White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took a page from her boss President Donald Trump’s playbook and attacked a federal judge who ruled against him.
She branded the judge an ‘activist’ and even went after his wife over her political donations.
Leavitt’s attack came after Trump himself called Judge James Boasberg a ‘radical left lunatic’ and talked up trying to impeach him after he issued a temporary order blocking deportation flights.
‘The judge in this case is essentially trying to say the President doesn’t have the executive authority to deport foreign terrorists from our American soil. That is an egregious abuse of the bench,’ Leavitt said at the White House.
‘This judge cannot, does not, have that authority. It is the opinion of this White House and of this administration. And that’s why we’re fighting this in court. And it’s very, very clear that this is an activist judge who is trying to usurp this president’s authority,’ Leavitt said.
She added: ‘Under the Alien Enemies Act the president has the power, and that’s why the the deportation campaign will will continue. And this judge, Judge Boasberg, is a Democrat activist. He was appointed by Barack Obama.’
Then she brought up his wife Elizabeth Manson’s political contributions, saying she has donated more than $10,000 to Democrats.
Leavitt said the judge has consistently shown his disdain for this president and his policies, and it’s unacceptable.’
Karoline Leavitt :“The judge in this case is essentially trying to say that the president doesn’t have the executive authority to deport foreign terrorists from our American soil. That is an EGREGIOUS abuse of the bench. This judge cannot does not have that authority.”
“It is… pic.twitter.com/HxD6f68g5F
— JOSH DUNLAP (@JDunlap1974) March 19, 2025
Leavitt repeatedly said Trump had ‘respect’ for Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts, who warned publicly Tuesday that impeachment was ‘not an appropriate response’ for disagreeing with a judicial decision.
Boasberg grew up in Washington, attended Yale Law, got an advanced degree at Oxford, and was appointed by Roberts to head up the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court, which handles highly technical matters.
A reporter noted at the briefing that while Obama elevated the judge, he was earlier a Superior Court appointee of President George W. Bush.
That prompted Leavitt to argue that ’67 percent of all of the injunctions in this century have come against which president? Donald J. Trump.’
She added: ‘Let me say that again – 60 percent of the injunctions bipartisan activists in the judicial branch have come against President Donald Trump.’
Leavitt said it was part of a clear effort by ‘leftists who don’t like this president and are trying to impose or slow down positions.’
One lawyer, David Lurie, wasn’t persuaded. He posted: ‘Leavitt is trumpeting the fact that courts have enjoined many of Trump’s actions as evidence judges are engaged in misconduct Maybe, just maybe, it is an indication that Trump – a convicted felon – habitually breaks the law,’ he wrote.
Nor would Leavitt give ground when a reporter asked why the administration would not identify the people flown to El Salvador, who the administration says were members of violent gangs, despite posting images of some of them on social media.
‘We are not going to reveal operational details about a counterterrorism operation,’ she said.
‘We have the highest degree of confidence in our ICE agents and our Customs Border Patrol agents who have committed their lives to targeting illegal criminals in our country, particularly foreign terrorists,’ she said.
Without such a list, it is difficult to assess the allegations against the deportees.
Judge Boasberg hosted a contentious hearing with DOJ lawyers Wednesday, and said he wants to find out whether the government ‘deliberately flouted’ his order.
Leavitt spoke as lawmakers from the dominant MAGA wing of the House Republican Conference took Donald Trump’s cue and made early steps to impeach a judge the president branded a ‘radical left lunatic’ for ruling to pause deportation flights.
The latest Trump loyalist to get behind the effort was Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, who was not persuaded by pushback from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
‘I voted for President Trump, not activist judges! Congress must impeach those obstructing the agenda Americans overwhelmingly supported,’ Boebert posted on X.
She got a seal of approval from billionaire powerhouse Trump advisor Elon Musk, who weighed in on an online post from the pro-MAGA ‘Wake up America’ account surveying the public about Boebert’s impeachment move.
Musk responded with an emoji signaling ‘100’ percent.
Trump himself was unpersuaded by Roberts, once again calling Judge James Boasberg a ‘lunatic’ after a court clash with the administration, which flew more than 200 alleged gangsters to El Salvador and said they were members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua or MS-13.
The president wrote on his Truth Social account Wednesday: ‘If a President doesn’t have the right to throw murderers, and other criminals, out of our Country because a Radical Left Lunatic Judge wants to assume the role of President, then our Country is in very big trouble, and destined to fail!’
In the last Congress, Boebert filed a resolution to impeach President Joe Biden for ‘unconstitutional dereliction of duty’ over his border policy.
Earlier, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) said he would be ‘filing Articles of Impeachment against activist judge James Boasberg this week.’
This is Leftist obstructionism! Period. Congress has the authority to remove judges. Do it! Do something!