During his FISC tenure,Judge Walton was "exceptionally concerned" about the NSA's "flagrant violation" of the court orders regarding privacy,and he accused the agency of "misinterpretations."[8]
The Washington Post reported,"fellow judges and lawyers who appear before him say Walton's decisions do not appear to be guided by politics but by a tough-on-crime mentality." Walton is known by local defense attorneys as a "long ball hitter" –a judge willing to impose long sentences in order to deter future crimes.[7] In fall 2005,the judge was driving his wife and daughter to the airport for a vacation when he came across an assailant attacking a cab driver on the side of the road. Walton tackled the assailant and subdued him until police arrived. The D.C. police spokesperson noted in response,"God bless Judge Walton. I surely wouldn't want to mess with him."[7]
Walton also presided over the trial of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff,Scooter Libby. On March 6,2007,the jury convicted Libby of four of the five counts with which he was charged:two counts of perjury,one of obstruction of justice,and one of making false statements to federal investigators.[9] On June 5,2007,Walton sentenced Libby to 30 months in federal prison and a fine of US$250,000,and,subsequently,he ordered that Libby report to jail without bail pending any appeals.[10] On June 20,2007,Libby appealed Walton's ruling in federal appeals court.[11] The next day,Walton filed a 30-page expanded ruling,in which he explained his decision to deny Libby bail in more detail.[12]
Walton received several threatening letters after pronouncing sentence on Libby.[13]
Rocket propellant case
Walton was the presiding judge in Tripoli Rocketry Association,Inc. and National Association of Rocketry v. United States Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco,Firearms and Explosives,a long-running case brought by the two largest hobby rocketry organizations,which challenged the inclusion of certain types of solid fuel rocket propellant on the list of "explosives" regulated by the ATF. On March 16,2009,Walton ruled in favor of the rocketry organizations.[14]
United States v. Roger Clemens
On August 30,2010,USA Today reported that Walton arraigned former major-league pitcher Roger Clemens on charges of lying to Congress (three counts of making false statements,two counts of perjury,and one count of obstruction of Congress) about the use of performance-enhancing substances. Pre-trial prosecutors brought a motion of conflict of interest against defense attorney Rusty Hardin for having briefly represented Andy Pettitte,who was an important witness for the government.[15]
On July 14,2011,Walton declared a mistrial over inadmissible evidence shown to jurors. The judge said Clemens could not be assured a fair trial after prosecutors showed jurors evidence against his orders in the second day of testimony. Following the mistrial,the US Attorneys Office brought Clemens to trial once more for perjury. On June 18,2012,Judge Walton accepted the jury's unanimous verdict of acquittal.[16]
On October 4,2016,Walton rejected the release of Hillary Clinton criminal indictment drafts prosecutors prepared,but never issued,during the Whitewater investigation in the 1990s. He ruled that Clinton had a "substantial privacy interest" when he rejected a FOIA lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch.[17][18]
Walton presided over the lawsuit that Steven Hatfill filed against former US Attorney General John Ashcroft.[20] Ashcroft publicly described Hatfill as a "Person of interest" in the FBI's investigations into the 2001 anthrax attacks. On March 30,2007,Walton issued an order warning Hatfill that he may lose his civil lawsuit over the leaks if he did not compel journalists to name their sources and giving Hatfill until April 16,2007,to decide whether to do so.[21] Hatfill's lawyers complied with the order,as reported on April 18 by Gerstein,who warns that a "free press battle looms," as
The reporters in jeopardy now are expected to defy Hatfill's subpoenas and any court order to name their sources. ... one critical issue will be whether Judge Walton imposes fines on the news organizations involved. ... A First Amendment battle could possibly be avoided:The government and Dr. Hatfill's lawyers asked Walton to name a mediator to explore a possible settlement of the case. ... No one has been charged in the anthrax attacks,which killed at least five people.[22]
Guantanamo captives' habeas petitions
On August 21,2009,Reuters reported that Walton issued a ruling about "hearsay evidence" that applied to all the Guantanamo detainees' habeas petitions before him.[23] Much of the evidence the Department of Justice (DOJ) presented in the habeas petitions was hearsay evidence.
Walton wrote:
Even the most widespread rumors are often inaccurate in part if not in whole. The court's only point is that otherwise unreliable hearsay cannot be deemed reliable because there is other unreliable hearsay to the same effect.
Mueller Report redactions
On August 5, 2019, Politico reported that while hearing arguments regarding lawsuits by BuzzFeed and the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center, as they sought to reveal the approximately 1,000 redacted items in the publicly-released edition of former special counsel Robert Mueller's report, Walton indicated that he would review the redactions before determining whether to make them public.[24]
On March 5, 2020, Walton described Attorney General William Barr's public statements about the Mueller report as "misleading," and said that Barr's representations regarding DOJ redactions from the report could not be credited. He directed the DOJ to submit the unredacted version of the Mueller Report to the Court for in camera review.[25]
On October 6, 2020, President Trump, referencing the Mueller report, tweeted "I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax”.[citation needed] In response to the President's statement, BuzzFeed requested an unredacted version of the report; however, BuzzFeed's request for an unredacted report was denied by the DOJ. The DOJ told Walton that “the President's statements on Twitter were not self-executing declassification orders...” To clear up the position of the President, Walton ordered a continuance until October 21, 2020 so, “I can get something from White House counsel saying that they conferred with the president, and the president, in fact, did not intend to declassify the information...”[26]
United States v. Bergdahl
On July 25, 2023, the Associated Press reported that Judge Walton vacated the sentence due to Judge Jeffery Nance's failure to report an application to the executive branch as an immigration judge; however, Judge Walton rejected the defense's claim of undue command influence due to Mr. Donald Trump's comments during his campaign trail in 2016. [27]
↑ Shiffman, John; Cooke, Kristina (2013-06-21). "The judges who preside over America's secret court". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2013-06-23. Retrieved 2013-07-01. Twelve of the 14 judges who have served this year on the most secret court in America are Republicans and half are former prosecutors.
↑ Markon, Jerry (2009-05-25). "Threats to Judges, Prosecutors Soaring". The Washington Post. p.A01. Retrieved May 25, 2009. The judge in the CIA leak case got threatening letters when he ordered Vice President Richard B. Cheney's former chief of staff to prison.
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