House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) filed a misconduct complaint Friday against a D.C. federal judge, alleging the lawmaker recently “made highly inappropriate remarks” questioning her impartiality in a previous ruling against former President Donald Trump.
The complaint, which Stefanik broadcast in full on Xcalled for an ethics investigation of US District Judge Beryl Howell for “suggesting President Trump’s re-election will lead to fascism in America” and for entertaining a “cozy personal relationship” with President Biden’s deputy attorney general, Lisa Monaco.
“I filed a judicial misconduct complaint against Judge Howell, because election interference by a judge destroys public confidence in the federal judiciary, tears at the fabric of our Republic, and is illegal,” Stefanik said in a statement. “It must end now.”
DC Court of Appeals Chief Justice Sri Srinivasan accepted the complaint, which was first reported by NBC News.
The Post has contacted the court for comment.
House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) filed a misconduct complaint Friday against US District Judge Beryl Howell. Getty Images Stefanik claimed Howell recently “gave a very inappropriate speech” that was “almost apolitical,” questioning his impartiality for previous decisions against Donald Trump. The Washington Post via Getty Images
Howell, who was nominated to the federal bench in 2010 by former President Barack Obama and served as chief judge of the D.C. district from 2016 until last March, delivered a ruling on Jan. 6 overseeing Trump’s federal case and his classified documents case in Miami, both brought by lawyers special Jack Smith.
He also oversaw grand jury proceedings during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Russian government.
In August, Howell entered a default judgment against former NYC mayor and former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani in a defamation case brought by two Georgia poll workers who he accused of committing election fraud in 2020.
DC Court of Appeals Chief Justice Sri Srinivasan accepted the complaint, which was first reported by NBC News. X/@EliseStefanik
Trump, 77, remains the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination despite the indictment, as well as two other cases against him in Manhattan for alleged business fraud and in Atlanta for trying to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
Biden nominated Monaco to the post of No. 2 at the Department of Justice in January 2021, and he has led all federal cases filed against those involved in the Capitol riots that occurred that same month.
Loretta Lynch, Kathy Ruemmler, Lisa Monaco and Howell “rushed and wrapped their arms around the stage, clapping and playing dramatic music,” Stefanik said. X/@EliseStefanik
On November 27, Howell and Monaco both received “championship awards” at the Women’s White Collar Defense Association gala, and Howell delivered a speech referencing her judicial work related to the Capitol riots.
“My D.C. judicial colleagues and I often see the consequences of a big lie when sentencing hundreds, hundreds of individuals who were convicted of offensive conduct on January 6, 2021, when they interfered with the certification of the 2020 presidential election at the US Capitol,” said Howell, according to NBC. “As district court judges, we’re all about the facts.”
Biden, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other top Democrats have slammed Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud as a “huge lie” he told supporters following his 2020 election loss.
Stefanik said Howell’s remarks had “promoted the Democratic political campaign theme that Donald Trump’s re-election equates to America choosing authoritarianism,” which is “behavior unbecoming of a federal judge.”
He also noted that former Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch praised Howell for his handling of Trump’s federal case, while referring to the actions of supporters of the 45th president on January 6, 2021, as a “rebellion”.
“It’s hard to imagine how these criminal defendants can expect a fair trial, when one of the top federal judges receives a ‘championship award’ from partisan opponents while the case is pending in his court,” Stefanik added, pointing out that Smith’s case did not charge the former president with “rebellion.”
Howell delivered the ruling as the presiding judge of the court overseeing Trump’s January 6 case and his classified documents case. Reuters
“Lynch, [former Obama White House Counsel Kathy] Ruemmler, Monaco (senior DOJ official prosecuting the January 6 case), and Judge Howell (supervising the January 6 case) even hugged and hugged each other on stage, to clap their hands and play dramatic music,” he said.
“Partisans cannot use our judicial system to take political revenge against those who disagree with them. The consequences for our legal system, Constitution, and country will be devastating.”
Stefanik also filed an ethics complaint against Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron in November, accusing him of “strange behavior” and “clear judicial bias” in the $250 million civil fraud case against Trump.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
