A sitting federal judge touched off controversy for commenting on Donald Trump's gag order in a television interview.
Further, Judge Reggie Walton's district is Washington, D.C., home to one of Trump's trials, and he has overseen Jan. 6 trials that are tangentially related to the trial brought against the former president by special counsel Jack Smith, the Washington Examiner reported.
Walton, a George W. Bush appointee, gave an interview to CNN on Thursday night after Trump called out the daughter of New York Judge Juan Merchan, who will hear the hush-money trial set to begin next month.
"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," Walton told CNN.
Trump asked for Merchan to recuse himself more than once, the last time coming when an account surfaced on X, purportedly belonging to Loren Merchan, the daughter of the judge, which featured a profile picture of Trump behind bars. Turns out it was a hoax account.
"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," Walton told CNN.
Conservatives weren't having it.
"Wow. Seriously? Is this a (bad) joke? This is a sitting federal judge. And he's commenting on a pending criminal case? Against the leading presidential candidate? During the height of the election season? If so, this is highly prejudicial. And extremely inappropriate," Article III Project founder Mike Davis posted on X.
"Dear Judge Reggie Walton: Lawyer up. A judicial misconduct complaint is definitely coming your way," Davis added.
It also caught the attention of the Heritage Foundation.
"I have asked our legal team at @OversightPR to carefully consider how these unprecedented partisan comments on a partisan network impact our cases before Judge Reggie Walton," Mike Howell wrote on X.
Walton straddled a fine line giving the interview. The judges' code of conduct prevents them from talking about pending cases but provides but allows for them to comment generally.
"This is a problem," said attorney William Shipley, who has defended Jan. 6 suspects in court.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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