The judge overseeing the 2020 electors case in Arizona demanded other judges in the court defend Kamala Harris.
In emails obtained by Arizona State Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Travis Grantham, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen demanded that all judges and all commissioners — especially those who were white and/or male — defend Kamala Harris and other people of color.
Cohen is the presiding judge over the case against the 2020 electors for President Donald Trump. Those who sided with Trump face felony charges of fraud, forgery, and conspiracy.
Cohen took offense with the rhetoric surrounding the selection of Harris for the Democratic presidential candidate as the “DEI hire” and the questioning of her integrity with claims that she would be promiscuous with generals in the Situation Room.
“It does matter if your chromosomes are made up of ‘XY.’ It matters even more if your skin color is characterized as ‘white’ or Caucasian. We must speak out. We must tell those within our circles of influence that this s**t must stop. NOW! We cannot allow our female colleagues to feel as if they stand alone when there are those who may intimate that their ascension was anything other than based upon exceptionalism. We cannot allow our colleagues who identify as being a ‘person of color’ to stand alone when there are those may claim that their ascension was an ‘equity hire’ rather than based solely upon exceptionalism. We no longer can stay silent merely because others are exercising their right to free speech — we, too, have that same right and must exercise it.”
Cohen equated Harris’ critics to the Nazis, and said that those who refused to stand up for Harris as well as other females and “colleagues who identify as being a ‘person of color’” were as bad as those who allowed the evil of the Holocaust to take place.
“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.”
The next day, Cohen sent another email. Instead of demands, however, it contained a brief apology.
“Earlier this week I allowed my passion to cloud my judgment and sent an email using this as my forum,” said Cohen. “After reflection, I have come to realize that this was not proper use of this forum. I sincerely apologize to anyone put off or negatively impacted by my lapse of judgment.”
The rules of judicial conduct require judges to “act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.”
Additionally, judicial conduct rules also address political and campaign activities of judges by prohibiting “any statement that would reasonably be expected to affect the outcome or impair the fairness of a matter pending or impending in any court; or in connection with cases, controversies, or issues that are likely to come before the court, make pledges, promises, or commitments that are inconsistent with the impartial performance of the adjudicative duties of judicial office.”
In another email sent two days before his demand that all judges and commissioners speak out against criticisms of Harris, Cohen alluded to his presiding over the case against the 2020 electors.
“I am presiding over a case that involves a number of public officials, including some state senators. We had an all-day hearing yesterday and will have the same all day today,” said Cohen. “At the end of yesterday’s proceedings, one of the state senators approached my courtroom clerk and asked her to validate his parking. Is it possible that we will see parking validation added to the court’s allocated budget next year when the legislature passes our next budget and it will somehow be given retroactive application to [this day]?”
“Our judiciary is contemptable, and the judicial system is broken,” one attorney told the Arizona Daily Independent on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. “From the Arizona Supreme Court on down, the judges in Arizona have proven time and time again that they care more about self-preservation than the administration of justice. This judge knew what he did was wrong and should have immediately resigned his position. He obviously understood that what he did was anything but judicious.”
“Maybe he is a short-timer and figures ‘what the hell, I’ll be out of here soon,’ but the victims of his bias won’t be,” stated the attorney. “They are stuck in this broken justice system because of clowns like Cohen and Attorney General Kris Mayes who are willing to weaponize it.”
Cohn’s term ends in January.
