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Money Trails to the Federal Bench
BY WILL EVANS


At least two dozen federal judges appointed by President Bush since 2001 made political contributions to key Republicans or to the president himself while under consideration for their judgeships, government records show.


A four-month investigation of Bush-appointed judges by the Center for Investigative Reporting reveals that six appellate court judges and 18 district court judges contributed a total of more than $44,000 to politicians who were influential in their appointments. Some gave money directly to Bush after he officially nominated them.


There are no laws or regulations prohibiting political contributions by a candidate for a federal judgeship. But some ethics experts and Bush-appointed judges say that political giving is inappropriate for those seeking judicial office -- it can appear unethical, they say, and could jeopardize the public's confidence in the impartiality of the nation's courts.


Overall, CIR’s investigation found that at least 23 percent of Bush-appointed appellate judges (11 out of 47) and more than 16 percent of Bush-appointed district judges (34 out of 202) gave campaign contributions of some kind while they were under official consideration for a judgeship. Five of the appellate court judges and 15 of the district judges gave political donations after they were nominated.


http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/articles/moneytrailstothefederalbench