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Donald Trump (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File), Judge Reggie Walton on CNN March 28, 2024 (CNN/screengrab)
The president of a conservative group has filed a “judicial misconduct” complaint against the federal judge who sounded the alarm on CNN last week about threats against the judiciary and the rule of law in the context of Donald Trump’s Truth Social posts about his hush-money trial judge’s daughter.
The Article III Project’s (A3P) Mike Davis, a former aide to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, known as the “general” behind Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation and “a warrior” behind Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s ascent to the Supreme Court, submitted the complaint against Senior U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton to the Judicial Council of the District of Columbia Circuit and Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan.
Davis alleged Tuesday that Walton committed a violation of Canon 3A(6) of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges when he commented on CNN about the gag order that Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan issued in Trump’s hush-money case. That rule states:
A judge should not make public comment on the merits of a matter pending or impending in any court. A judge should require similar restraint by court personnel subject to the judge’s direction and control. The prohibition on public comment on the merits does not extend to public statements made in the course of the judge’s official duties, to explanations of court procedures, or to scholarly presentations made for purposes of legal education.
At the time of the CNN interview segment, Walton praised Merchan doing the right thing by excluding himself and his family from the Trump gag order. Days later, however, Merchan updated the gag order after rejecting the defense’s “farcical” justifications of Trump’s posts about the jurist’s daughter, which included her name, her photo, and highlighted her Democratic Party affiliations. While Trump — and Davis — argued that the posts only highlighted the need for Merchan to recuse himself, Walton saw something more sinister afoot.
When Walton was asked about the previous version of the gag order, he said it was “very disconcerting” to see Trump go after a judge’s family member.
“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,” he said, noting that he and his own daughter have faced threats before. “And it’s something that’s wrong, and should not happen.”
Walton, saying that Jan. 6 cases have led to a “greater number of threats” against him, expressed his view that Trump’s posts could get a judge or their family members killed, as has happened in recent years.
“I don’t expect you to get political here, obviously,” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins then 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.”
Davis’ complaint suggested that it was absurd — but not harmless — of Walton to say that Trump’s Truth Social posts amounted to a threat against a judge, his family, and the rule of law.
Claiming Walton’s remarks were “staggering” in their “hyperbole,” the complaint said the judge “will taint President Trump’s jury pools” in his Georgia RICO, Manhattan hush-money, federal Jan. 6, and federal Espionage Act prosecutions.
“Whether one agrees with [Trump’s] view, one cannot construe it as a threat or a suggestion that anyone else threatens or perpetuates violence against the judge or his family. Again, President Trump never doxxed the home addresses of Judge Merchan or his adult daughter. The statement is not a threat to the independent judiciary nor to democracy more broadly,” the complaint continued. “Judge Walton had no basis to comment on a defendant’s assertion of a violation of the constitutional right to a fair trial in a pending criminal case.”
From here, Davis asked: Where was Reggie Walton when Supreme Court justices were doxxed and threatened after a leak revealed the high court was going to overturn Roe v. Wade? Where was Walton after the assassination attempt against Justice Kavanaugh? Where was Walton when Mar-a-Lago trial Judge Aileen Cannon was sent death threats?
“Defendants have the right to a fair trial–and to speak out in a non-threatening way when a judge is not honoring that right. A federal judge does not have the right to appear on a nationally televised program–watched by prospective jurors–and lambast a criminal defendant for lawfully exercising his constitutional right to criticize a pending criminal proceeding,” the complaint concluded. “Judge Walton should not have made the appearance, and we respectfully urge you to investigate and remedy this ethical violation–to prevent this from ever happening again.”
Read the complaint here.
