Most of the day I’ve been dealing with the growing scandal/mess of Team Trump’s having used a freaking civilian chat app to discuss highly classified war plans. With a journalist from The Atlantic who’d somehow been included in the working group being part of said group. However other big stuff is going on and we had quite the news day yesterday because prior to ‘Signal-Gate’ blowing up into a huge story we had Team Trump’s DOJ getting raked over the coals in appellate court in DC regarding the ignoring of judge Boasberg’s order to NOT complete some deportation flights. Trump and his minions are leveling the standard attacks. You know them well, “radical”, “leftist”, “Trump hater” and so on. The truth is rather different as we shall see but earlier I saw an article that made my jaw drop. One of judge Boasberg’s oldest pals and roommate during their years at Yale Law School was none other than Justice BRETT KAVANUGH!
I should know better than to be surprised by anything I learn about Trump, his administration or his appointees but damn. You could have knocked me over with a feather with this one. However, an article from Bloomberg establishes, Boasberg and Kavanaugh go way back, and have remained on cordial terms since then. The stunner is that they were more than mere classmates at Yale Law, but were freaking ROOMMATES. That of course opens up all sorts of questions about what Boasberg knew/witnessed with Kavanaugh’s drunken antics back then but he apparently didn’t offer up anything during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings. Did the FBI’s cursory background check even include a chat with judge Boasberg? Well, that’s not the issue at hand.
The Bloomberg article starts off dryly stating that to those who know him the accusations being hurled at judge Boasberg are ‘wildly off base.’Â If you read the entire thing it’s clear he’s a middle of the road jurist who is respected and makes a real effort to maintain a focused courtroom and play things straight – facts and the law:
Boasberg, 62, has a track record of straightforward rulings in complicated cases — including several decisions in favor of Trump — and a history of support from both Republicans and Democrats. He was a homicide prosecutor in 2002 when President George W. Bush tapped him as a judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and after being nominated to the federal bench in 2011 by Barack Obama, Boasberg was confirmed unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
It goes on to note some other rather important facts:
His defenders also point to his long friendship with conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, his roommate at Yale University’s law school, as further evidence he harbors no anti-Republican bias. The conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts — who issued a rare public rebuke to Trump over the impeachment threat — selected Boasberg in 2014 to serve on the secretive US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a prestigious role.
Yes, at times Boasberg has ruled against Trump but sometimes has upheld Trump’s side in cases before him. The linked article notes that from his rulings one would never guess he was first appointed to the bench by a Bush, then to the appellate level by Obama. I do find it interesting that Chief Justice Roberts was the one who put him on the FISA court, a true honor that carries enormous responsibility. It’s also worth noting that FISA experience since Trump, Bondi et al are claiming Boasberg is unqualified to be hearing National Security related cases. At one point he was HEAD of the freaking FISA court!
It’s also worth noting that Chief Justice Roberts spoke out rather forcefully last week about attacks on Boasberg and other federal judges. Maybe Kavanaugh wanted to say something and Roberts said ‘No – I’ve got this.’ Or maybe Brett has been on another bender lately and hasn’t read any news. I’m just gobsmacked that the two of them have that connection, and from other things I’ve read sometimes cross paths in DC and remain on friendly terms! The facts are that Boasberg was extremely well respected and sailed through Senate confirmations. Among fellow jurists and lawyers he is STILL well respected. He just doesn’t see it as his duty to suck up to Trump and rule however Trump wants him to rule. No, judge Boasberg is one of those old-school types who has a long history of seeing his duty as upholding the law and his oath of office.
Anyway, when you see conservatives attack Boasberg, and especially if you’re talking directly with someone who’s doing so point out to them that he’s friends with BRETT KAVANUGH. And that their friendship goes back to Yale Law School when they were roommates! That should shut them up right quick.
******Zoomers, if you have any spare change between the cushions, we could use it. We’re in a rough season now with half the country depressed and a lot of people tuning out from politics. In all events, thank you for coming here to read. We’ll get through this together, I have complete faith. When I do not know. Ursula******
