❓WHAT HAPPENED: A top federal court official defended U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg’s gag orders that concealed subpoenas targeting members of Congress during Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) special prosecutor Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost investigation.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Judge James Boasberg, Special Counsel Jack Smith, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH), and the Biden DOJ.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Subpoenas were issued in 2023 during the Arctic Frost investigation, with responses continuing into 2024.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Smith’s apparent lack of candor is deeply troubling, and he needs to answer for his conduct.” – Sen. Grassley
🎯IMPACT: The subpoenas and gag orders have sparked criticism, raising concerns over judicial transparency, constitutional protections, and alleged partisan targeting.
The director of the administrative office for the federal courts has stepped in to defend U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg over the latter’s signing of gag orders, which concealed subpoenas targeting members of Congress during the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s Arctic Frost investigation. Robert Conrad Jr., the administrative office’s director, claimed the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia often blindly signed gag order requests if they came directly from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
In a letter from Conrad Jr. to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the administrative office’s director revealed that DOJ subpoena requests typically lack identifying details of the subject. He argued that Boasberg would not have known who the targets were. It is unclear if this same set of circumstances applies to U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell as well. The latter also approved a number of Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost subpoenas targeting Republican lawmakers.
Grassley, alongside Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), had demanded an explanation from Boasberg regarding the one-year gag orders that prevented phone companies from informing Republican lawmakers their records had been subpoenaed in 2023 by Smith. Conrad Jr. claimed that he could not address specific subpoenas and gag orders due to sealed materials, but provided insight into the general practices during Arctic Frost.
Grassley criticized the Biden DOJ for failing to notify Boasberg that the subpoenas targeted lawmakers, stating, “Smith went ahead with the congressional subpoenas anyway, and it appears he and his team didn’t apprise the court of member involvement.” Grassley noted that the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section had advised Smith to consider constitutional protections for lawmakers, but that Smith proceeded regardless.
Sen. Johnson expressed dissatisfaction with Boasberg’s response, calling it “an affront to transparency” and demanding that the judge lift the seal on the case and provide a full explanation. The National Pulse reported in late October that Smith’s Arctic Frost investigation was recklessly expanded with 197 subpoenas targeting 430 Republican-aligned groups and individuals having been issued. An examination of the subpoena targets suggests that Smith was looking to create a RICO case against a large part of the Republican Party’s election network, effectively hampering its ability to run candidates in the 2024 and future elections.
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