Boasberg is also well-known among Trump allies for his role as a judge on the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court during the period when the FBI was investigating whether Trump's successful 2016 campaign had colluded with Russia to tip the outcome of the election.

After a string of legal losses for his administration, President Donald Trump’s call to impeach a federal judge — and an ensuing rebuke by the US Supreme Court chief justice — is laying the groundwork for a deepening clash between the White House and the judiciary.