WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A court official has dismissed a that accused a federal judge of 鈥渉ostile and egregious鈥� misconduct during hearings for a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender troops serving in the military.
The complaint accused U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., of inappropriately questioning a government lawyer about his religious beliefs and of trying to embarrass the attorney with a rhetorical exercise during a February hearing.
In a that wasn’t made public until Monday, Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed the complaint. Srinivasan said a motion for Reyes’ recusal would have been the proper means for the Justice Department to contest her impartiality and seek her removal from the case.
The department didn’t explicitly ask for Reyes’ removal from the transgender troops’ litigation. And it didn’t file a petition for a review of the chief judge’s order, which didn’t reach any conclusions about the merits of the complaint’s allegations.
鈥淚f a party that believes a judge鈥檚 conduct in a case raises serious questions about her impartiality were to press its concerns in the ordinary way 鈥� by seeking her recusal in the case itself 鈥� the standards for resolving the matter are well established,鈥� Srinivasan wrote.
The Justice Department had no immediate comment on Tuesday. Reyes declined to comment on the chief judge’s order or the department’s complaint.
The complaint was filed by Attorney General Pam Bondi鈥檚 then-chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, who has since left the department. Mizelle claimed Reyes’ behavior 鈥渃ompromised the dignity of the proceedings and demonstrated potential bias.鈥�
鈥淲hen judges demonstrate apparent bias or treat counsel disrespectfully, public confidence in the judicial system is undermined,鈥� he wrote.
Mizelle鈥檚 complaint cited an exchange in which Reyes asked a government attorney: 鈥淲hat do you think Jesus would say to telling a group of people that they are so worthless, so worthless that we鈥檙e not going to allow them into homeless shelters? Do you think Jesus would be, 鈥楽ounds right to me’?鈥� The attorney responded by saying, 鈥淭he United States is not going to speculate about what Jesus would have to say about anything.鈥�
The complaint also refers to a rhetorical exercise about discrimination. Reyes spoke of changing the rules in her courtroom to bar graduates of the University of Virginia law school from appearing before her because they are all 鈥渓iars and lack integrity.鈥� She instructed the government attorney, a graduate of the school, to sit down before calling him back up to the podium.
Reyes was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, a Democrat. Trump and Republican allies have mounted an against the federal judiciary since the start of his second term.
Trump鈥檚 Jan. 27 executive order claims without presenting evidence that the sexual identity of transgender service members 鈥渃onflicts with a soldier鈥檚 commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one鈥檚 personal life鈥� and is harmful to military readiness. It required Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to issue a revised policy.
Six transgender people who were active-duty service members and two other plaintiffs seeking to join the military Trump’s order. Reyes in March, ruling that it likely violates the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights. A federal judge in Washington state of the order.
Reyes agreed to suspend her order pending the government’s appeal, which hasn’t been resolved yet. But the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to ban transgender people from the military in the meantime.
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Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
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