Judge recuses himself in Arizona fake elector case after urging response to attacks on Kamala Harris

Source: ABC News/AP

November 12, 2024, 8:04 PM


PHOENIX -- 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.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/judge-recuses-arizona-fake-elector-case-after-urging-115796786