By Devan Cole, CNN
(CNN) — The top federal judge in Rhode Island is slamming the Trump administration for unfairly issuing a “public attack” on one of his colleagues that “put her in personal danger and undermined public faith in the federal courts.”
The statement Tuesday comes after a special counsel he appointed to investigate alleged misconduct by a Justice Department attorney concluded that the lawyer had made a serious ethical violation, but that he should not face formal disciplinary proceedings.
Chief Judge John McConnell said that that a special counsel “found sufficient evidence to conclude” that Kevin Bolan, a top lawyer in the Rhode Island US attorney’s office, hadn’t followed his obligation to be honest and transparent in court when he deliberately withheld information about a years-old homicide arrest warrant for a migrant. District Judge Melissa DuBose later ordered officials to release the migrant from ICE custody.
Following the release, ICE published a press release about the case that described DuBose as an “activist Biden judge” who knowingly let free “a violent criminal illegal alien who is wanted for murder in the Dominican Republic.”
“An agency you were representing, ICE, used this ruling to make an unfounded public attack on Judge DuBose. ICE falsely suggested, contrary to the true record, that when Judge DuBose released the petitioner, she knew he was sought in connection with a homicide in the Dominican Republic,” McConnell, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, wrote in a letter to Bolan.
“This false public statement by ICE put her in personal danger and undermined public faith in the federal courts,” McConnell wrote. “While you had no involvement in the ICE news release, the role you played in the chain of events was a critical link in a sequence that led to a serious failure of justice.”
He said that without information about the homicide warrant, DuBose’s decision to order the immigrant to be released on bond was “appropriate,” but noted that the fact that the man, Bryan Rafael Gomez, has yet to be located by authorities so he can be re-detained underscored the ugliness of the situation.
“Unfortunately, the consequences that followed were grave for this court and for the federal justice system,” McConnell wrote.
The situation in Rhode Island is among a series of professional mishaps by Justice Department lawyers over the past 16 months that have frustrated federal judges sifting through thousands of cases stemming from President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation push and other controversial moves that have been challenged in court.
Earlier this month, a different judge in the Ocean State referred several other government attorneys for disciplinary proceedings after their conduct in a case over the administration’s probe into the provision of gender-affirming care for minors raised questions about whether they were acting improperly in court.
In the Gomez case, Bolan apologized to DuBose for his actions and has otherwise “participated responsibly” in cases he’s handled, the chief judge said.
“Your lapse of judgment reflected a failure to prioritize your duty to the court over the instructions of your client, but you did not act for any deceitful or illicit reason,” McConnell wrote.
But, he added later, “Any future finding of misconduct will be severely sanctioned.”
Bolan’s decision to withhold the information about the years-old arrest warrant was in response to guidance given to him by ICE, he has said. Bolan said he wasn’t aware the information had already been publicly disclosed by the agency and that he instead relied on ICE’s representation that he wasn’t authorized to share it with the court because “a legitimate law enforcement reason prevented disclosure.”
CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment on the special counsel’s findings.
The press release from ICE about the judge has remained on its website despite DuBose’s plea for the administration to take it down.
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