Lawfare met lawfare as a federal judge’s recent comments on cable news regarding the former president landed him with a judicial misconduct complaint.
Double standards are readily seen as the norm for leftist figures, but the former judicial clerk and founder of the Article III Project sought to squash that Tuesday. After U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton appeared on CNN “to make extrajudicial pronouncements” about former President Donald Trump, a 13-page complaint was filed with D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan.
“We are seeing a dangerous pattern in which DC federal judges, like Beryl Howell and now Reggie Walton have convinced themselves they have a duty–unbounded by the judicial canons–to make extrajudicial pronouncements about President Trump,” wrote Davis. “But this is so much bigger than President Trump–or even one presidential election.”
The complaint, written by A3P Founder and President Mike Davis to Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, pushed back against Judge Walton’s judicial misconduct by criticizing President Trump for his comments about the judge overseeing his case in…
— The Article III Project (A3P) (@Article3Project) April 2, 2024
Davis’ complaint regarding the obligation of judges not to “denigrate public confidence in the judiciary’s integrity” followed Walton’s appearance alongside CNN host Kaitlan Collins last week where he voiced opposition to Trump’s outspoken commentary on Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.
“We do these jobs because we’re committed to the rule of law and we believe in the rule of law and the rule of law can only function effectively when we have judges who are prepared to carry out their duties without the threat of potential physical harm,” he had said after the president had expressed his concerns about the fairness of his trial in his alleged hush money case because of the judge’s daughter.
Trump had taken to Truth Social to rail against the fact that Merchan’s daughter, Loren, runs the Chicago-based political consulting firm Authentic Campaigns and was therefore connected to the likes of California Rep. Adam Schiff (D), the Senate Majority PAC, the Democratic National Committee and even President Joe Biden.
“Well, it’s very disconcerting to have someone making comments about a judge,” said Walton suggesting there was more to the posts, “and it’s particularly problematic when those comments are in the form of a threat, especially if they are directed at one’s family.”
Davis’ complaint criticized Walton and expressed, “A reasonable person cannot read President Trump’s posts and draw the conclusion that he made any such threat. President Trump articulated the reason why he believes he will not receive a fair trial before Judge Merchan. President Trump, for example, did not dox the home addresses of the judge and his adult daughter. Nor did President Trump encourage illegal protests outside of their homes.”
“If a criminal defendant truly makes violent threats, a prosecutor can charge him with obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and related crimes. But we have entered very dangerous territory as a country when attorneys accuse a criminal defendant of making a ‘violent threat’ against a judge for simply raising evidence of the judge’s potential bias,” he went on.
The complaint also followed a decision from Merchan to expand the existing gag order on Trump to preclude him from further public statements about the case with a direct mention of the “recent attacks” against his daughter.
“The conventional ‘David vs. Goliath’ roles are no longer in play, as demonstrated by the singular power Defendant’s words have on countless others,” wrote the judge. “The average observer, must now, after hearing Defendant’s recent attacks, draw the conclusion that if they become involved in these proceedings, even tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves but for their loved ones as well. Such concerns will undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself.”
Meanwhile, as concerns were presented about a tainted jury pool ahead of the commencement of the latest trial against Trump, Davis had intoned, “It is much worse when a different judge — especially a sitting federal judge — thinks it is his job to moonlight as a CNN commentator on a pending criminal case in another judge’s court.”
The complaint included results from a Google search that showed biased headlines that referred to Trump’s concerns as “attacks on judges” after Walton’s TV appearance.
Davis went on to tell the New York Post, “Normally attorneys advise their clients, especially criminal defendants to avoid public statements, especially criticisms of judges, but Trump correctly understands that this is lawfare and election interference by these Democrat judges and prosecutors.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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