Congresswoman Accuses Federal Judge of Ethics Breach for Political Statements
WASHINGTON — U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell is facing an official complaint by a conservative member of Congress who accuses her of ethics violations for her statements during the Women’s White Collar Defense Association awards banquet on Nov. 28 in Washington, D.C.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., says Howell’s award acceptance speech implied a criticism of former President Donald Trump for “authoritarianism” and for encouraging the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
Stefanik is a Trump supporter. Howell is one of the judges who has presided over prosecutions of the Capitol insurrectionists in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
During her speech at the Conrad Hotel, Howell said, “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.”
The “Big Lie” is normally associated in media reports with Trump’s assertions that the 2020 election was stolen from him by election fraud.
Howell also quoted a historian’s recent comment, saying, “America is at a crossroads, teetering on the brink of authoritarianism.”
Trump is the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president and leads President Joe Biden in some popular opinion polls by a slight margin for reelection.
Stefanik’s complaint, submitted to the D.C. Court of Appeals on Friday, cited Canon 2B of the Code of Judicial Conduct in saying, “Judge Howell’s speech is plainly inappropriate, consisting of partisan statements, election interference and improper extrajudicial statements while criminal cases are pending.”
Canon 2B says in part, “A judge should avoid lending the prestige of judicial office to advance the private interests of the judge or others.”
The complaint also said Howell “promoted the Democrat political campaign theme that the reelection of Donald Trump equates to America choosing authoritarianism. This is conduct unbecoming of a federal judge.”
Stefanik explained her motivations in a statement that said, “I filed a judicial misconduct complaint against Judge 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.”
Howell had not responded to Stefanik’s complaint by Friday afternoon.
Howell was chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington for seven years until last March. She presided over the grand jury that indicted Trump for his alleged role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
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