Congress
Posted by Charlie Kirk Staff - 12.15.23

Stefanik Calls For Ethics Probe Into Judge Overseeing Jan. 6 Cases

Stefanik Calls For Ethics Probe Into Judge Overseeing Jan. 6 Cases

Congress
Posted by Charlie Kirk Staff - 12.15.23

House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) is alleging that a federal judge who has overseen many of the Jan. 6 prosecutions has engaged in judicial misconduct, and she’s demanding some accountability.

Stefanik filed a complaint Friday seeking an ethics probe into U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell regarding what she termed as”highly inappropriate political speech” in November, Newsmax reported, citing other published reports.

Stefanik, a House leadership member and a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, attracted significant attention last week for her inquiry into on-campus antisemitism. She questioned three university presidents on the issue, sparking further discussion and scrutiny.

Stefanik’s complaint about Howell was submitted to D.C. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, which was first reported by NBC News. Her filing stems from comments made by Howell when she accepted an award at the Women’s White Collar Defense Association event in late November.

“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 posted Friday morning to X, formerly known as Twitter, along with a screengrab of her full complaint.

“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,” Stefanik added.

Howell, an Obama appointee, spoke to the women’s club crowd “about the importance of facts,” and directly cited the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol Building.

“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,” Howell said. “As district court judges, we are all about the facts.”

Without using Trump’s name, Howell blamed the violence at the Capitol on “big lies” and warned of “a very surprising and downright troubling moment in this country when the very importance of facts is dismissed, or ignored,” Fox News added, quoting the judge.

Stefanik, the No. 3 House Republican, called the speech “highly inappropriate,” accusing Howell of claiming that “re-electing 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,” she wrote.

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