WASHINGTON, DC- Today the House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Judicial Impeachment, on which Congressman Bob Goodlatte serves as Ranking Member, presented four articles of impeachment against Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., a federal district judge, to the House Judiciary Committee, citing evidence that Judge Porteous intentionally made material false statements and representations under penalty of perjury, engaged in a corrupt kickback scheme, solicited and accepted unlawful gifts, and intentionally misled the Senate during his confirmation proceedings.  The Task Force concluded that Judge Porteous violated his Constitutional oath by engaging in high crimes and misdemeanors. 

“After hearing the testimony of witnesses and examining all the evidence it has become clear that Judge Porteous engaged in misconduct that warrants the issuance of articles of impeachment against him,” said Rep. Goodlatte.  “The evidence shows Judge Porteous was abusing his judicial office for his own advantage, that he violated court orders and lied under oath, compromising the integrity of our entire judicial system.  The House of Representatives has the duty to investigate the matter and take the appropriate actions to end this abuse and restore confidence in the judicial system.”

Following an initial investigatory phase, the Task Force on Judicial Impeachment held four separate evidentiary hearings over five days in November and December 2009, in order to determine whether Judge Porteous’s conduct provides a sufficient basis for impeachment and to develop a record upon which to recommend whether to adopt Articles of Impeachment.   The evidence shows that while on the federal bench, Judge Porteous refused to recuse himself from a case when he had previously engaged in a corrupt kickback scheme with the attorneys representing the defense; that he later took thousands of dollars in cash from those same attorneys while the case was pending; that he took gifts from a bail bondsman in exchange for granting favorable bond rates for him and then improperly expunged the records of two of the bail bondsman’s employees, one after he was confirmed by the Senate to be a federal judge; that he lied to a bankruptcy court when he filed for bankruptcy and then violated a bankruptcy court order mandating that he not incur further debt; and that he made materially false statements to the U.S. Senate and FBI during his confirmation process.  Based upon this evidence, the Task Force unanimously approved four articles of impeachment against Judge Porteous to the full House Judiciary Committee. 

 In addition to Goodlatte, the bipartisan task force is made up of the following members:
Adam Schiff (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Bill Delahunt (D-MA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Pedro Pierluisi (D-Puerto Rico), Charles Gonzalez (D-TX), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Dan Lungren (R-CA), Randy Forbes (R-VA), Louie Gohmert (R-TX).

Judge Porteous is a federal district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and was originally appointed by President Bill Clinton.   Judge Porteous would be only the 15th federal judge in the nation’s history to be impeached in the House.  The full House Judiciary is expected to consider the impeachment articles recommended by the Task Force in the coming days.