White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took a page from her boss, President Donald Trump’s, playbook and attacked a federal judge who ruled against him.
She branded the judge an ‘activist’ and even went after his wife over her political donations.
Leavitt’s attack came after Trump himself called Judge James Boasberg a ‘radical left lunatic’ and talked up trying to impeach him after he issued a temporary order blocking deportation flights.
‘The judge in this case is essentially trying to say the President doesn’t have the executive authority to deport foreign terrorists from our American soil. That is an egregious abuse of the bench,’ Leavitt said at the White House.
‘This judge cannot, does not, have that authority. It is the opinion of this White House and of this administration. And that’s why we’re fighting this in court. And it’s very, very clear that this is an activist judge who is trying to usurp this president’s authority,’ Leavitt said.
She added: ‘Under the Alien Enemies Act the president has the power, and that’s why the the deportation campaign will will continue. And this judge, Judge Boasberg, is a Democrat activist. He was appointed by Barack Obama.’
Then she brought up his wife Elizabeth Manson’s political contributions, saying she has donated more than $10,000 to Democrats.
Leavitt said the judge has consistently shown his disdain for this president and his policies, and it’s unacceptable.’
Leavitt repeatedly said Trump had ‘respect’ for Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts, who warned publicly Tuesday that impeachment was ‘not an appropriate response’ for disagreeing with a judicial decision.
Boasberg grew up in Washington, attended Yale Law, got an advanced degree at Oxford, and was appointed by Roberts to head up the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court, which handles highly technical matters.