U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is looking for an ethics investigation of a judge who has allegedly engaged in “highly inappropriate political speech.”
The GOP leader who has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump filed a complaint Friday seeking an investigation of U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell who is currently overseeing Rudy Giuliani’s defamation trial.
Howell has ruled on various cases related to Trump and the January 6 Capitol riot. But Stefanik’s filing specifically calls attention to remarks made by Howell in a speech delivered last month at a Women’s White Collar Defense Association gala where she was presented with an award.
“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. It must end now,” Stefanik said in a statement.
The judge “gave a highly inappropriate speech in which she insinuated the election of President Trump will lead to fascism in America,” Stefanik continued. “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.”
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. It must end now.
DC Obama Judge Beryl Howell gave a… pic.twitter.com/LBBDmK5CXb
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) December 15, 2023
Stefanik contends the “partisan” speech was “obviously highly inappropriate election interference” in the filing submitted to D.C. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan.
In her acceptance speech, Howell reportedly said, “We are having a very surprising and downright troubling moment in this country when the very importance of facts is dismissed, or ignored.”
“My D.C. judicial colleagues and I regularly see the impact of big lies at the sentencing of hundreds, hundreds of individuals who have been convicted for offense conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, when they disrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election at the U.S. Capitol,” she said, according to NBC News.
“As district court judges, we are all about the facts,” she added.
Though the judge, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, did not mention Trump by name in her speech, she did quote historian Heather Cox Richardson’s book “Democracy Awakening” that “big lies are springboards for authoritarians.”
Picture one left to right:
– Biden Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco
– Former Obama White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler
– DC Obama Judge Beryl Howell
– Former Obama Attorney General Loretta LynchPicture two left to right:
– DC Obama Judge Beryl Howell
– Former Obama White… pic.twitter.com/HJ3BJZ6UI1— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) December 15, 2023
In her complaint, Stefanik said Howell’s words were “hardly apolitical” and they were “plainly inappropriate, consisting of partisan statements, election interference, and improper extrajudicial statements while criminal cases are pending.”
The New York lawmaker stated that Howell “promoted the Democrat political campaign theme that the re-election of Donald Trump equates to America choosing authoritarianism.”
Last month, Stefanik filed a complaint against Judge Arthur Engoron, the judge overseeing Trump’s New York civil fraud trial. The House GOP Conference chair accused Engoron of showing “inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance” toward Trump.
According to NBC News, Howell declined the outlet’s request for comment, “and a spokesperson for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia did not immediately return a request for comment.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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