Judge James Boasberg, who has stood out as one of President Trump’s chief judicial adversaries, is overseeing Rep. Eric Swalwell’s lawsuit challenging allegations he committed mortgage fraud.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington on Tuesday, takes on William Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who has flagged alleged mortgage fraud by Mr. Swalwell and other of Mr. Trump’s political foes.
The case was assigned to Judge Boasberg on Wednesday, according to the docket.
Judge Boasberg’s rules in the case have the potential to impact other mortgage fraud cases initiated by Mr. Pulte, including cases against Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff of California.
In his lawsuit, Mr. Swalwell alleges that Mr. Pulte, in referring him to the Department of Justice for mortgage fraud charges, violated the Privacy Act of 1974 by going through private — not public — records of his Washington home purchase.
The Privacy Act of 1974 is aimed at protecting citizens’ private information from political adversaries.
Mr. Swalwell claims in the lawsuit that he is a frequent critic of the president and has been made a target for political reasons. The California Democrat, who recently announced his bid for governor, led both impeachment efforts against Mr. Trump during his first term.
“Representative Swalwell’s political actions and views have earned him the ire of President Trump, who routinely attacks Representative Swalwell on social media,” the lawsuit said. “Pulte’s referral to the Justice Department was not only a gross mischaracterization
of reality. It also represented a gross abuse of power that violated the law.”
The lawsuit also claims that the alleged retaliation violates the First Amendment.
Judge Boasberg, an Obama appointee, has faced impeachment calls from Republican lawmakers who say he’s a judicial activist who participated wrongly in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost investigation, ordering phone companies not to let lawmakers know they were being surveilled.
He also ordered the Trump administration to turn around planes of gang members who were being deported to El Salvador and has initiated contempt proceedings against the administration.
