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Federal judge resigns from lifetime-tenured role after just 4 years

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Federal judge resigns from lifetime-tenured role after just 4 years

A Trump-appointed federal judge in Alaska has resigned after investigators determined he created a hostile work environment, engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a former law clerk and lied about it to his colleagues.

Joshua Kindred resigned from his post as a U.S. District Court judge for Alaska effective Monday after serving just four years on the bench. His resignation letter did not give reasons as to why.

The Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit on the same day released a 30-page order that detailed its findings into Kindred’s alleged misconduct. 

“We conclude that Judge Kindred committed misconduct by creating a hostile work environment for his law clerks. That hostile work environment included ‘unwanted, offensive, and abusive sexual conduct, including sexual harassment,’” the order states.

JUDGE ARRESTED AT ATLANTA NIGHTCLUB REMOVED FROM OFFICE FOR ‘JUDICIAL MISCONDUCT’

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Joshua Kindred served just four years of his lifetime appointment as a U.S. District Court judge for Alaska before resigning effective Monday. (U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary/Handout via Reuters)

The order described more than 700 pages of text messages between Kindred and his law clerks, many of which were deemed “highly inappropriate.” 

In one message, the order states that Kindred told his clerks, “Who gives a f— about ethics, we need to get you paid.” In another, the order says he joked about “punching multiple Supreme Court justices,” and bringing Patrón tequila, heroin and “whip-its” – a slang term for a type of inhalant drug – to a dinner party in his chambers.

The council said it also found that Kindred had an “inappropriately sexualized relationship” with a female law clerk during her clerkship and after she became an assistant U.S. attorney for Alaska. 

Kindred engaged in sexual contact with her on two occasions, according to the order. The female former clerk said the second incident, which occurred at an Airbnb where Kindred was staying, was not consensual. Kindred has said it was consensual.

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Joshua Kindred

Joshua Kindred was sworn in as a U.S. District Court judge for Alaska in early 2020. (U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary/Handout via Reuters)

“The Council need not make a finding on whether the Airbnb incident was consensual to conclude that Judge Kindred committed misconduct,” the order said.

GOP-LED STATES ASK SCOTUS TO TEMPORARILY BLOCK BIDEN’S STUDENT LOAN HANDOUT PROGRAM

When asked about the sexual encounter with his former law clerk during the investigation, Kindred lied to Chief Judge Mary Murguia, the Special Committee and the Council, denying the encounter ever happened until he was put under oath, according to the judges’ order.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, wrote on social media that Kindred’s resignation “is more than appropriate.”

“Judges need to be held to the highest of standards and Mr. Kindred fell well short of that mark,” Murkowski wrote. “I will be working quickly to advance a replacement nominee for consideration.”

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Though Kindred has resigned, the matter is not closed. The council referred the case to the Judicial Conference to consider impeachment.

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Kindred was appointed to the position by former President Trump in 2019 and was sworn into office in 2020.

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Video: Donald Trump Concludes R.N.C. With Mixed Message

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Video: Donald Trump Concludes R.N.C. With Mixed Message

Donald J. Trump closed the Republican convention with a speech that began with a call for unity and a sober retelling of the attack on his life, but pivoted to attacks. Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent for The New York Times, gives her takeaways.

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Trump breaks out immigration chart shown right before assassination attempt: ‘Saved my life’

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Trump breaks out immigration chart shown right before assassination attempt: ‘Saved my life’

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Former President Donald Trump showed off a chart on immigration during the Republican National Convention Thursday night that he credits with literally saving his life last Saturday

“Less than four years ago, I handed this administration the strongest border in American history, but you can see on the chart that saved my life… that was the chart that saved my life,” Trump said as the chart was put up on the screen behind him.

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During Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last week, Trump pivoted to point to the same chart when shots rang out, striking the former president in the right ear. Many have credited Trump turning to the chart, which shows the number of illegal immigrants entering the country, for saving his life, noting that the former president turned to look at it just as he was hit with the bullet.

TRUMP GETS THUNDEROUS, STANDING OVATION AS HE ENTERS STAGE FOR RNC SPEECH

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, refers to charts about immigration while speaking during the Republican National Convention, Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee.  (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Trump told the audience how proud he was of the chart, noting that it showed a dive in illegal crossings under his administration before a spike in crossings over the last few years.

“Oh there it is, that’s pretty good, wow,” Trump said after noticing the chart was now on the screen at the RNC. “Last time I put up that chart I never really got to look at it. Without this chart, I would not be here today.”

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immigration chart on big screens behind Trump delivering RNC speech

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump gives his acceptance speech as the turnout coat and helmet of former Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Department chief Corey Comperatore, who was killed at his rally last week, is displayed along with the chart that was being shown at the rally, on Day 4 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 18, 2024.  (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

HULK HOGAN ENDORSES TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT AT RNC: ‘LET TRUMP-A-MANIA MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN’

Trump was injured in the attack, which claimed the life of Pennsylvania firefighter Corey Comperatore and injured two other rally attendees, David Dutch and James Copenhaver.

Trump paid tribute to them as well during his remarks Thursday, calling those injured men “great warriors.”

closeup of Donald Trump pointing at RNC convention

Republican presidential candidate and former president, Donald Trump, speaks during the final day of the Republican National Convention Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee.  (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

“Tragically, the shooter claimed the life of one of our fellow Americans, Corey Comperatore, and seriously wounded two other great warriors. David Dutch and James Copenhaver. I spoke to all three families of these tremendous people — our love and prayers are with them, and always will be,” Trump said. 

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“Corey, a highly respected former fire chief… was accompanied by his wife Helen… and two precious daughters. He lost his life selflessly acting as a human shield to protect them from flying bullets… what a fine man he was,” Trump added.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

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In this historic Black neighborhood in Milwaukee, the Biden question is met with indifference

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In this historic Black neighborhood in Milwaukee, the Biden question is met with indifference

Lisa Collins sat in the shade of a green ash tree Wednesday in the Milwaukee neighborhood of Lindsay Heights handing out free hot dogs and hamburgers as part of a “joyful rebellion” against the nearby Republican National Convention.

Though she plans on voting for President Biden in the upcoming election, it is not without trepidation.

“That made me so mad at that debate, I said I’m not voting, I’m just not,” she said of Biden’s awful performance. “But you know I am.”

Hers is a kind of ambivalence common in this part of town, where the dreams of Black Americans have flourished, withered and risen again, in a city and state that will play a critical role in deciding which candidate wins the Oval Office.

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Lisa Collins works the food station at the Milwaukee Childcare Collective event during the Republican convention.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Much of the world is obsessing over big questions: Would a second term for Donald Trump be a step toward authoritarianism? Is Biden mentally competent? Should Biden step aside, and if he did, could Kamala Harris successfully carry a campaign? Should it be left to an open field of Democratic contenders?

But in Lindsay Heights, like many places, a lot of folks have yet to think about the election. Those who have are often uninterested in those soul-searching questions that dominate headlines.

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At this event arranged by the Milwaukee Childcare Collective, most people didn’t know they were gathered in response to the convention. They came for the face painting and food, and their concerns are more mundane: teaching kids to read, paying the bills, finding a napkin to clean Popsicle juice off chubby toddler legs.

Deshay Majors, sitting with his son and young daughter, she of the sticky knees, said he has not yet decided whom he will vote for.

“It all depends what they are talking about,” he said of how he will make his decision, though he isn’t sure which issues will sway him, or what he wants to hear.

Community members get free clothes at the Milwaukee Childcare Collective event.

Community members get free clothes at the Milwaukee Childcare Collective event.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

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It’s a reminder that it ain’t over until it’s over, but time is running out.

On the national front, there is an air of despondency. Many are convinced that as long as Biden remains atop the ticket, the party is destined to lose the White House. Possibly in a Trump landslide. Very likely in addition to losing control of the Senate.

Even before his debate debacle, Biden was struggling to match his performance four years ago with Black voters, a vital Democratic constituency, especially in swing states.

Paul Maslin, who has been polling and strategizing in political contests since the days of Jimmy Carter, put Biden’s chances of reelection “somewhere between slim and none.”

“And slim,” he said, “is making reservations to leave town.”

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Kids play basketball at the Milwaukee Childcare Collective event.

Kids play basketball at the Milwaukee Childcare Collective event.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

A recent poll by the Associated Press and University of Chicago found nearly two-thirds of Democrats surveyed said Biden should withdraw from the presidential race and let his party nominate someone else.

Biden’s standing with independent and undecided voters is even worse, said Maslin, who has decades of experience in Wisconsin politics.

“His campaign has to have told him, or should be telling him, ‘Mr. President, one thing the voters you need to win this election have in common is they don’t like you,’ ” Maslin said. “They owe it to themselves, to him, to the party, to the country.”

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The upper echelon of Democrats (those “elites” Biden has taken to railing against) are voting with their wallets.

“I can tell you, having talked to a lot of donors, their depression and despair has curdled into anger,” said Paul Begala, a strategist who twice helped put Bill Clinton in the White House. “They’re very angry. And angry people don’t donate.”

But that outrage hasn’t reached this parklet, where the basketball hoops lack nets and the closest bathroom is in a nearby church.

The area is named for Bernice Lindsay, the first Black woman to obtain a journalism degree from Ohio State University. She moved to these narrow streets north of downtown in the 1920s, intent on helping to create a place where Black professionals could own homes and raise families. For awhile, the community thrived — until freeways, violence and neglect tumbled it into decline, like so many other minority enclaves in America.

Kids gather for free ice cream at the Milwaukee Childcare Collective event.

Kids gather for free ice cream at the Milwaukee Childcare Collective event.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

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Now, it’s a community working to raise itself back up. Vacant-lot gardens grow strawberries, and residents organize to help themselves and win what they need from a government that has too often passed them by — Democrat or Republican.

Some of the Victorian and Queen Anne homes are fixed up, some are boarded up, and most have front porches where people gather.

Sheyenne Wilson, 25, has been visiting those porches to talk about Biden, though the organizer says she likes to mostly listen.

What she hears isn’t pro-Biden or pro-Trump, but more pro-Lindsay Heights.

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Sheyenne Wilson, with her son, Khalif El, is an organizer for the Biden campaign.

Sheyenne Wilson, with her son, Khalif El, is an organizer for the Biden campaign.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“Basically people want someone who will support the community,” she said, her 10-month-old son, Khalif, on her lap.

That, said her fellow organizer Trasus Wright, is the opening he uses. He sees abortion as the kind of personal issue that can move voters — even his wife, Dea Wright, is undecided.

Dea Wright likes Trump’s stance on school choice — their six children benefited from such a program, she said.

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“Where Trump gets me is where they start saying Christianity in schools,” she said.

Trasus Wright said he isn’t bothered by his wife’s uncertainty because he believes that “Joe is going to bring her around. His policies around advocating for women are going to be what matters.”

And what of Biden being too old?

“They’re both old,” said Eric Donelson, unbothered by reports of Biden’s mental decline as he ate a hamburger.

And what about Vice President Kamala Harris? Would she be a better candidate?

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Robert Jackson and his daughter, Blessing, at the Milwaukee Childcare Collective event.

Robert Jackson and his daughter, Blessing, at the Milwaukee Childcare Collective event.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“Do we vote for somebody just because they look like us, or for what they represent?” said Wilson, who has concerns about Harris’ prosecutor past.

“I still don’t think there will ever be a lady president,” said Collins, the woman handing out food.

“We forget she’s vice president. She don’t talk,” Donelson said. “Speak up, woman.”

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And as for anyone else? There aren’t any names familiar enough to warrant an opinion.

But Trump is no shoo-in here, either — despite his push for Black voters in recent weeks, including a convention airing of an Amber Rose/Forgiato Blow rap video meant to show the party’s inclusiveness.

“I am not voting for Trump, I’m letting you know. I don’t like nothing about Trump, I am going to keep it real,” Donelson said.

“Trump’s got a little more energy in his body than Biden,” Collins argued.

“Biden is getting old, but I’d rather work with old, senile than a crazy man,” Donelson shot back.

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“I’m going to tell you something. I said, this is all a mess to me,” Collins said.

What Linsday Heights shows is the disconnect between the political elite and the voters, for either party.

A child runs past the phrase "Justice for Jah" — a reference to Samuel Sharpe Jr., who was killed by police in Milwaukee.

“Justice For Jah” is a reference to Samuel Sharpe Jr., who was killed by members of the Columbus, Ohio, Police Department who were in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Biden will have to decide in a matter of days if he is staying or leaving — and the pressure has grown intense.

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Democrats are set to have a virtual roll call for delegates in early August to formally pledge their allegiance. Once that is done, it becomes increasingly hard for another candidate to step in.

But for the voters in Lindsay Heights, mistrustful of politics and concerned about daily life, time is running out for either party to reach them with a message that carries enough meaning to carry them to the polls.

If that neglect continues, it probably won’t make much of a difference what Biden decides.

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