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

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)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — U.S. and Polish officials inaugurated a NATO missile defense base in northern Poland on Wednesday, with Polish officials welcoming it as a significant step in securing the country and the NATO alliance at a time of war in neighboring Ukraine.

The U.S. missile defense base, which is being integrated into NATO's defenses, was originally planned under U.S. President George W. Bush as a way to protect Europe from ballistic threats from Iran. Poland, however, has always seen it as a form of U.S. protection in case of Russia aggression, fears that have grown since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin protested the plan from the start, and on Wednesday denounced the base as a challenge to its own military potential that would require measures “to ensure parity.”

Polish officials, who gathered with the U.S. ambassador and other officials, welcomed it as historic step that increases the U.S. commitment to the security of Europe at a time of uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine. There are also concerns about whether Donald Trump will remain as committed to Europe's security when he returns to the White House in January.

“The whole world will see clearly that this is not Russia's sphere of interest anymore,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said at the ceremony in Redzikowo. “From the Polish point of view, this is strategically the most important thing.”

Poland’s Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called the opening of the base with its hundreds of U.S. Navy personnel “an extraordinary event in the history of the security of Poland, the U.S. and NATO.” He said the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are showing the importance of air defenses.

“The base in Redzikowo means the eternal presence of American and allied troops on the territory of the Republic of Poland and, strategically for Poland, it is one of the most important events in history after 1989," he said.

The facility is equipped with the U.S. Navy's modern Aegis Ashore system, which can detect, track and destroy ballistic missiles in the initial phase of their flight. It is the second land element of Aegis Ashore in Europe after the first such installation went into operation in Romania in 2016.

Asked about the base during a news briefing Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin had expressed his concerns about the U.S. plans even during the Bush administration.

“We then insisted that the Americans saying all these plans are aimed against the ephemeral Iranian threat are in fact a lie, that all these plans were drawn up from the very beginning as an attempt to militarily contain our potential,” he said.

“This is the advancement of American military infrastructure on European territory towards our borders. This is nothing other than an attempt to contain our potential. And, of course, this leads to the adoption of appropriate measures to ensure parity,” Peskov added.

Later in the day, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited Warsaw for meetings with Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk, another gesture of NATO unity. He praised Poland for its contributions to the alliance, including its high level of defense spending.

“With this, you are building one of the biggest armies in NATO,” Rutte said at a joint news conference with Tusk.

Tusk, who is preparing for Poland to take over the rotating leadership of the European Union on Jan. 1, said he has been speaking with other European leaders to make sure they remain committed to Ukraine being involved in any future negotiations about its fate.

“This means that EU member states should ensure that future decisions regarding, God willing, ending the war or freezing the conflict, are made in full agreement and with the participation of the interested states, those from the eastern flank, but above all Ukraine itself," Tusk said.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, left, meets with Poland's President Andrzej Duda, right, in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)