Trump-targeted judge assigned to 'Signalgate' lawsuit
Judge James Boasberg will oversee a case that claims Trump administration officials broke federal recordkeeping laws by utilizing Signal for discussions about military plans.
TroibNews 
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, a target of President Donald Trump's ire for blocking his attempt to swiftly deport Venezuelan nationals using wartime powers, has now taken on a new challenge regarding the administration’s approach to national security: Signalgate.
On Wednesday morning, Boasberg was assigned to oversee a lawsuit claiming that Trump cabinet secretaries and national security advisers breached federal recordkeeping laws by using a Signal chat group to discuss a planned military strike in Yemen, which mistakenly included an Atlantic journalist.
This legal development occurred as the scandal intensified following the Atlantic’s release of the complete text exchange, wherein Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth detailed specifics about timing and weaponry for an attack on Houthi militants. The conversation, started by national security adviser Mike Waltz, involved Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
A spokesperson for Boasberg indicated that the case was assigned to him via the court’s standard random assignment procedure, which involves 20 judges on the federal district court bench in Washington.
The assignment comes shortly after the Trump administration, in the Venezuela deportation matter, invoked the “state secrets” privilege to withhold information from the Obama-appointed judge regarding the timing of deportation flights to El Salvador.
Boasberg is seeking clarification from the administration about these flights to assess whether officials breached his earlier ruling prohibiting Trump from deporting individuals under the Alien Enemies Act, a law from 1798 not utilized since World War II. However, administration lawyers claimed that “disclosure would pose reasonable danger to national security and foreign affairs.”
Rubio notably provided a declaration to Boasberg defending the state secrets claim, asserting that revealing details about the flights—even in a classified or sealed context—would jeopardize national security. “The more widely information is shared the greater the risk that the information will reach the public,” Rubio wrote.
As a defendant in the Signalgate lawsuit filed by American Oversight, a left-leaning government watchdog group, Rubio faces legal scrutiny not only for his inclusion in the text exchange but also due to his dual role as acting head of the National Archives, responsible for preserving records used by government officials. The Atlantic noted that Waltz had set the text thread to automatically delete.
Boasberg faced significant backlash from Trump and his supporters when he halted the administration’s deportation actions earlier this month. He ruled that the administration appeared to be violating due process by classifying Venezuelan nationals as terrorists and hastily placing them on planes with little opportunity to contest their designation.
In response, Trump has called for Boasberg’s impeachment, a sentiment echoed by some congressional members, and he has launched near-daily attacks on the judge.
Olivia Brown for TROIB News
On Wednesday morning, Boasberg was assigned to oversee a lawsuit claiming that Trump cabinet secretaries and national security advisers breached federal recordkeeping laws by using a Signal chat group to discuss a planned military strike in Yemen, which mistakenly included an Atlantic journalist.
This legal development occurred as the scandal intensified following the Atlantic’s release of the complete text exchange, wherein Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth detailed specifics about timing and weaponry for an attack on Houthi militants. The conversation, started by national security adviser Mike Waltz, involved Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
A spokesperson for Boasberg indicated that the case was assigned to him via the court’s standard random assignment procedure, which involves 20 judges on the federal district court bench in Washington.
The assignment comes shortly after the Trump administration, in the Venezuela deportation matter, invoked the “state secrets” privilege to withhold information from the Obama-appointed judge regarding the timing of deportation flights to El Salvador.
Boasberg is seeking clarification from the administration about these flights to assess whether officials breached his earlier ruling prohibiting Trump from deporting individuals under the Alien Enemies Act, a law from 1798 not utilized since World War II. However, administration lawyers claimed that “disclosure would pose reasonable danger to national security and foreign affairs.”
Rubio notably provided a declaration to Boasberg defending the state secrets claim, asserting that revealing details about the flights—even in a classified or sealed context—would jeopardize national security. “The more widely information is shared the greater the risk that the information will reach the public,” Rubio wrote.
As a defendant in the Signalgate lawsuit filed by American Oversight, a left-leaning government watchdog group, Rubio faces legal scrutiny not only for his inclusion in the text exchange but also due to his dual role as acting head of the National Archives, responsible for preserving records used by government officials. The Atlantic noted that Waltz had set the text thread to automatically delete.
Boasberg faced significant backlash from Trump and his supporters when he halted the administration’s deportation actions earlier this month. He ruled that the administration appeared to be violating due process by classifying Venezuelan nationals as terrorists and hastily placing them on planes with little opportunity to contest their designation.
In response, Trump has called for Boasberg’s impeachment, a sentiment echoed by some congressional members, and he has launched near-daily attacks on the judge.
Olivia Brown for TROIB News
