An Arizona judge announced Tuesday that he is recusing himself from the state's election subversion case against fake electors after he sent an email urging colleagues to call out attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign, The Hill reported.
Maricopa County Judge Bruce Cohen had been asked to step aside by defense attorneys after he said in an Aug. 29 email that he regretted not speaking out when critics of Harris called her a "DEI hire" and that his "blood boiled" after President-elect Trump made a sexual joke about Harris and Hillary Clinton, the Hill said.
"It is time for me to state my piece or be complicit in the depravity," he wrote, according to court filings.
Cohen apologized for the email the next day. A lawyer for state Sen. Jake Hoffman, one of the people charged, demanded his recusal.
"With his liberty at stake in this baseless political prosecution, Senator Hoffman has understandably lost confidence that the Court can adjudicate this case with the impartiality that all parties are due," wrote Michael Columbo, Hoffman's attorney.
Sixteen people have been charged with a scheme that involved submitting a document to Congress falsely claiming Trump won Arizona in 2020, with the hopes that then-Vice President Mike Pence would certify the Trump-supporting electors rather than the electors for President Joe Biden, who actually won Arizona.
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani are among those charged.
The case was set to go to trial in Jan. 2026 before Cohen's recusal.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.