(NewsInsights.org) – Judge Beryl Howell received the Champion Award from the Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA) on November 28. In her acceptance speech, Howell made statements that Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) found objectionable and unprofessional. Now, she has lodged an ethics complaint with the Judicial Council of the District of Columbia Circuit, asking them to review Howell for interfering with the upcoming election and undermining public trust in the courts.
In her speech, Howell discussed the importance of facts and how those in the legal field shared a common appreciation for them. She shared a story attributed to Abraham Lincoln during his time as a litigator. She said a questioner asked Lincoln to answer how many legs a dog had if a person could count the tail as a leg. Lincoln responded the dog still had only four legs because calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it so. The judge said ignoring or dismissing facts would potentially lead to surprising, troubling, and risky moments for the nation and democracy.
Howell mentioned she’d spent time reading historian Heather Cox Richardson’s book, “Democracy Awakening,” and found that authoritarian regimes have historically buried facts by telling false histories. “Big lies are springboards for authoritarians,” the judge summarized Richardson’s message. She quoted the book’s opening and closing lines and pointed out that the author filled the book with historical facts in between.
Yet, in her letter to Chief Judge Srikanth Srinivasan of the Judicial Council, Stefanik called Richardson’s book “an anti-Trump, anti-Republican Party screed” that attacked Republicans for their alleged use of propaganda and accused former President Trump of “trying to rig the election” and put an authoritarian regime in place.
Stefanik claimed that by promoting and quoting the book, Howell lent credence to the Democrat’s scare tactic that reelecting Trump would equate to America choosing authoritarianism. Stefanik argued her behavior didn’t meet the high standards required of a federal judge.
On November 10, Stefanik also filed a complaint against Judge Arthur Engoron, the judge overseeing the New York civil fraud case against Trump, with the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, claiming his “inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance” compromised his ability to render judgment in the case fairly.
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