PHOENIX (AP) — A judge recused himself Tuesday from presiding over Arizona’s fake electors case after an email surfaced in which he told fellow judges to speak out against attacks on Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for the presidency.
In the Aug. 29 email, Maricopa County Judge Bruce Cohen lamented that he didn’t speak out when Harris was called a “DEI hire,” believes that white men must speak out against unfair treatment of women, and raised a historical lesson from the Holocaust about the need to speak up when people are attacked. Cohen didn’t specify who made the comment regarding Harris.
“We cannot allow our colleagues who identify as being a ‘person of color’ to stand alone when there are those (who) may claim that their ascension was an ‘equity hire’ rather than based solely upon exceptionalism,” the judge told his colleagues in the email.
Cohen later wrote another email telling his fellow judges that he let his passion cloud his views and apologized to anyone affected by his lapse in judgment in using an email forum for judges that was not appropriate for unsolicited comments.
Lawyers for Republican state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who faces nine felony charges in the case, sought the judge’s removal, arguing Cohen “bears a deep-seated personal political bias that overcame his professional judgment” and that their client has lost confidence in the judge’s impartiality.
Hoffman is one of 11 Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that then-President Donald Trump won Arizona in the 2020 election. They include the former state party chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state lawmakers. Two former Trump aides and five lawyers connected to Trump, including Rudy Giuliani, also were charged in the case. All 18 people were charged with charged with forgery, fraud and conspiracy.
“Given the statements the judge made, I think it’s appropriate that he recuse himself,” Arizona attorney Mark L. Williams, who is representing Giuliani, said after Cohen’s decision. “The way I see it, the case against Mr. Giuliani and the other defendants is falling apart and I think the attorney general should just wind down the case and dismiss it.”
A spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to comment on the judge’s recusal.
In a court record, Cohen said the original email was a stand for decency and didn’t reflect a personal bias, but he recognized that others may view it differently than he intended.
Cohen, who was appointed to the bench by Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano in 2005, was scheduled to retire in January.
Most of the defendants had asked Cohen to throw out the charges under an Arizona law that bars using baseless legal actions in a bid to silence critics. The law had long offered protections in civil cases but was amended in 2022 by the Republican-led Legislature to cover people facing most criminal charges.
Cohen recused himself before deciding whether to dismiss the case, which will be assigned to another judge.
The defendants argued that Mayes tried to use the charges to silence them for their constitutionally protected speech about the 2020 election and actions taken in response to the race’s outcome. They say Mayes campaigned on investigating the fake elector case and had shown a bias against Trump and his supporters.
Prosecutors said the defendants didn’t have evidence to back up their retaliation claim and that they had crossed the line from protected speech to fraud. Mayes’ office also has said the grand jury that brought the indictment wanted to consider charging Trump, but prosecutors urged them not to.
Two defendants have already resolved their cases.
Former Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis, who worked closely with Giuliani, signed a cooperation agreement with prosecutors that led to the dismissal of her charges. Republican activist Loraine Pellegrino also became the first person to be convicted in the Arizona case when she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to probation.
The remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Trump wasn’t charged in Arizona, but the indictment refers to him as an unindicted coconspirator.
Prosecutors in Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin also filed criminal charges related to the fake electors scheme.
Associated Press writer Anita Snow contributed to this report.
Judge Bruce Cohen speaks during a pre-trial hearing Aug. 28, 2024, during the fake electors case in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix.(Cheryl Evans/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool)
Judge Bruce Cohen speaks during a pre-trial hearing Aug. 27, 2024, during the fake electors case in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix. (Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic, Pool via AP)
FILE - Arizona Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, left, and his attorney Timothy La Sota appear virtually for Hoffman's arraignment in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, June 6, 2024. (Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool, File)
BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Tuesday sidestepped questions about Ukraine’s possible membership in the military alliance, saying that the priority now must be to strengthen the country’s hand in any future peace talks with Russia by sending it more weapons.
Rutte’s remarks, ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, came days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that extending alliance membership to territory now under Kyiv’s control could end “the hot stage" of the almost 3-year war in Ukraine, where Russian forces are pressing deeper into their western neighbor.
“The front is not moving eastwards. It is slowly moving westwards,” Rutte said. “So we have to make sure that Ukraine gets into a position of strength, and then it should be for the Ukrainian government to decide on the next steps, in terms of opening peace talks and how to conduct them.”
At their summit in Washington in July, leaders of the 32 NATO member countries insisted that Ukraine is on an “irreversible” path to membership. But some, led by the United States, have balked at moving forward while the war rages and before the country’s borders are clearly demarcated. All 32 countries must agree unanimously for Ukraine to join.
NATO was founded on the principle that an attack on any ally should be considered an attack on them all, and the alliance has consistently tried to avoid being dragged into a wider war with nuclear-armed Russia.
Zelenskyy argued that once open conflict ends, any proposal to join NATO could be extended to all parts of the country that fall under internationally recognized borders.
Pressed on this by reporters, Rutte said: “I would argue, let’s not have all these discussions step by step on what a peace process might look like.”
The first step, he said, must be to “make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to get to a position of strength when those peace talks start.”
Ukrainian officials made it clear Tuesday they won’t countenance any half measures or stopgap solutions on NATO membership.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement saying Ukraine “will not settle for any alternatives, surrogates or substitutes for Ukraine’s full membership in NATO,” citing its “bitter experience of the Budapest Memorandum.”
Under the international agreement signed in the Hungarian capital 30 years ago, Ukraine agreed to give up its Soviet-era atomic weapons, which amounted to the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal, in return for security guarantees from Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Foreign Ministry statement called the Budapest agreement a “monument to short-sightedness in making strategic security decisions.”
“We are convinced that the only real guarantee of security for Ukraine, as well as a deterrent for further Russian aggression against Ukraine and other states, is Ukraine’s full membership in NATO,” it said.
At NATO headquarters in Brussels, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha showed reporters a copy of the Budapest document.
“This document, this paper, failed to secure Ukrainian security and transatlantic security. So we must avoid to repeat such mistakes,” he said in English.
Reflecting on his recent meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Rutte said he had underlined that China, North Korea and Iran were weighing in on Russia's side, putting the United States and the Asia-Pacific region at risk.
“Whenever we get to a deal on Ukraine it has to be a good deal, because what we can never have is high-fiving Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping and whoever else," Rutte said, saying this would only encourage the leaders of North Korea and China to endorse the use of force elsewhere.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Ukraine’s allies must “do what it takes to support their self-defense for as long as it takes,” but acknowledged that the war will end in negotiations and potential compromise.
Starmer said in a speech late Monday that allies must “put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations so they can secure a just and lasting peace on their terms that guarantees their security, independence — and right to choose their own future.”
Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Jill Lawless in London contributed.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte deliver a statement ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels,Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, right, shakes hands with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels,Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a media conference prior to a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels,Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a media conference prior to a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels,Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a media conference prior to a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels,Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte takes questions during a media conference prior to a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels,Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a media conference prior to a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels,Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
