A federal judge has been cleared of wrongdoing for going on CNN to speak out against threats made against members of the judiciary and respond to President Donald Trump's comments about the daughter of the judge who presided over the New York case in which Trump was convicted last year.
The Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit Judicial Council threw out two ethics complaints against Senior U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton in Washington. It found that Walton did not talk about the merits of any legal case but instead commented only on Trump's statements made on social media about Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the New York criminal case, and his family.
Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Michael Chagares said Walton warned about the "unintended consequences" of public remarks like those made by Trump and "also emphasized the importance of the independence of judicial officers in maintaining the rule of law and ensuring that laws are applied equally to all who appear before a judge."