A United States judge has been suspended for six months without pay after making derogatory comments about Donald Trump, including criticising his “inability to govern and political incompetence.”
Utah district judge Michael Kwan’s suspended earlier this week by the state’s supreme court says that his behaviour was in violation of the judicial code of conduct and sullied the reputation of the judiciary.
“Judge Kwan’s behaviour denigrates his reputation as an impartial, independent, dignified, and courteous jurist who takes no advantage of the office in which he serves,” the court said in a 19 page release.
As regards Kwan’s postings about Trump on Facebook and LinkedIn, the court said they “were laden with blunt, and sometimes indelicate, criticism.”
In one post on January 20, 2017, when Trump was inaugurated president, Kwan wrote:
In another posting a month later, Kwan wrote: “Welcome to the beginning of the fascist takeover.”
He continued, “We need to… be diligent in questioning Congressional Republicans if they are going to be the American Reichstag and refuse to stand up for the Constitution, refuse to uphold their oath of office and enable the tyrants to consolidate their power.”
Kwan, who has served as a judge in the city of Taylorsville for the past two decades and has a history of misconduct linked to politically charged comments and his temper, has acknowledged that his behaviour was unbecoming a judge.
But he tried to make an excuse by claiming his in-court political statements was an attempt at humour and argued abeit unsuccessfully, that a suspension would amount to infringing on his freedom of speech.
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