Ex-judges blast top Trump DOJ official for declaring ‘war’ on courts
A group of former federal judges sharply criticized a top Justice Department official this week for characterizing the court fights playing out in President Donald Trump’s second term as a...
By Fox News · Fox News
A group of former federal judges sharply criticized a top Justice Department official this week for characterizing the court fights playing out in President Donald Trump’s second term as a "war" against so-called "activist judges" — remarks they described as unnecessarily inflammatory, and amounting to "pouring oil" on an already fast-burning fire. Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, spoke colorfully last week during a fireside chat hosted by the Federalist Society. Blanche used his time to excoriate federal judges for pausing or blocking some of Trump's biggest executive orders and actions since January, and to urge young lawyers and law students in the audience to fight back. "It is a war," Blanche said, "and it is something we will not win unless we keep on fighting." The judges "have a robe on, but they are more political, or as political, as the most liberal governor or D.A.," Blanche added. His remarks prompted rebuke from the New York State Bar Association and from the Article III Coalition — a group of 50 former federal judges appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents. JUDGES V TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDA This type of rhetoric, "especially when voiced by high-ranking officials — not only endangers individual judges and court staff, but also undermines the public’s trust in the judiciary as an impartial and co-equal branch of government," the judges said in a letter. In a series of interviews this week, several former judges told Fox News Digital they were shocked by Blanche’s remarks, which they described as a departure from longstanding Justice Department norms and a threat to the judiciary both as an institution and to the individual judges who serve on the bench. One judge said Blanche's remarks were "wildly different from all prior decades, and under all prior administrations" he experienced in his more than 60-year career in D.C. "I've been in Washington since 1974, continuously, and I've never se…