House votes to impeach US judge

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House voted unanimously Thursday to impeach a U.S. district judge from Louisiana, who lawmakers said avoided likely criminal charges related to alleged payoffs in part because the statute of limitations expired.

The House approved four impeachment articles charging him with taking payoffs and lying under oath. The unanimous vote reflected the bipartisan anger of the House over the judge's conduct.

The case goes to trial in the Senate, where a two-thirds vote is needed to convict U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. of the "high crimes and misdemeanors" standard set out in the Constitution.

Porteous was accused of taking cash from lawyers and gifts from a bail bondsman; lying to the Senate and the FBI to win confirmation; and making false statements in his personal bankruptcy proceedings to hide financial problems and gambling debts.

If convicted in the Senate, Porteous would become the eighth federal judge in U.S. history to be impeached and convicted.

Porteous was nominated by President Bill Clinton.

Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said Porteous' misconduct was so serious that he's "one of a kind and it's time for him to receive his comeuppance."

The head of the House Judiciary Committee task force that held hearings on Porteous' conduct, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said the Justice Department found the judge may have violated criminal laws but time ran out to file charges.

However, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals suspended Porteous for two years, a punishment that ends in September. The expiration establishes an informal deadline for the Senate to finish a trial.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, called Porteous a "threat to the integrity of the federal bench" and added, "We will not let a few bad actors mar the reputation of others on the federal bench."

The impeachment articles state:

—As a federal judge Porteous refused to remove himself from a case, even though as a state judge, he had taken money from the law firm that represented the defendant.

—As a state and federal judge, Porteous accepted meals, trips, home repairs and car repairs from a bail bondsman and his sister. In return, while on the state bench, Porteous set and reduced bonds as requested by the couple, and improperly set aside or expunged felony convictions for two of the bondsman's employees.

—The judge lied in his personal bankruptcy case by using a false name to conceal his identity as a debtor, his assets, his gambling losses, preferential payments to some creditors and new debts while the case was pending.

—Making false statements about his past to both the Senate and to the FBI in order to win confirmation as a federal judge. He falsely responded on a Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire that he did not know of any unfavorable information that would affect his nomination.