There are at least 15 ethics complaints against Kavanaugh. Will he be held accountable?
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Complaints against Brett Kavanaugh in the D.C. Circuit, the federal appeals court that hears appeals from D.C., have just been passed along a second time. This began with a series of reports submitted to Chief Judge Merrick Garland—it’s the “chief juThere are at least 15 ethics complaints against Kavanaugh. Will he be held accountable?
Complaints against Brett Kavanaugh in the D.C. Circuit, the federal appeals court that hears appeals from D.C., have just been passed along a second time. This began with a series of reports submitted to Chief Judge Merrick Garland—it’s the “chief judge” part that required they go to him—challenging as unethical Kavanaugh’s statements during his first Senate confirmation hearing and his response to allegations of sexual assault. Here’s the money passage from the first complaint, filed by the Democratic Coalition: Kavanaugh violated Canons 1 and 2 of Code of Judicial Conduct by committing crimes of dishonesty while he was a federal judge, by obtaining confirmation of his appointment as a federal judge by false and perjurious testimony, by concealing and covering up his criminal actions and by obstructing justice. He is unfit to serve as a judge by reason of his corrupt, unscrupulous, dishonest and criminal conduct. The complaint points to Kavanaugh’s claim that he didn’t use materials stolen from Democratic offices by a Republican operative, Manuel Miranda, and had no knowledge of the offense. Enter the second complaint filed, also from the coalition; it takes aim at Kavanaugh’s “public and partisan campaign of lies to cover-up [sic] and conceal sexual misconduct and crimes he committed in the past.” The complaint cites his appearance on Fox News and perjury before the Senate Judiciary Committee. As the number of complaints grew, Garland recused himself from reviewing them, without saying more, and the complaints went to the next-most senior judge, Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, a George H. W. Bush appointee. On Oct. 6, Henderson released a statement concerning the ethics complaints against Kavanaugh. Under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act (28 U.S.C. §§351-364) any person may file a misconduct complaint against a federal judge in the circuit in which the federal judge sits. After the start of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, members of the general public began filing complaints in the D.C. Circuit about statements made during those hearings. The complaints do not pertain to any conduct in which Judge Kavanaugh engaged as a judge. The complaints seek investigations only of the public statements he has made as a nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States. Read more