The Arizona judge overseeing the 2020 electors case has recused himself over the discovery of emails in which he demanded other judges defend Kamala Harris.
Our report last week in the Arizona Daily Independent revealed that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen told the court’s judges and commissioners that they had a duty to defend Kamala Harris and other people of color. Cohen said this was especially true for the judges and commissioners who were white and/or male.
Cohen issued his recusal on Tuesday. He emphasized that his email was focused on supporting the county’s judicial officers.
“This court is comprised of a significant percentage of female judicial officers as well as a share of judicial officers who identify as part of a minority group. Each of those judicial officers have ascended to their current positions through merit and because of exceptionalism, not based upon favor. Directed solely to fellow colleagues, this judicial officer expressed in an email support for the exceptionalism of the judicial officers of Maricopa County and was a stand for decency and respect. What was contained in the email is not reflective of bias. As noted in the subject email, the same cry for decency and respect would have been made about disparaging comments from either political sphere.”
Cohen was the presiding judge over the case against the 2020 electors for President Donald Trump. The electors and named conspirators face felony charges of fraud, forgery, and conspiracy.
In his email, Cohen equated critics of Kamala Harris to Nazis. The judge said that those who refused to stand up for Harris and other female people of color were as bad as those who allowed the evil of the Holocaust to occur. The criticisms of Harris that Cohen took offense to concerned characterizations of the vice president as a woman of loose morals and beneficiary of DEI initiatives.
“I have been reflecting on Martin Niemoller’s brilliant post-WWII essay known as ‘First they came for…’ While the subject matter of his commentary was one of the most horrific periods in world history, its instruction applies equally to present day events,” said Cohen. “When we cannot or do not stand with others, the words of Martin Niemoller are no longer a historic reference to the atrocities of WWII, those words describe the present.”
In his notice issued on Tuesday, Cohen denied that his email contained any biases that would impact his judgment on the electors case, but said that he would recuse himself anyways.
“This court remains confident in and proud of the fact that during an almost 20-year judicial career, this court has been rooted in fundamental fairness, free from bias. But this court is also mindful of the appearances the subject email may have created for those who have interpreted the communication differently than intended. Out of a commitment to justice, even the appearance of bias cannot be allowed to undermine the fundamental fairness that is extended by the court to all who come before it. It is for that reason alone that this court is recusing itself from all further proceedings in this matter.”
