Judge Beryl Howell did not get the gushing send off from her colleagues she undoubtedly expected.
Howell, appointed to the D.C. District Court by Barack Obama in 2010 and elevated to the court's highest post in 2016-just in time to oversee numerous criminal investigations into Donald Trump-finished up her seven-year stint as chief judge earlier this month.
According to Politico, the retirement celebration turned into a "Roast" of sorts as one judge after another chided Howell for her closed-doors dealings.
"Howell seemed to freeze in her seat as the most senior jurist on the court, Judge Paul Friedman, publicly described her still-secret rulings in grand jury-related matters," reporters Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney wrote on March 17.
"[Her] fellow judges made clear they were as tantalized as the rest of the political world by Howell's secret work presiding over grand juries that could lead to charges against former President Donald Trump.
" Howell sat "Stone-faced" when Friedman teased how, "We'd all love to read her opinions, but we can't." Friedman also noted that Howell issued "100 secret grand jury opinions" as chief judge.
"There's so much work Chief Judge Howell has done that we may never know about," she joked.
If citizens and independent journalists not based in Washington, D.C. had access to these courtrooms, the public would be outraged at the conduct of prosecutors and judges overseeing January 6 cases.
Did any of this alarm Judge Timothy Kelly, the Trump-appointed judge overseeing the trial? Nope.
Kelly's heavy-handedness against transparency earned a rare rebuke from a coalition of major news organizations, which noted in a new motion that Kelly has held "Previously sealed hearings and excluded the press and public from attending proceedings in this high-profile case" It is time for the new chief judge to shine a much-needed light inside the Prettyman courthouse.
Judge Boasberg should stop allowing judges and prosecutors to hide from Americans.
https://amgreatness.com/2023/03/28/time-to-end-the-veil-of-secrecy-inside-d-c-kangaroo-court/
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