A conservative legal watchdog filed a judicial misconduct complaint Wednesday against U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who in May permanently blocked President Donald Trump’s effort to rename the Kennedy Center, alleging Cooper failed to recuse himself despite financial conflicts stemming from his wife’s anti-Trump legal work.
The Center to Advance Security in America filed the complaint with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The group argues that Cooper’s wife, attorney Amy Jeffress, maintains a substantial practice representing clients in litigation against the Trump administration, creating financial interests that required disclosure, or recusal, before he presided over a case directly involving the president.
Jeffress has represented former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, a central figure in the Russia investigation. She currently represents former President Joe Biden in litigation against Trump’s Justice Department over the release of Robert Hur’s interview recordings. She also served as counsel to the House Select Committee that investigated the January 6 Capitol attack, according to the complaint.
“CASA is filing a judicial complaint against Obama-appointed D.C. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper for his potentially unethical behavior after his failure to recuse himself from the frivolous Kennedy Center lawsuit filed against President Trump, given his wife’s financial interests in opposing President Trump’s agenda through litigation,” said Curtis Schube, CASA’s Director of Research and Policy. “There was a clear need for Cooper to recuse himself from this matter, or at the very least disclose these conflicts.”
Cooper, appointed by President Barack Obama, ruled in May that Trump lacked the authority to rename the Kennedy Center. The suit was brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH). Trump publicly criticized the ruling and called out Cooper’s family ties to the anti-Trump legal world within days of the decision.
The complaint does not challenge Cooper’s ruling itself. It argues that Cooper’s continued involvement in the case created, at minimum, an appearance of impropriety under the federal judiciary’s Code of Conduct. “We are deeply concerned with the fact that a sitting federal judge did not recuse himself, and adjudicated to disposition, a case from which he and his spouse financially benefit,” the complaint states. “Indeed, a large portion of his wife’s business model appears to rely on handling litigation that is anti-Trump in nature.”
CASA argues Cooper may have violated Canon 1 of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, which requires federal judges to maintain the integrity and independence of the judiciary. The group also cites what it describes as Cooper’s failure to make disclosures required under Canon 3, which governs judicial duties.
