‘A New Phenomenon’: Federal Judge Takes Rare Step of Speaking Publicly About Threats In the Trump Era

In a rare interview, a sitting federal judge opened up to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins about sentencing J6 rioters, being threatened by defendants, and calling former President Donald Trump a “charlatan.”

Collins emphasized how unusual it was to have a sitting judge appear on television, and Maggie Haberman with The New York Times even posted to X (formerly Twitter), “I don’t remember ever seeing a sitting judge go on TV before, a sign of the extraordinary moment the country is in.”

Collins asked senior United States district Judge Reggie Walton why he decided to speak out.

“I think it’s important that, as judges, we speak out and say things in reference to things that conceivably are going to impact on the process, because if we don’t have a viable court system that’s able to function efficiently, then we have tyranny,” Walton said. “And I don’t think that would be good for the future of our country or the future of democracy in our country.”

Collins remarked that it must be “terrifying” to have a litigant target you or your family, as Donald Trump has, recently attacking the daughter of the judge in his criminal hush-money case.

“Well, it is. But, you kind of have to appreciate that you can’t let that impact on how you live your life and how you treat litigants who are before you because even though threats may be made against you and against your family, you still have an obligation to ensure that everybody who comes into your courtroom is treated fairly, regardless of who they are or what they’ve done,” Judge Walton said.

COLLINS: What do you make of how the judge here, Judge Juan Merchan, didn’t include himself or his family in the gag order?

JUDGE WALTON: Yeah, I understand why he wouldn’t do that. I mean, again, I think we cannot make ourselves a part of the case. I mean, obviously, we are a part of the case because we’re presiding over the proceeding, but we can’t make the case and the issue about us. And that can be very difficult, but it comes with the territory.

…

COLLINS: You’re someone who has always been really straightforward in your assessment of the former president. If you read your comments when you’re sentencing people, when you’re in these cases, you once referred to him as a “charlatan” at the sentencing of a January 6 defendant. I know you’ve gotten a lot of those cases before you. You’ve said that you don’t think he cares about democracy, only power. That you once seemed to suggest you didn’t, you weren’t sure he’d accept defeat if he lost in this election. Do you still feel that way tonight?

JUDGE WALTON: I’d rather not comment on that. I mean, I’ve made those, you know, the comments  I made in the context of the sentences I imposed because I’m hoping that what I say to the individuals who I’m sentencing will resonate with them and cause them to rethink the activity that they engaged in that brought them before the court, and hopefully deter them from engaging in further conduct of that nature in the future.

COLLINS: Have you been on the receiving end of more threats since you’ve had the January 6 defendants in your court?

JUDGE WALTON: Yes, I’ve had more threats than what used to be the case. Yes, I have received a greater number of threats as a result of that incident and the fact that cases arising out of that incident have appeared before me. I mean, it was rare. I’ve been a judge for over 40 years, and this is a new phenomenon. I’m not saying that it didn’t happen before, but it was very rare that I would ever receive any type of a threat, regardless of what type of cases I was handling. And unfortunately, that is no longer the case. I know the marshals service has seen a significant increase in the number of threats against judges, and I think, obviously, that’s very, very, very concerning.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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