Newscenter Media News A Pentagon lawyer also submitted a written declaration that the Defense Department was seeking to preserve the records as well but did not suggest it had recovered any. The administration suggested that the Atlantic’s publication of the full exchange, save for the deletion of the name of a CIA officer, had ensured that the messages would be preserved.
Boasberg’s order came in response to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by pro-transparency group American Oversight, claiming that the messages were in danger of being deleted in violation of the Federal Records Act and that Trump administration officials appeared to be using the ephemeral messaging app to evade federal recordkeeping requirements.
Richer did not concede Thursday that the messages were legally required to be preserved, saying government lawyers “have not fully evaluated that issue.” Federal law does not require that every email or app message sent or received by a federal employee be saved, even if it pertains to official business.
In an unusual preface to the hearing, Boasberg responded to a social media post early Thursday in which President Donald Trump suggested without evidence that Boasberg had improperly taken control of the politically sensitive case. Trump called it “disgraceful” that the judge, an appointee of President Barack Obama, has been assigned several civil cases of interest to the White House in recent weeks. In addition to the Signal case, Boasberg is presiding over the case involving Trump’s efforts to swiftly deport people using the Alien Enemies Act.
“Boasberg … seems to be grabbing the ‘Trump Cases’ all to himself,” Trump wrote. ”Is there still such a thing as the ‘wheel,’ where the Judges are chosen fairly, and at random?”
Boasberg said obliquely he’d “come to understand that some questions have been raised” about how the court assigns cases. He said that in almost all instances cases are assigned randomly, in various categories, “to assure a more even distribution of cases” for the 15 active judges who serve on the court. Clerks use an electronic deck of cards in each of the various categories to determine which judge gets a newly filed case.
“That’s how it works and that’s how all cases have continued to be assigned in this court,” said Boasberg, who has served as chief judge of the court since 2023.
There has been a flood of litigation related to actions taken by the administration and Trump himself since he took office in January. More than 70 of the notable cases have been filed in D.C. federal court, and nearly all of that court’s judges now have one or more of the Trump-related cases.
Trump and his allies have been in the midst of a public campaign of attacks against Boasberg, calling for his impeachment over his recent decision — which the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals left in place Wednesday — barring the administration from carrying out deportations under Trump’s assertion of war powers.
In that case, Justice Department lawyers have argued the government was not bound by an oral order that he issued, only a follow-up docket entry. Boasberg appeared to allude to that Thursday as he assured Richer she didn’t need to jot down every word of what he said about his order regarding the Signal messages.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be in writing,” the judge said.