Tag: recuse

California Judge Who Disbarred Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman Funneled Money to Super PAC Fighting Election Integrity

Rachel Alexander
Judge Yvette Roland

California disciplinary court judge Yvette Roland, who disbarred Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman last month, contributed to a Democratic PAC last year which funneled all of the contributions to a Super PAC that seeks to stop “undermining the most basic tenet of our democracy, the right to vote.” Despite the fact that the charges against Eastman were all related to his efforts investigating and stopping election corruption in the 2020 election, Roland did not recuse herself. 

While serving on the bench, Roland donated $250 twice on March 30, 2023 to Newsom for California Governor 2022 (NCG). Just 18 days later, NCG then contributed everything it had raised, about $23 million, to Campaign for Democracy Group (CDG), an independent expenditure Super PAC. CDG is primarily supporting Newsom. Its website states, “Across the country, extremist Republicans are systematically attacking the very foundations of a free society — bullying and criminalizing the most vulnerable, denying women equality and reproductive healthcare, attacking communities of color, dehumanizing immigrants seeking the American Dream, banning books and restricting speech, and undermining the most basic tenet of our democracy, the right to vote.”

Read the full story

Maricopa County Judge Recuses Himself from Election-Related Case Due to Activist Brother’s Social Media Posts Denigrating Republican Election Lawsuits

Rachel Alexander
Judge

Opposition is increasing to the judges assigned to handle election related lawsuits in Arizona, as their biases are being revealed. After Arizona Senate Majority leader Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) and House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) requested that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Tim Ryan recuse himself from their lawsuit challenging the state’s Election Procedures Manual (EPM) because of his progressive activist older brother’s posts on X, Ryan voluntarily recused himself. 

The Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus issued an announcement praising the recusal. “His brother, Tom Ryan, is a liberal attorney who plagues social media with his contempt for the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature with an incessant number of juvenile posts,” the statement said. “There is no way anyone who has witnessed the antics of Judge Ryan’s brother, which included case-specific criticisms and commentary, can credibly believe that Judge Ryan could give the Legislature a fair trial.”

Read the full story

Retired Lawyer Files Ethics Complaints Against Maricopa County Judges Who Were on the Election Ballot Yet Ruled Against Election Challenges

Rachel Alexander

Retired attorney A.S. Martin, who has closely followed the election illegalities in Arizona, filed bar complaints against 12 Maricopa County Superior Court judges who ruled on election lawsuits in 2020 or 2022 despite being on the ballot themselves for retention elections. Martin said she believes this is a conflict of interest and self-dealing since the judges had an interest in upholding the election due to wanting to retain their seats. Usually, judges easily win retention elections, but this past year was different, since progressives targeted some of them, causing three judges to lose their elections.

Read the full story

Trump Legal Team Asks Jan. 6 Case Judge to Recuse Herself

Just the News

Former President Donald Trump’s legal team on Monday filed a motion seeking the recusal of Judge Tanya Chutkan, asserting that her prior statements suggest a bias against the former president.

Specifically, the ex-commander-in-chief’s attorneys asserted that prior statements she made that they saw “create a perception of prejudgment incompatible with our justice system,” CBS reported. “Judge Chutkan has, in connection with other cases, suggested that President Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned. Such statements, made before this case began and without due process, are inherently disqualifying.”

Read the full story

Arizona Election Attorney Says Trial Court Judge in Kari Lake’s Case Should Consider Recusing Himself from Hearing Case Again

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Supreme Court rejected part of the lower two courts’ rulings throwing out Kari Lake’s election contest, remanding it back to Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson for a new trial, but there are concerns Thompson will not provide a fair trial. An election attorney in Phoenix who prefers not to be identified due to fear of retaliation, told The Arizona Sun Times that due to the perception that Thompson might be biased, he should consider recusing himself if he cannot otherwise overcome that perception of bias.

The attorney said, “The courts rarely rule in favor of these Republican election challenges, so the fact that both the Arizona Supreme Court and the Arizona Court of Appeals reversed some of Thompson’s opinion raises a concern that Thompson may have overreached, overstepped, and some may believe that’s a sign of bias. And unless he believes he can overcome that concern with not only assurances of fairness, but actual rulings guaranteeing fairness to Lake including access to ALL requested signature verification discovery, then he should seriously consider recusing himself; otherwise, it may hurt the chances of him providing a fair trial if he doesn’t and it turns out he’s biased. Remember, everyone across the country is watching this case. He should do the right thing either by guaranteeing fairness, or put everyone at ease by removing himself.” 

Read the full story

New Bill from Rep. Rachel Jones Would Bar an Arizona Secretary of State from Certifying Their Own Election

Neil Jones

One of Arizona’s newest Republican State Representatives, Rachel Jones (R-Tucson), introduced a new bill that would prevent a Secretary of State from certifying an election in which they participated.

“So, I think it is pretty clear what the intent of this bill is. It is basically saying if a current Secretary of State is running for another office, such as happened in the 2022 election with Katie Hobbs running for governor, this is just getting rid of any potential conflicts of interests with that individual,” Jones said while introducing her bill to the House Municipal Oversight and Elections Committee.

Read the full story