On Friday, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) filed a complaint with the Judicial Council of the District of Columbia Circuit against United States District Court Judge Beryl Howell, who oversaw some of the grand jury and related legal proceedings against former President Donald Trump and currently is presiding over the case brought by two Georgia election workers against Rudy Giuliani.

Stefanik, who previously filed a complaint regarding Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the civil fraud case against Trump in New York, announced the Howell complaint on X/Twitter Friday morning. 

🚨🚨🚨 I filed a Complaint of Judicial Misconduct against Judge Beryl Howell, because election interference by judges destroys public confidence in the federal judiciary, tears apart the fabric of our Republic, and is illegal. It must end now.

DC Obama Judge Beryl Howell gave a… pic.twitter.com/LBBDmK5CXb

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) December 15, 2023

In the announcement, Stefanik lays out the basis for the complaint in detail:

I filed a Complaint of Judicial Misconduct against Judge Beryl Howell, because election interference by judges destroys public confidence in the federal judiciary, tears apart the fabric of our Republic, and is illegal. It must end now.

DC Obama Judge Beryl Howell gave a highly inappropriate speech in which she insinuated the election of President Trump will lead to fascism in America. She also inappropriately allowed a public display of her cozy personal relationships with her partisan friends who appear before her, including the Biden Deputy Attorney General who supervises the January 6 criminal prosecutions.

The complaint stems from a speech Howell gave in accepting an award at a Women’s White Collar Defense Association gala in November. 

The full complaint is quite lengthy, but here are some of the highlights: 

Judge Howell, after becoming the chief judge of the D.C. District Court in 2016 before stepping down on March 17, 2023, supervised the D.C. grand jury and other legal proceedings against President Donald J. Trump, his top aides, and his supporters on January 6th. This included Judge Howell’s supervision of the discredited Mueller probe that substantially interfered with the Trump presidency, along with then-Chief Judge Howell’s supervision of Biden Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations that resulted in two unprecedented and highly controversial indictments of a former President of the United States and the leading presidential candidate for 2024.

On November 27, 2023, Judge Howell and current Biden Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, the Biden Justice Department official who ultimately supervises federal prosecutors across America including their January 6 cases, together received the “champion award” at the Women’s White Collar Defense Association awards gala in Washington, D.C. Former Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the master of ceremonies, and former Obama White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler, introduced both Judge Howell and Monaco.

...

Lynch then praised and presented both Judge Howell and Monaco with their “champion awards.” Lynch specifically mentioned “the perfect storm” and “trifecta of issues” then-Chief Judge Howell “handled masterfully”:

"The COVID-19 pandemic that closed the world, the January 6th insurrection and the resulting caseload, and the flurry of activity spurred by the Office of Special Counsel. All landing in front of her at the same time. [Lynch waited for applause.] Colleagues and counsel alike all speak almost reverently of how she steered the courthouse through that trifecta of issues with grace, with discipline, and her trademark, bone-deep commitment to bring justice to every matter before her."[8]

It’s particularly shocking to hear the former Attorney General of the United States praise a sitting federal judge for her handling of the grand-jury proceedings on pending federal criminal charges against a defendant (President Trump), the pending criminal cases against his January 6 supporters, and even make the legal conclusion that an “insurrection” occurred on January 6–despite the fact even the over-the-top Biden Special Counsel Jack Smith never brought such charges against any January 6 defendant. It’s even more shocking Judge Howell participated in this highly prejudicial public charade, not even disclaiming any of it. Canon 2B is clear: “A judge should neither lend the prestige of the judicial office to advance the private interests of the judge or others nor convey or permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence the judge.” It’s hard to imagine how these criminal defendants can expect a fair trial, when one of the key federal judges received a “champion award” from partisan opponents while cases are pending before her court.

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And Judge Howell’s 16 minutes of substantive remarks had little to do with women representing white-collar criminal defendants–and they were hardly apolitical, let alone politically neutral.[10] According to Politico, “[a]s the federal court in Washington that Judge Beryl Howell once oversaw prepares for a historic trial of former President Donald Trump on charges of attempting to fraudulently overturn the results of the 2020 election,” Judge Howell “used a rare public speech Tuesday to lament that many of those convicted for their actions on Jan. 6 fell under the sway of falsehoods.”[11]

And the purpose of Judge Howell’s speech was not lost on anyone, including Politico: “The judge who spearheaded the judiciary’s response to the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, blamed that event on ‘big lies’ and warned that the country is in danger of turning toward authoritarianism.”[12]

Will this prompt the opening of an ethics investigation? It's possible, though I wouldn't hold my breath on that. What it does do, however, is shed further light on a federal judiciary that has seemingly become overtly partisan, particularly that portion of it sitting in and around Washington, D.C.