March 17, 2023: He Became Chief Judge of D.D.C.

The court’s official biography opens with the date: “James E. ‘Jeb’ Boasberg became Chief Judge of the District Court on March 17, 2023.” That is twelve years to the day after the FJC commission date of March 17, 2011.

In this district, the chief judge has the ordinary statutory and local-rule role over certain sealed grand-jury matters. Reuters, carried by NBC News on March 17, 2023, reported that the incoming chief judge would inherit oversight of secret proceedings tied to special-counsel investigations then underway. That article is reporting. It is not a court finding that he ran Jack Smith’s office.

A scheduled-meeting line in later-released Justice Department briefing notes is a separate episode. See the next post. Do not collapse “became chief judge” into “met the special counsel.” The first is on the court bio. The second is a news account of a memo.