John, in the months since President Trump returned to office, the courts have served as the most reliable check and balance against overreach by Trump and his administration.

Many courts, especially lower courts, have largely fulfilled their constitutional responsibility by refusing to bless blatantly unconstitutional executive orders and by calling out government defiance of their orders.

That’s why Donald Trump has effectively declared war on the courts—putting the backbone of the American justice system at risk.

Trump is engaging in a dangerous effort to threaten and delegitimize our federal judges. Members of his administration and his allies in Congress are targeting the judges overseeing cases with explosive rhetoric and have called for the impeachment of judges based on rulings they dislike.

This attack on our judges is an assault on the legitimacy of the entire judiciary—and we must stand up to these attempts at intimidation and protect the rule of law.

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Rather than stop Trump’s attacks on judges, the Department of Justice has joined his effort.

In July, it launched a highly unusual lawsuit against every federal judge in the state of Maryland. Now, it has filed a judicial misconduct complaint against D.C. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg, who ordered the government to stop deporting Venezuelan migrants under a wartime statute back in March.

The administration’s complaint against Judge Boasberg does not support its allegations that he acted unethically or that his conduct undermined confidence in the judiciary. Instead, it’s nothing more than judicial intimidation.

To the best of our knowledge, prior administrations have never filed misconduct complaints against federal judges. Yet, in the first six months in office, the Trump administration has filed two.

This assault on our judiciary is a threat to our entire government.

An independent judiciary provides an essential check on abuse of power. If Trump were to successfully intimidate the courts, our entire system of government would be undermined.

If the president succeeds in weakening public confidence in the judiciary, he may feel he has more freedom to openly defy court orders.

That’s why we must reject the Trump administration’s efforts to defy courts, attack judges and destroy guardrails—because this is lawless intimidation.

Thank you,