A federal judge appointed by Donald Trump has, in recent months, repeatedly broadcast live from his office, appearing on pro-Israel and right-wing programs to promote his book denying his genocide.
On one such broadcast, the judge, Roy Altman, called the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarf a “terrorism scarf.” He’s participated in events with a group that purports to combat “lawful Islamism” in the U.S. All the while, he has bragged about taking 10% of the federal judicial branch on trips to Israel, and helping ensure that other federal judges see the situation in Israel and Gaza the way he does.
This week, a Florida attorney filed a complaint with the U.S. Court of Appeals, accusing Altman, a judge in the Southern District of Florida, of violating judicial ethics codes.
‘No Genocide’
Born in Venezuela, Altman was nominated in April 2018 by President Donald Trump, and was eventually confirmed by the Senate the next year, by a 66-33 vote. At the time, he was the youngest federal district court judge in the U.S.
He’s ruled on a variety of high-profile cases, including dismissing a transgender teenager’s legal challenge to Florida’s law banning transgender girls from playing on women’s and girl’s sports teams – and, more recently, halting an order requiring Trump to hand over financial information about his empire to the BBC, amid an ongoing libel suit Trump filed against the outlet.
But Altman has been unusually active outside of his judicial mandate – including within the confines of his workday, when he might otherwise be expected to be conducting the people’s work as a taxpayer-funded official of the judicial branch.