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Tom Hamburger
An investigative reporter focused on the intersection of money and politics in Washington
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Wednesday dismissed more than a dozen recent complaints of judicial misconduct against Brett M. Kavanaugh before a Colorado federal court of appeal.
The 15 complaints, related to statements made by Kavanaugh during his hearings before the Senate, were originally filed in the Federal Court of Appeal in Washington, DC, where he served for the past 12 years, prior to his arrest. Be confirmed Saturday at the Supreme Court.
The allegations focused on whether Kavanaugh was dishonest and lacked judicial temperament in his testimony before the Senate, according to people close to the case.
Last month, a US Court of Appeals judge of the DC circuit asked Roberts to refer the complaints to another court of appeal after deciding that they should not be dealt with by Judges having sat with Kavanaugh in the DC Court of Appeal
In a letter sent Wednesday to the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, Roberts said that he had chosen the Colorado court to "accept the transfer and exercise the powers of a court of law in concerning identified complaints and pending or new complaints relating to the same subject. "
[D.C. Circuit sent complaints about Kavanaugh’s testimony to Chief Justice Roberts]
The Denver-based Court of Appeal is headed by Chief Justice Timothy M. Tymkovich, former Solicitor General of Colorado appointed by President George W. Bush. The 10th Circuit dealt with another case of recent judicial misconduct involving Washington, involving the former Chief Justice of the District Court.
We do not know what will happen to the revision by the 10th circuit. The rules of justice for misconduct do not apply to Supreme Court justices and the 10th Circuit may decide to dismiss the complaints as not applicable now that Kavanaugh has joined the High Court.
"There is nothing that a court can do at this stage," said Arthur D. Hellman, a professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh and an expert on the operation of federal courts.
He said that it was unprecedented for a new justice to deal with such a situation. Hellman predicted that the 10th circuit would probably close the case "because it is out of their purview", now that Kavanaugh has been elevated to the Supreme Court.
Roberts' letter does not mention Kavanaugh's name. On Saturday, Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson of the DC circuit, who initially requested the transfer, said in a statement that the court had been seized with complaints about Kavanaugh since the start of her confirmation hearings.
"The complaints do not concern any behavior on the part of Judge Kavanaugh. The complaints relate solely to the public statements he made as a candidate for the US Supreme Court, "said Henderson, Bush's candidate.
Complaints against judges are usually handled by the Chief Justice. Henderson succeeded Chief Justice Merrick Garland, who recused himself from the case.
When complaints were filed in late September and early October, Henderson rejected some, but found that others were of sufficient importance to appeal to another judicial panel for the purpose of investigation.
Roberts received the first transfer request on September 20, followed by four additional requests on September 26, 28, October 3 and October 5, according to his letter. He did not immediately decide to send the documents to another court of appeal.
Informed people who spoke under the guise of anonymity said the allegations had already been widely discussed in the Senate and in the public sphere. Roberts did not consider it urgent to solve these problems by the judiciary while he was continuing to review future complaints, they said.
The complaints landed at Roberts because of his role as chief justice of the United States, not because Kavanaugh is now a member of the Supreme Court.
Such complaints are generally confidential unless the investigating justice board publishes a public report of its findings.
The existence of misconduct complaints and the process may be disclosed, according to the rules, "where necessary or appropriate to maintain public confidence in the ability of justice to remedy misconduct or disability".
Last year, Alex Kozinski, a former Circuit 9 judge charged with sexual misconduct, was unusually public. The Chief Justice of the 9th Circuit asked Roberts to refer the case for review after the Washington Post reported allegations against Kozinski.
Roberts returned the case to the New York Court of Appeals. The Judicial Council of that court publicly announced that it was terminating his investigation because Kozinski had retired, claiming that, "no longer able to hold any judicial office, he was not within the scope of the people who could do the work. subject of an investigation ".
Robert Barnes and Carol D. Leonnig contributed to this report.
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