Joe Biden may be out of office, but the damage he caused is still raising eyebrows. No one should be surprised.
And now investigators uncovered a horrific crime by Biden’s DOJ that demands justice.
Court Official Defends Boasberg’s Gag Orders in Trump Probe, as GOP Lawmakers Slam Biden DOJ’s ‘Partisan Dragnet’
A senior federal courts administrator defended U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s approval of gag orders that concealed subpoenas for Republican lawmakers’ phone records during the FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation, attributing the oversight to the Biden Justice Department’s failure to disclose the targets’ identities— a revelation that has fueled accusations of prosecutorial overreach in the now-dropped election interference case against President Donald Trump.
DOJ Requests Omitted Congressional Targets, Leaving Judges in the Dark
Robert Conrad Jr., director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, explained in a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that gag order applications—also known as non-disclosure orders—typically reference only phone numbers or signifiers without attaching subpoenas or identifying owners.
“As a result, [non-disclosure order] applications would not reveal whether a particular phone number belonged to a member of Congress,” Conrad wrote, responding to demands from Grassley, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
The correspondence, obtained by Fox News Digital, addressed Boasberg’s role as chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where he routinely signed off on such requests from special counsel Jack Smith’s team in 2023.
Conrad noted he could not delve into specifics due to sealed materials but aimed to clarify “relevant practices” during the probe, which led to Smith’s charges against Trump—charges dismissed in July after the Supreme Court ruled on presidential immunity.
Grassley Blasts Smith’s ‘Lack of Candor’ in Pre-Policy Subpoenas
Grassley faulted the Biden-era DOJ for not alerting Boasberg that the subpoenas targeted about a dozen GOP lawmakers, including Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Johnson, whose records were sought amid inquiries into 2020 election challenges.
The DOJ’s Public Integrity Section had advised Smith’s team to consider constitutional protections under the Speech or Debate Clause but proceeded anyway without flagging congressional involvement to the court.
“Smith went ahead with the congressional subpoenas anyway, and it appears he and his team didn’t apprise the court of member involvement,” Grassley told Fox News Digital.
“Smith’s apparent lack of candor is deeply troubling, and he needs to answer for his conduct.”
The DOJ updated its policy in 2024, post an inspector general report, to require notifying judges when gag orders involve lawmakers—changes that came too late for Smith’s actions. The subpoenas sought only metadata, such as call times and contacts, not contents, which Smith has called “entirely proper” and compliant with department guidelines.
GOP Push for Impeachment Hearing, Demand Transparency on ‘Unlawful’ Orders
Lawmakers targeted by the orders decried them as unconstitutional surveillance, with Johnson calling Boasberg’s response an “affront to transparency” and an “obvious attempt to deflect any responsibility.”
He demanded Boasberg lift seals blocking full disclosure: “Judge Boasberg must immediately… provide the public a full explanation for his actions.”
Cruz, a vocal critic, had planned a Wednesday hearing on Boasberg’s potential impeachment—though postponed—arguing the judge’s complicity enabled Biden DOJ overreach. Impeachments of federal judges remain rare, reserved for egregious misconduct like corruption.
