Misconduct complaint dismissed against judge who handled El Salvador prison deportation case

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court judge has dismissed a misconduct complaint filed by the Justice Department against a judge who clashed with President Donald Trump ’s administration over deportations to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The complaint against U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg was dismissed on Dec. 19 by Jeffrey S. Sutton, chief judge of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals but the order only came to light this weekend.

The complaint stemmed from remarks that Boasberg, the chief judge in the district court in the nation’s capital, allegedly made in March 2025 to Chief Justice John Roberts and other federal judges at a judicial conference saying the administration would trigger a constitutional crisis by disregarding federal court rulings. The meeting took place days before Boasberg issued an order blocking deportation flights that Trump was carrying out by invoking wartime authorities from an 18th century law.

In the dismissal order, Sutton said the Justice Department n...