Judge in crosshairs of Trump deportation case orders preservation of Signal messages

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Thursday ordered all parties involved in the Trump administration’s leaked Signal chat to preserve disclosed messages, giving him additional time to evaluate the administration’s handling of the infamous group chat. 

A lawsuit filed by the left-leaning government transparency group American Oversight asks whether senior Cabinet officials violated federal recordkeeping laws by using Signal to discuss plans for a military strike on the Houthis in Yemen. 

The chat became infamous after it was revealed that top U.S. officials had inadvertently included Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Golberg for several days of their discussions.

Boasberg said during a 25-minute hearing that the federal government must “preserve all Signal communications between March 11 and March 15,” roughly the window of the communications about the military action in Yemen.

TRUMP REVEALS WHO WAS BEHIND SIGNAL TEXT CHAIN LINK

Boasberg, already under fire from the Trump administration for issuing a restraining order that temporarily blocked the president’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals, emphasized at the start of Thursday’s hearing he was randomly assigned to the case through a docket computer system, not by choice.

His remarks came hours after President Donald Trump accused Boasberg on social media of “grabbing the ‘Trump Cases’ all to himself,” a claim Boasberg quickly sought to refute by detailing the court’s random assignment process, including the electronic card system used to distribute cases among judges.

“That’s how it works, and that’s how all cases continue to be assigned in this court,” he said. 

JUDGE TELLS GOVERNMENT WATCHDOGS FIRED BY TRUMP THERE’S NOT MUCH SHE CAN DO FOR THEM

Boasberg has sparred with the Trump administration over its failure to comply with the court’s requests for information on its deportation flights earlier this month, which sent around 261 migrants, including Venezuelan nationals and alleged members of the gang Tren de Aragua, from the U.S. to El Salvador. 

The flights appeared to have departed from Texas around the time Boasberg issued an emergency restraining order and were not returned to the U.S. despite a bench ruling explicitly ordering their immediate return.

The Justice Department this week invoked the state secrets privilege in the ongoing court battle, a national security tool that could allow the Trump administration to withhold certain information from the courts for national security purposes.

Most recently, the Trump administration vowed to immediately appeal to the Supreme Court a ruling from the D.C. appellate court, which voted 2-1 to uphold Boasberg’s ruling and allow, for now, the block on Trump’s deportation flights to continue.

Fox News’ William Mears contributed to this report.