Court official dismisses Justice Department’s misconduct complaint against a federal judge in DC
WASHINGTON (AP) — A court official rejected a claim Department of Justice complaint The lawsuit accuses a federal judge of “hostile and abusive” misconduct during hearings in a case challenging U.S. President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender troops serving in the military.
The complaint accused U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., of improperly questioning a government attorney about his religious beliefs and attempting to embarrass the attorney with a rhetorical exercise during a hearing in February.
One September 29 order Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed the complaint, which was not made public until Monday. Srinivasan said a motion to dismiss Reyes would be the appropriate way for the Justice Department to challenge his impartiality and request that he be removed from the case.
The department did not explicitly request that Reyes be removed from the transgender union case. He also did not file a petition for reconsideration of the chief judge’s decision, which failed to reach any conclusions regarding the merits of the complaint’s allegations.
“If a party who believes that a judge’s conduct in a case raises serious questions about his impartiality raises his concerns in the ordinary way—by requesting dismissal in the case itself—the standards for resolving the matter are well established,” Srinivasan wrote.
The Justice Department had no comment on the matter Tuesday. Reyes declined to comment on the chief judge’s order or the department’s complaint.
The complaint was filed by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, who left the department at the time. Mizelle claimed Reyes’ behavior “brings the trial into disrepute and demonstrates potential bias.”
“When judges display blatant bias or treat counsel disrespectfully, public confidence in the judicial system is undermined,” he wrote.
Mizelle’s complaint referenced a conversation in which Reyes asked a government lawyer: “What do you think Jesus would say when he tells a group of people that they are this worthless, this worthless, and we won’t let them into homeless shelters? Do you think Jesus would say, ‘He’s coming towards me’?” The lawyer responded by saying, “The United States will not speculate about what Jesus would say on any subject.”
The complaint also cites a rhetorical exercise regarding discrimination. Reyes talked about changing the rules in his courtroom to ban University of Virginia law school graduates from appearing before him because they were all “liars and dishonest.” He instructed the government prosecutor, a graduate of the school, to sit down before calling him to the stand.
Reyes was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Joe Biden. Trump and Republican allies met escalating series of attacks He has been against the federal judiciary since the beginning of his second term.
Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order claims, without providing evidence, that transgender soldiers’ sexual identity “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, honest, and disciplined lifestyle, even in his personal life,” and is detrimental to military readiness. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was supposed to issue a revised policy.
Six transgender people who are active duty soldiers and two other plaintiffs who want to join the military A lawsuit was filed to challenge Trump’s order. Reyes prevented the execution of the order It ruled in March that the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights were likely violated. A federal judge in Washington state also prevented the sanction of your order.
Reyes agreed to suspend his order pending the government’s appeal, which has not yet been decided. But the US Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to ban transgender people from the military in the meantime.
___
Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
