In a surprising turn of events, Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts has referred a slew of judicial misconduct claims against newly confirmed Justice Brett Kavanaugh to “outside judges for investigation,” according to FOX News’ Brett Baier.
On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that Justice Roberts has received over a dozen judicial misconduct complaints stemming from comments he made and his general behavior during the confirmation process and the now infamous tantrum he threw during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“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” said the referring Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, who sat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit alongside Kavanaugh.
Conveniently enough, Justice Roberts decided to wait until after the Judge had been confirmed before acting on the complaints, even though he had been sitting on them for weeks prior.
The 10th Circuit federal appeals court in Colorado will be assessing the 15 complaints, led by George Bush-nominated Chief Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich. While it’s unprecedented for a new Justice to be placed in this situation, there is not much that the court is likely to do about it now that Kavanaugh has been confirmed.
Sadly, the Post reports that “The judiciary’s rules on misconduct do not apply to Supreme Court justices, and the 10th Circuit could decide to dismiss the complaints as moot now that Kavanaugh has joined the high court.”
“There is nothing that a judicial council could do at this point…it is no longer within their jurisdiction” mourned University of Pittsburgh law professor Arthur D. Hellman to the Post.
While it won’t be a saving grace for our nation, it’s more evidence that the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court was a partisan hit-job that ignored all evidence that indicated that he was an unqualified candidate and an accused rapist — and that it’s up to Democrats to do a full investigation once they retake Congress in November.
Original reporting by Ann E. Marimow and Tom Hamburger at the Washington Post.
