DC judge overseeing Trump grand jury cases 'has devoted his life to serving people': report

10 April 2023

On Tuesday, April 4, Donald Trump became the first former president in U.S. history to be arraigned, arrested and booked on criminal charges. Trump, in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr.'s case, is facing 34 counts stemming from Bragg's investigation of the Trump Organization's financial activities and alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

That case won't go to trial until 2024. Meanwhile, Trump remains the subject of two criminal probes by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and special counsel Jack Smith and one by Fulton County DA Fani Willis. The former president hasn't been charged with anything in either the DOJ/Smith or Fulton County/Willis probes — only in the Manhattan DA's case.

The federal judge in the DOJ cases is 60-year-old James Boasberg, an appointee of President George W. Bush who is profiled in an article by National Public Radio (NPR) reporter Carrie Johnson.

Attorney Ronald Machen, who knew Boasberg during the 1990s, told NPR, "You know, this is a guy that's devoted his life to public service — that could probably be the managing partner of any firm in the city making millions of dollars. But he has devoted his life to serving people."

Boasberg, according to Johnson, has a reputation for being a very by-the-book type of federal judge. Some might call Boasberg an institutionalist — a word often used to describe U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich believes that even in "partisan times," Boasberg values his "commitment to the rule of law" over partisan politics. In fact, Friedrich told NPR that him and Boasberg recently met with other judges at Yale University — Boasberg's alma mater in Connecticut — to discuss "crossing divides" politically. Johnson notes that although Boasberg was a Bush appointee, he was "elevated" in the federal courts under President Barack Obama.

Friedrich said of Boasberg, "We socialize with each other, and we genuinely respect each other. You can become better lawyers and better people by listening to the other side."

Read NPR's full article at this link.

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