U.S. Supreme Court’s chief justice speaks out after Trump calls for judge to be impeached [Video]

U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts responded on Tuesday to President Donald Trump’s attacks on a federal judge presiding over a deportation battle, rejecting the idea that impeachment is the answer for a disagreement with the jurist’s rulings.

Roberts’s rare statement outside chambers followed Trump’s call on Tuesday for the impeachment of Washington-based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who ordered the administration on Saturday to halt the removal of alleged Venezuelan gang members, which Trump has argued is authorized by an 18th-century law historically used only in wartime.

“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said in a statement issued by the court. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”

Democrats and critics of the administration have expressed concerns the U.S. could be headed for a constitutional crisis as officials in the Trump …