A federal judge on President Donald Trump’s radar is now overseeing a new lawsuit filed over a report in The Atlantic about a government group chat that included its editor-in-chief.
Trump has called for U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee, to be impeached after he ordered the return of deportation flights to El Salvador with alleged Venezuelan gang members aboard. Now, Boasberg has been assigned to a lawsuit brought by a watchdog organization against the administration.
American Oversight’s lawsuit seeks to “recover unlawfully deleted messages and prevent further destruction” of messages that were shared in the Signal chat that The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg reported after he was accidentally added to the group.
JUST IN: Judge James Boasberg has been assigned to the Signalgate lawsuit. pic.twitter.com/nrLv9EQNyO
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) March 26, 2025
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent are all named in the lawsuit that alleges they violated the Federal Records Act and the Administrative Procedure Act by using the communication platform.
“A spokesperson for Boasberg confirmed that the case was assigned to him through the court’s typical random assignment process. There are 20 judges on the federal district court bench in Washington, D.C.,” Politico reported.
“You really can’t script this,” Politico’s Kyle Cheneyposted on X. “The same week the Trump admin invokes the state secrets privilege to deny Boasberg info, he is assigned the lawsuit over the Trump administration’s apparent carelessness with state secrets.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard discussed the lawsuit when she appeared before the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, noting administration officials’ use of the Signal app.
“The Signal message app comes preinstalled on government devices,” she said. “In December of 2024, CISA stated, ‘We strongly urge highly targeted individuals to immediately review and apply best practices provided in the guidance to protect mobile communications, including consistent use of end-to-end encryption.’ And they named Signal as an example of such an end-to-end encrypted messaging app.”
.@DNIGabbard: “I want to address, briefly, the Signal chat issue… As the President and National Security Advisor stated, no classified information was shared. There were no sources, methods, locations or war plans that were shared.” pic.twitter.com/thuE1aKs49
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 26, 2025
“Ideally, these conversations occur in person. However, at times, fast-moving coordination of an unclassified nature is necessary where in-person conversation is not an option,” Gabbard said. “I’m also aware that a lawsuit was filed yesterday on this issue. As a result of that pending litigation, I am limited in my ability to comment further on that specific case.”
The president’s struggle with Boasberg over the deportation of illegal immigrants led to a scathing rebuke on Truth Social where Trump called the judge “crooked” and said, “he should be IMPEACHED!!!”
“This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, was not elected President – He didn’t WIN the popular VOTE (by a lot!), he didn’t WIN ALL SEVEN SWING STATES, he didn’t WIN 2,750 to 525 Counties, HE DIDN’T WIN ANYTHING!” Trump wrote.
“I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE, BUT FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR THIS HISTORIC VICTORY. I’m just doing what the VOTERS wanted me to do,” he added. “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!! WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
