Judge Reggie Walton talks Trump gag order, slams threats

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Donald Trump (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File), Judge Reggie Walton on CNN March 28, 2024 (CNN/screengrab)

A longtime judge appointed to courts by several Republican presidents who memorably said that former Attorney General Bill Barr “distorted” the findings of the Mueller report is now sounding the alarm about the “very troubling” reality that threats against jurists and their families are receiving more threats than ever.

Senior U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton joined CNN’s Kaitlan Collins for an interview on Thursday night and commented on the gag order that Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan issued in former President Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal case.

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Kaitlan Collins @kaitlancollins W/ Current sitting judge, Judge Reggie Walton, U.S. District court for the District of Columbia. FULL SEGMENT 9 Minutes Amazing Interview, as up close and personal with a Federal Court Judge as… pic.twitter.com/vR5rcWklLp

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Just as he did with his civil fraud trial judge and that judge’s clerk, Trump has ramped up Truth Social attacks on both Merchan and the jurist’s daughter to claim his falsification of business records prosecution is a continuation of a political witch hunt that began in 2016.

“Judge Juan Merchan is totally compromised, and should be removed from this TRUMP Non-Case immediately” because, the former president said, she is “a Rabid Trump Hater” who works for Democrats. In one post on Thursday, Trump called out the judge’s daughter by name — just one day after he cited social media posts that were not hers to claim she and her father are out to get him.

Judge Walton was asked about Merchan’s decision not to include himself and his family members in the gag order.

Though he called it “very disconcerting” that a former president — whom he once called a “charlatan” — is going after a judge’s family before the scheduled mid-April trial, the judge said this kind of behavior has only increased in recent years. Walton pointed out that he and his own daughter have been threatened.

“But nonetheless, it is very troubling, because I think it is an attack, on the rule of law, when judges are threatened, and particularly when their family is threatened,” Walton said. “And it’s something that’s wrong, and should not happen. ”

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Even if it should not happen, it has happened and may happen again, the judge continued, mentioning the tragic 2020 case in New Jersey where U.S. District Judge Esther Salas’ husband was shot and her son was murdered by a “men’s rights” attorney who appeared before her. Walton also mentioned a 2005 case in Chicago where a man killed a judge’s husband and mother after the jurist threw out his lawsuit.

“I don’t expect you to get political here, obviously,” CNN’s Collins said, “But do you think that’s something that Donald Trump considers when he posts something like this?”

Walton said the while he can’t get into Trump’s mind, “any reasonable thinking person” with his power and status would realize that when they “make certain statements, it can cause people to act on those statements, even if they don’t necessarily intend for someone to do so.”

Judge Juan Merchan poses for a picture in his chambers in New York, Thursday, March 14, 2024. Merchan could become the first judge ever to oversee a former U.S. president’s criminal trial. He’s presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money case in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The judge also Merchan “did the right thing” by excluding himself and his family from the gag order.

“I think we cannot make ourselves a part of the case. I mean, obviously, we are a part of the case, because we’re presiding over the proceeding. But we can’t make the case and the issue about us,” Walton said. “And that can be very difficult. But it comes with the territory.”

“Yes, I’ve had more threats than what used to be the case. Yes, I have received a greater number of threats, as a result of that incident, and the fact that cases arising out of that incident have appeared before me,” Walton said. “I mean, it was rare. I’ve been a judge for over 40 years. And this is a new phenomenon. I’m not saying that it didn’t happen before. But it was very rare that I would you ever receive any type of a threat, regardless of what type of cases I was handling. And unfortunately, that is no longer the case.”

“I know the Marshals Service has seen a significant increase, in the number of threats against judges. And I think obviously, that’s very — very concerning,” he added.

Walton said that the new normal of judges routinely being threatened by rabid partisans, potentially impacting the decision-making of the courts, places America on the path to “tyranny” if it doesn’t stop.

“And I think it’s important that as judges, we speak out, and say things, and reference to things that conceivably are going to impact on the process. Because if we don’t have a viable court system, that’s able to function efficiently, then we have tyranny,” he concluded. “And I don’t think that would be good for the future of our country, and the future of democracy in our country.”

Before Walton was appointed by then President George W. Bush to his federal judgeship, he was appointed to the D.C. Superior Court by then President George H.W. Bush and, before that, by then President Ronald Reagan.

Walton is also remembered for his appointment by Chief Justice John Roberts to preside over the FISA court and for sentencing Scooter Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, to federal prison for his role in the Plame Affair. Trump went on to pardon Libby in 2018.