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Critics are lashing out at a sitting federal judge who criticized former President Donald Trump during an appearance on CNN, with some even calling for the jurist to be impeached.
U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Reggie Walton was critical of Trump after he complained about New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan and his daughter, the latter of whom posted a headshot of Trump behind bars on one of her social media accounts.
Trump said Merchan “is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome” on his Truth Social account this week, The Epoch Times reported.
Walton characterized Trump’s remarks as troublesome.
“And it’s particularly problematic when those comments are in the form of a threat, especially if they’re directed at one’s family,” he said on CNN. I mean, we do these jobs because we’re committed to the rule of law and 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.”
Walton later added that “it’s very important that people in positions of authority be very circumspect in reference to the things that they say so that they’re not causing others to act on what they say and maybe cause injury or deaths somewhat as a result of that.”
Independent reporter Julie Kelly was among several who called on Walton to be impeached, along with Josh Hammer, a conservative columnist.
Mike Davis, founder of The Article III Project, wrote on X: “Is this a (bad) joke? This is a sitting federal judge. And he’s commenting on a pending criminal case? Against the leading presidential candidate? During the height of the election season? If so, this is highly prejudicial. And extremely inappropriate.”
Later, Davis said his organization would be filing a judicial misconduct complaint against the federal judge.
The Epoch Times noted further:
The code of conduct for federal judges say they “should not make public comment on the merits of a matter pending or impending in any court.”
Judge Walton, 75, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, has sentenced a number of people over the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. During sentencing hearings, he has said that President Trump will not accept defeat if he loses the 2024 election.
“Unfortunately, we have charlatans like our former president, who doesn’t, in my view, really care about democracy, but only about power. And as a result of that, it’s tearing this country apart,” Walton said during one hearing.
Asked about those comments last week, Walton explained that he was making them “in the context of the sentencings I impose because I’m hoping that what I say to the individuals who I’m sentencing will resonate with them and cause them to rethink the activity that they engaged in that brought them before the court and hopefully deter them from engaging in further conduct of that nature in the future.”
Merchan has issued a gag order in Trump’s case as he presides over Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s hush money case against the former president.
Trump’s attorney and spokeswoman tore into Bragg’s “case against her client, calling it “another disgrace” that further tarnishes the reputation of New York’s so-called justice system.
In an interview with Newsmax TV’s Rob Schmitt earlier this week, Habba alleged that there is a “coordinated effort” between officials in the Democratic super-majority state and the Biden administration to legally hamstring the current president’s political rival.
In addition, Habba accused U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland of being the “puppeteer” of President Biden’s Justice Department, which she accused of engaging in a coordinated effort with Bragg’s office to dredge the case against Trump back up after the federal Southern District Of New York chose five years ago not to pursue any indictments.
“[Garland’s] the puppeteer, effectively, and so is the current president, or resident, as I call him, in the White House. Truly, there is obviously a coordinated effort. There’s no question about that,” Habba told Schmitt.
“Back in the day, this case was looked at, it was investigated, charges were not brought. Indictments were not made because they knew the case was not real,” Habba said. “Then [Trump] ran for office. They bring the charges. If you look at that timeline alone, I wanna know how they’re gonna wipe this story away because it speaks volumes. You didn’t bring the charges. You said there was no story.”
