, D-Pa.; and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; and Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ari.; and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich. — for publicly calling for U.S. service members to reject unlawful orders.
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War Secretary Pete Hegseth warned the video is urging military to violate the chain of command.
Trump called the political attack ad “seditious behavior,” calling for them to be “arrested and put on trial” for potential acts of treason, behavior “punishable by death.”
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro sought a federal grand jury indictment in February in D.C., a notoriously left-leaning district that can be expected to side against a sitting Republican administration, according to legal expert Alan Dershowitz.
Pirro fired back at Boasberg’s recent moves last Friday in a fiery news conference, including blocking a subpoena for Federal Reserve and Chairman Jerome Powell, who Trump had long rebuked as “too late” on lowering interest rates and has had massive cost overruns and delays on the $3 billion new Federal Reserve building.
Pirro blasted Boasberg as “an activist judge” and told reporters before walking out that she is getting rejected on grand jury indictments, but is only doing her job.
She said she is “willing to take a not guilty,” “willing to take a no true bill, because I’ll take all the crimes and put them in,” slamming the former Biden administration Justice Department for not seeking prosecutions for crimes at the rate she is now doing.
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Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, had introduced articles of impeachment for Boasberg for “abuse of power” in blocking the Trump administration from removing terrorists and ordered a plane with terrorists to return to the U.S. last year, and another for nondisclosure orders for the former Biden administration’s Artic Frost investigation of congressional Republicans.
READ THE BOASBERG ORDER – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:
In January, a Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, amendment to an appropriation bill failed in an effort to defund Boasberg and his staff amid allegations of weaponization.