By Nate Raymond
(Reuters) -A rare judicial misconduct complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice that accused a judge of bias in her handling of a challenge to President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender troops has been dismissed.
Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan in a September 29 decision made public on Monday said judicial misconduct proceedings were the wrong venue to address the Justice Department’s concerns about U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, noting that it could have sought to have her recused instead.
“A misconduct proceeding is not meant to function in that way — i.e., as an alternate means by which a party in a pending case could bring about the judge’s recusal,” Srinivasan wrote.
His decision did not identify the judge by name, but it quoted from a complaint the Justice Department had previously made public that it filed against Reyes, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden.
The Justice Department and Reyes did not respond to requests for comment.
The judicial misconduct complaint is one of two the department has filed against judges as conflicts escalated between the Republican president and a judicial branch that has frequently stymied Trump’s agenda.
A top Justice Department official, Todd Blanche, at an event this month described the situation as a “war” as he complained about “rogue activist judges” who have blocked Trump’s initiatives.
Reyes in March blocked the administration from implementing an executive order Trump signed barring transgender people from military service. A federal appeals court has put that ruling on hold while it considers the administration’s appeal.
The Justice Department filed the complaint against Reyes in February, before she had ruled, saying that during hearings in the case, Reyes had taken issue with the administration’s positions and “engaged in hostile and egregious misconduct.”
During those hearings, she said “WTF” – a coarse expression of incredulity, questioned a lawyer about religion and used him as a prop in a “rhetorical exercise,” according to the complaint filed by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s now-former chief of staff, Chad Mizelle.
He argued that her behavior “compromised the dignity of the proceedings and demonstrated potential bias, raising serious concerns about her ability to preside impartially in this matter.”
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Richard Chang)
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