Judge says Justice Department attacked her character to 'impugn the
integrity' of US judicial system
[March 27, 2025]
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge accused the Justice Department on
Wednesday of attacking her character in an effort to undermine the
integrity of the judicial system, forcefully pushing back against the
Trump administration's criticism of the courts for rulings that blocked
parts of the president's agenda.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell’s comments came in an order denying the
Justice Department’s bid to remove her from a case over an executive
order punishing a prominent law firm. The Trump administration had asked
for the case to be moved to another judge in Washington’s federal court,
accusing Howell of demonstrating “a pattern of hostility” toward the
Republican president.
"When the U.S. Department of Justice engages in this rhetorical strategy
of ad hominem attack, the stakes become much larger than only the
reputation of the targeted federal judge," wrote Howell, who was
appointed to the federal bench by Democratic President Barack Obama.
“This strategy is designed to impugn the integrity of the federal
judicial system and blame any loss on the decision-maker rather than
fallacies in the substantive legal arguments presented.”
It's the latest development in the Trump administration's battle with
the judiciary over legal setbacks to his sweeping executive actions
around immigration and other matters. The Trump administration has
ramped up its criticism of judges in recent weeks, accusing the
judiciary of improperly impinging on the president's powers. Trump has
called for impeaching another Washington federal court judge who ruled
against the president's deportation plans.
Howell said the Trump administration's claims of “ongoing improper
encroachments" of Trump's executive power sounds “like a talking point
from a member of Congress rather than a legal brief from the United
States Department of Justice." Furthermore, it “reflects a grave
misapprehension of our constitutional order," she wrote.
“Adjudicating whether an Executive Branch exercise of power is legal, or
not, is actually the job of the federal courts, and not of the President
or the Department of Justice, though vigorous and rigorous defense of
executive actions is both expected and helpful to the courts in
resolving legal issues,” she wrote.
[to top of second column]
|
President Donald Trump arrives with Attorney General Pam Bondi to
speak at the Justice Department in Washington, Friday, March 14,
2025. (Pool via AP)
Howell was the chief judge of Washington’s federal court during
special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, and in that
capacity, ruled that the House of Representatives was entitled to
secret grand jury testimony for its its own inquiry into Trump.
The Trump administration also cited Howell’s comments calling
Trump’s characterization of the Jan. 6 criminal cases a “revisionist
myth.” And it pointed to a ruling from Howell ordering a Trump
lawyer to answer additional questions before a grand jury
investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents found at his
Mar-a-Lago estate.
The Justice Department had argued that “reasonable observers” may
view Howell as unable to impartially rule on "the meritless
challenges to President Trump’s efforts to implement the agenda that
the American people elected him to carry out.”
“This Court has not kept its disdain for President Trump secret,”
Justice Department lawyers wrote. “It has voiced its thoughts loudly
— both inside and outside the courtroom.”
Howell said the administration's bid to get a new judge “relies only
on speculation, innuendo, and basic legal disagreements that provide
no basis for disqualification.”
Howell earlier this month temporarily blocked the Trump
administration from enforcing portions of the executive order
targeting the law firm Perkins Coie. The punishment arises from the
firm's hiring of Fusion GPS, a research and intelligence firm, to
conduct opposition research on then-candidate Trump’s potential ties
to Russia.
___
Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to
this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
