Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of the frontrunners in the Democratic presidential race, on Monday proposed a sweeping judicial ethics plan to allow investigations of misconduct and ban ownership or trading of individual stocks.
“It’s time to ensure that judges do not hear cases where they have conflicts of interests, strengthen our nation’s ethics rules for judges, and ensure accountability for judges who violate these rules,” Warren wrote in the proposal.
The move would allow officials to re-open investigations into President Donald Trump’s sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Trump Barry was being investigated by a court council for misconduct before she retired in April.
Kavanaugh had 83 ethical complaints before he was elevated to the nation’s highest court – Warren’s plan would allow for a probe to be reopened into sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh and former federal appeals court Judge Alex Kozinski. Kozinski was accused by multiple women of making unwanted sexual comments and inappropriate touching. The investigation ended when he retired in December 2017.
“These changes will not only allow us to ensure accountability for bad actors, including reopening inquiries into the conduct of offenders like Brett Kavanaugh,” Warren wrote. “They will also hold the vast majority of judges who act in good faith to the highest ethical standards, and in the process, begin to restore accountability and trust in a fair and impartial federal judiciary.”
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