(The Center Square) – Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen has recused himself from Arizona’s ongoing “fake electors” case, following a plea for his dismissal by Sen. Jake Hoffman, one of the 11 Arizona Republicans indicted in the case.
In April, a grand jury indicted 11 Arizona Republicans and seven other individuals that were aides to former President Donald Trump of allegedly forging a document denying the 2020 presidential election, claiming that Trump had won Arizona, when in fact he lost to President Joe Biden by 10,457 votes, and sent the statement to the National Archives. At this time, only two individuals have resolved their cases, with the others all pleading not-guilty.
Hoffman submitted his motion to disqualify Cohen after emails obtained by Rep. Travis Grantham through a public records request was released. The emails were sent to “all judges” and “all commissioners” in the Maricopa County Superior Court. The email thread in question was sent in late August and details Cohen’s personal political views, stating that he is looking towards anti-Nazi German Theologian Martin Niemoller as an example on how to proceed with “present day events.”
The email goes on to state that he, as a white man, must not remain silent pertaining to claims about Vice President Kamala Harris being a “DEI hire” and other derogatory statements made by conservative media outlets.
“It matters not whether you align with ‘the left’ or ‘the right,’” reads the email. “It matters not whether you are a faith-driven person or an atheist. It matters not whether you are old (me) or young (many of you). But it does matter if your chromosomes are made up of ‘XY.’ It matters even more if your skin color is characterized as ‘white’ or Caucasian.”
He went on to state that the “white males” must not allow people to insinuate that their female or minority colleagues were hired because of their gender or race.
“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,” reads the email. “If we allow these horrific comments that are now seemingly part of normal discourse, we fail at seeing the humanity of others. When we fail to see that, we cannot possibly stand by others. When we cannot or do not stand with others, the words of Martin Niemöller are no longer a historic reference to the atrocities of WWII, those words describe the present.”
A couple days later, Cohen sent an email to that same thread apologizing for using that email chain to express his opinions.
“After reflection, I have come to realize that this was not proper use of this forum,” reads the email. “I sincerely apologize to anyone put off by or negatively impacted by my lapse of judgment.”
Hoffman’s request for Cohen’s dismissal stated that these emails show political bias on Cohen’s part.
“Those statements compare Republicans to Nazis and urged members of the bench to defend Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for President in last week’s election,” reads the motion. “While Judge Cohen is entitled to his political opinions and speech, his rhetoric and exhortation precisely mirrors the evidence of hostile partisan political zealotry at the heart of the motions to dismiss that have been languishing before the Court for months.”
Cohen promptly issued his recusal stating that his statements were “not reflective of bias,” but that he was supporting his colleagues that identify as part of a minority group.
“Each of those judicial officers have ascended to their current positions through merit and because of exceptionalism, not based upon favor,” reads the order. “Directed solely to fellow colleagues, this judicial officer expressed in an e-mail support for the exceptionalism of the judicial officers of Maricopa County and was a stand for decency and respect. What was contained in the e-mail is not reflective of bias. As noted in the subject e-mail, the same cry for decency and respect would have been made about disparaging comments from either political sphere.”
However, Cohen agreed to recuse himself to avoid the “appearance of bias.”
The next hearing in this case was scheduled for Jan. 5, 2025, but the order states that after reassignment, the new judge will work with counsel to create a pretrial and hearing schedule.
Cohen was appointed by Democratic Gov. Jane Napolitano in 2005 and his term will be ending in January.
