"March 29 (Reuters) - A federal judge took the rare step late Thursday of appearing on a cable news show to speak out against threats to the judiciary and respond to attacks former President Donald Trump has leveled against the daughter of the judge presiding over his upcoming New York criminal trial.
Senior U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton joined CNN's Kaitlan Collins for an interview in which the news anchor asked the Washington, D.C.-based judge his views about attacks Trump had leveled on social media against Justice Juan Merchan.”
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/federal-judge-speaks-out-cnn-after-trump-attacks-ny-judges-daughter-2024-03-29/
“It’s very disconcerting to have someone making comments about a judge, and it’s particularly problematic when those comments are in the form of a threat, especially if they’re directed at one’s family,” said Walton, who has also faced threats, as has his daughter. “We do these jobs because we’re committed to the rule of law and we 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.”
http://www.cnn.com/2024/03/29/politics/federal-judge-donald-trump-rebuke/index.html
"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.”
http://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/did-the-right-thing-federal-judge-defends-trumps-hush-money-trial-gag-order-warns-of-greater-number-of-threats-since-jan-6-and-says-america-on-road-to-tyranny/
“Walton’s fears are widely shared among federal judges. As Reuters reported in February, serious threats to federal judges have more than doubled since 2021, and more than 70 percent of the judges currently opt into the U.S. Marshal Service’s offer to provide electronic security systems for their homes.
U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, also a Republican appointee, has called out Trump’s embrace of the January 6 rioters—albeit without naming the former president. Lambert said at the resentencing hearing of the January 6 rioter James Little that he was “shocked to watch some public figures try to rewrite history, claiming rioters behaved ‘in an orderly fashion’ like ordinary tourists, or martyrizing convicted January 6 defendants as ‘political prisoners’ or even, incredibly, ‘hostages.’”
www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/the-federal-judges-speaking-out-against-trump/ar-BB1llF95
“An account on X, formerly Twitter, appeared to belong to Loren Merchan and at one point used a photo illustration of an imprisoned Trump as its profile picture. Trump posted on his Truth Social site criticizing both the judge and his daughter.
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton is criticizing former President Trump’s attacks on the judges involved in his criminal cases, most recently his hush money trial, warning that undermining an independent judiciary risks sliding the country toward tyranny.
Walton joined CNN’s Kaitlan Collins to discuss Trump’s aggressive remarks about the families of his perceived foes in his various legal battles. Trump’s latest target is the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, the New York state official overseeing his criminal trial linked to hush money payments made to an adult film actress to cover up an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 election.”
http://news.yahoo.com/federal-judge-blasts-trump-attacks-185735289.html
"A Republican-appointed judge denounced Donald Trump’s social media attacks against the judge presiding over the former president’s hush money trial in Manhattan and his daughter, calling them assaults on the rule of law that could lead to violence and tyranny."
.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/29/trump-judge-attacks-violence/
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton is criticizing former President Trump’s attacks on the judges involved in his criminal cases, most recently his hush money trial, warning that undermining an independent judiciary risks sliding the country toward tyranny.
http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4564003-federal-judge-trump-attacks-tyranny-new-york-hush-money/
U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Reggie Walton, who was nominated to the bench in 2001 by President George W. Bush, reacted to Trump lashing out at Judge Juan Merchan. - Newsweek
"We do these jobs because we're committed to the rule of law and we believe in the rule of law. 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 said.
http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-attacks-judge-daughter-reggie-walton-1884938
|
