Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) filed an ethics complaint against Obama-appointed Judge Beryl Howell, citing election interference.
According to Stefanik, Howell “insinuated the election of President Trump will lead to fascism in America.”
“I filed a Complaint of Judicial Misconduct against Judge Beryl Howell, because election interference by judges destroys public confidence in the federal judiciary, tears apart the fabric of our Republic, and is illegal,” Stefanik shared on X, formerly known as Twitter. “It must end now.”
“DC Obama Judge Beryl Howell gave a highly inappropriate speech in which she insinuated the election of President Trump will lead to fascism in America. She also inappropriately allowed a public display of her cozy personal relationships with her partisan friends who appear before her, including the Biden Deputy Attorney General who supervises the January 6 criminal prosecutions.”
The complaint, posted on X, reads, “I write today to express my serious concerns about, and request an ethics investigation of, DC U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell for her highly inappropriate political speech she gave last month, at which she suggested reelecting President Trump will lead to fascism in America.”
“As outlined in detail below, Judge Howell’s partisan speech is obviously highly inappropriate election interference by a federal judge that undermines the public’s trust in our courts. Moreover, the public display of the cozy personal relationships between Judge Howell and her partisan friends who appear before her undermines public trust in judicial independence, in violation of Canon 2B.”
“And Judge Howell’s 16 minutes of substantive remarks had little to do with women representing white-collar criminal defendants–and they were hardly apolitical, let alone politically neutral,” the letter adds. “According to Politico, ‘[a]s the federal court in Washington that Judge Beryl Howell once oversaw prepares for a historic trial of former President Donald Trump on charges of attempting to fraudulently overturn the results of the 2020 election,’ Judge Howell ‘used a rare public speech Tuesday to lament that many of those convicted for their actions on Jan. 6 fell under the sway of falsehoods.'”
Stefanik notes in the complaint that Howell’s speech is “inappropriate,” consists of “partisan statements,” “election interference,” and “improper extrajudicial statements.”
“Judge Howell promoted the Democrat political campaign theme that the re-election of Donald Trump equates to America choosing authoritarianism. This is conduct unbecoming of a federal judge,” the representative asserts.
Last month, Stefanik filed a complaint against Judge Arthur Engoron, the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial.
Stefanik accused Engoron of “inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance.”
“I write today to express my serious concerns about the inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance shown by Judge Arthur F. Engoron in New York’s lawsuit against President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization,” Stefanik stated in her letter.
“This judge’s bizarre behavior has no place in our judicial system, where Judge Engoron is not honoring the defendant’s rights to due process and a fair trial.”
“And Judge Engoron has made it crystal clear he doesn’t care what the defendant or his attorneys have to say. Indeed, Judge Engoron illegally gagged them,” Stefanik wrote, adding, “To gag a defendant is un-American. It’s an illegal prior restraint on the defendant’s First Amendment rights, which even the progressive ACLU felt compelled to acknowledge after another Democrat judge–D.C. Obama U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan–illegally gagged President Trump.”
