The Justice Department attacked her character to “destroy integrity in the U.S. judicial system”
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal judge on Wednesday accused the Justice Department of attacking her character in order to undermine the integrity of the judicial system, forcibly opposes the Trump administration’s criticism of the court’s rulings blocking part of the president’s agenda.
U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell's remarks were denied by order, denying the Justice Department's bid, evacuating her from the case, and punishing an executive order from a prominent law firm. The Trump administration has asked the case to be handed over to another judge in the federal court in Washington accusing Howell of the country showed a “hostile pattern” to the Republican president.
“When the U.S. Department of Justice participated in this rhetorical strategy of AD HOMINEM attack, the bet became much more famous than targeted federal judges,” Howell wrote.
“The strategy aims to undermine the integrity of the federal judicial system and blame it on any loss from policymakers, not fallacies, not fallacies.”
This is the latest developments the Trump administration and the judiciary have made in a legal setback to his executive actions around immigration and other matters. The Trump administration has stepped up criticism of judges in recent weeks, accusing the judiciary of improperly infringing on the president’s powers. Trump called for another Washington federal court judge to pop up, ruling against the president's deportation plan.
Howell said the Trump administration’s claim of “continuous encroachment” on Trump’s executive power sounded “like a conversation point for members of Congress, not a legal summary of the U.S. Department of Justice.” In addition, it “reflects a serious misunderstanding of our constitutional order”, she wrote.
She wrote: “It is actually the work of the federal court, not the president or department, that although judicial judicial litigation is beneficial to administrative litigation and is helpful to the court in solving legal issues,”'
Howell served as chief judge of the federal court in Washington during Robert Mueller's Russian investigation and in this capacity ruled that the House of Representatives is entitled to secret grand jury testimony for its investigation into Trump.
The Trump administration also quoted Howell's comments, saying Trump's characterization of the January 6 criminal case was “revisionist myth.” It noted that Howell ordered Trump lawyers to answer other questions before investigating a grand jury that Trump handled confidential documents found in his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The Justice Department argued that “reasonable observers” might think that Howell could not rule justly “an ineffective challenge to President Trump's efforts to implement the American people's efforts to execute his agenda.”
“The court has not yet disdained President Trump's secrets,” the Justice Department lawyer wrote. “It voiced its thoughts loudly inside and outside the court.”
Howell said the government wants to obtain a new judge “rely on speculation, allusion and fundamental legal differences that do not provide any basis for disqualification.”
Howell temporarily blocked the Trump administration's part of the executive order against law firm Perkins Coie earlier this month. The punishment was conducted by the company hiring research and intelligence company Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research on the potential links between Trump and Russia at the time.
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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to the report.
