XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.trump, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: talk.politics.misc   
   From: bumfucked@att.net   
      
   A federal judge from Washington, D.C., is facing criticism for what   
   experts are calling "inappropriate" comments about former President Trump   
   in a media interview as Trump faces a federal trial in the judge's   
   district.   
      
   Senior U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton for the District of   
   Columbia appeared in an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Thursday   
   after Trump criticized the daughter of New York Judge Juan Merchan, who is   
   presiding over the hush money case scheduled to go to trial April 15.   
   Walton, in a rare media appearance for a sitting judge, sat for the   
   interview Thursday and criticized Trump’s comments, calling them "very   
   disconcerting."   
      
   But legal experts tell Fox News Digital that Walton’s comments were   
   "inappropriate" because Trump is a defendant in Walton's district in a   
   separate case brought by special counsel Jack Smith’s case.   
      
   NEW YORK JUDGE IMPOSES GAG ORDER ON TRUMP IN BRAGG HUSH MONEY CASE   
      
   "Judge Reggie Walton is a sitting federal judge in a district where Donald   
   Trump is currently a criminal defendant with an active case. He should not   
   be publicly commenting in media interviews on anything related to him,   
   full stop," said Kerri Kupec Urbhan, former counselor to Attorney General   
   Bill Barr and Fox News legal editor.   
      
   "This is yet another example of a lack of regard for the appearance of   
   fairness when it comes to Donald Trump, which, whether you like Trump or   
   not, flies in the face of what judges and the justice system are supposed   
   to be about."   
      
   TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL TO BEGIN APRIL 15, JUDGE RULES, DENYING MOTION TO   
   DELAY   
      
   Merchan this week imposed a gag order on the former president and 2024 GOP   
   presumptive nominee ahead of the trial next month. In a Truth Social post   
   Thursday, Trump referenced the judge’s daughter by name and called her a   
   "Rabid Trump Hater" for her associations with a firm that’s consulted   
   Democratic candidates and causes, suggesting that "totally compromised"   
   her father and calling for his removal from the case.   
      
   Merchan issued the gag order against Trump Tuesday, pointing to his "prior   
   extrajudicial statements," saying they establish "a sufficient risk to the   
   administration of justice."   
      
   Merchan ordered that Trump cannot make or direct others to make public   
   statements about witnesses concerning their potential participation or   
   about counsel in the case — other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin   
   Bragg — or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff.   
      
   Trump also referred to a Twitter account formerly owned by Merchan's   
   daughter that features a picture of Trump behind prison bars as the   
   profile image.  Walton, who has also presided over Jan. 6, 2021, cases in   
   his district, told CNN he was "concerned" about Trump’s comments.   
      
   "We have had judges who’ve lost their lives or family members who’ve lost   
   their lives as a result of individuals who have been litigants in their   
   courtroom. And I think it’s important in order to preserve our democracy   
   that we maintain the rule of law," he said.   
      
   MANHATTAN DA BRAGG REQUESTS JUDGE IMPOSE GAG ORDER ON TRUMP DURING HUSH   
   MONEY CASE   
      
   "The rule of law can only be maintained if we have independent judicial   
   officers … and that the law is applied equally to everyone who appears in   
   our courthouse.   
      
   "I think it’s important that, as judges, we speak out and say things and   
   reference to things that conceivably are going to impact on the process,   
   because if we don’t have a viable court system, we have tyranny."   
   Walton's office declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.   
      
   CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP   
      
   John Shu, a constitutional attorney who served in both Bush   
   administrations, told Fox News Digital Walton’s comments were "unseemly."   
      
   "It’s unseemly for Judge Walton to publicly discuss Trump or a Trump case,   
   regardless of which one, because one of Trump’s active criminal cases is   
   in Judge Walton’s court, the federal district court in D.C.," he said.   
      
   Shu added that "it seems that the interviewer wrongly conflated Trump’s   
   harsh social media critiques about Judge Merchan and his daughter – which   
   probably fall within First Amendment protections – and the awful, actual   
   threats that Judge Walton and his family faced, which are considered   
      
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