Opinion and Order Denying Defendants' Motion to Disqualify Judge Beryl Howell

Key Excerpts

• This strategy [of recusal] is designed to impugn the integrity of the federal judicial system and blame any loss on the decision-maker rather than fallacies in the substantive legal arguments presented.
• Adjudicating whether an Executive Branch exercise of power is legal, or not, is actually thejob of the federal courts, and not of the President or the Department of Justice.
• [T]his country has an independent judiciary that adheres to an impartial adjudication process, without being swayed merely because the federal government appears on one side of a case and the President wishes a particular result.
• [D]efendants’ motion to disqualify this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 455, ECF No. 34, which relies only on speculation, innuendo, and basic legal disagreements that provide no basis for disqualification of a judge, must be denied.