A federal judge, who has been involved in former President Donald Trump's Jan. 6 Capitol election insurrection criminal case — took some creative license in his decision to nix a federal approval for Indiana's Medicaid expansion plan.
Chief Judge James "Jeb" Boasberg paraphrased pop phenom Taylor Swift's track "Exile" in the middle of his formal 66-page ruling.
"Because they’ve seen this film before (and they didn’t like the ending), Defendants seek to leave out the side door," reads the Memorandum Opinion.
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The mention was cited at the bottom of the page to: "Taylor Swift, Exile, on Folklore (Republic Records 2020)."
The line harks directly to the lyrics of "Exile" that features the chorus: "I think I've seen this film before / And I didn't like the ending /I'm not your problem anymore / So who am I offending now? / You were my crown, now I'm in exile, seein' you out / I think I've seen this film before /So I'm leaving out the side door."
The judge challenged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its 2020 approval to grant waivers to Medicaid that was brought forward by former Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2007 and pushed even further by former Gov. Mike Pence.
Boasberg has been thrust in the thick of grand jury investigations dealing with trials of Capitol rioters and notably directed former Pence, who had served as Trump's vice president, to testify before a grand jury about his contacts with the 45th president in the days leading up to the "Stop the Steal" protest that exploded into a massive melee.
That testimony was preserved in a sealed proceeding.
POLITICO reporter Kyle Cheney admired the move, tweeting: "Judge Boasberg sneaks a Taylor Swift reference into a 66-page opinion overturning HHS' approval of Indiana's Medicaid waiver."
"Did not have Judge Boasberg pegged as a Swiftie," former prosecutor and MSNBC legal expert Joyce Vance responded.
This is not only disrespectful to litigants but it makes opinions harder to read," Constitutional attorney Anthony Michael Kreis wrote Thursday. "Stop it. You’re a judge. You aren’t cool. (Unless I know you personally.)"
