In another pretty interesting development in the world of right wing Stolen Valor, WAFB in Louisiana last week obtained a March 31st legal brief by the state’s Office of Special Counsel recommending 19th Judicial District Judge Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts be removed from the bench for having lied about her service and rank achieved during her career as an Army officer in her campaign ads before she was elected in 2020 as well as false statements to police over a possible insurance scam involving the supposed theft of a $19,000 engagement ring from her vehicle the same year.
“The evidence was overwhelming that Judge Foxworth-Roberts’ conduct constituted egregious unethical conduct, necessitating a severe penalty,” wrote Michael Bewers, assistant special counsel to the state judicial commission. “Foxworth-Roberts’ egregious misconduct, including a severe lack of cooperation, were calculated, deliberate, and in bad faith to further her own self-interests, and avoid detecting. Her persistent and public conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute more than justify a recommendation of removal from office.”
Foxworth-Roberts ran as a Democrat, but touted herself in at least one campaign ad as being all about “conservative family values” and “pro-life,” “pro-traditional marriage,” “crime fighter,” “pro-military,” and “pro-veteran” in another, per the Independent. The ads also mentioned that she served as “both an enlisted soldier and commissioned officer during Desert Storm, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars,” for which the brief notes that she would’ve been 16 years old during the first Iraq War.
More tantalizing than that here however are the threads overlapping with the long saga of US v Alvarez, convicted Stolen Valor bullshitter Derek Hamm, and Arizona’s HB2030/SB1424 as it was chronicled here and then swiftly followed up with some additional analysis in late March: It appears that, if ultimately removed, Judge Foxworth-Roberts may indeed be the very first elected official in the modern (or even the entire) history of the United States to be canned at least in part for having misrepresented herself during her campaign, though there are also some important caveats to note.
First off, this isn’t an application of statute law – in fact Foxworth-Roberts hasn’t been charged for any crime related to the insurance claim scam nor for violating the federal Stolen Valor Act and whether either are in front of a grand jury is unknown. It’s a disciplinary proceeding internal to the Louisiana judiciary and thus the burden of proof is lower. Second, and similar to the case of Derek Hamm, the scam artist who had claimed he had earned the Silver Star and a bunch of other rare combat decorations while selling investors on some oil project, Foxworth-Roberts’ lies about her military career seem to be icing on the cake of other fuckery: Hamm had lied about being related to an oil industry billionaire with the same surname while the judge is credibly alleged to have ripped off an insurance company for $19,000 and made false statements to police. Meaning that in both of their cases you could reasonably question whether the Stolen Valor shit would have been in and of itself enough to send Hamm to federal prison and potentially Foxworth-Roberts off the bench without their other scams, even while media coverage of both leads with the lies about their service.
Yet in a way that might not actually matter. Foxworth-Roberts’ case – she’s due to appear for a hearing in front of the Judicial Commission on the 23rd – may be as big, or even bigger of a deal as Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signing her state’s Stolen Valor act last month. It’d probably be a hell of a long time – like decades, if ever – before we’d get to see an elected official in that state indicted, prosecuted, and convicted for having misrepresented their military service on the campaign trail and then for that to make its way through the appellate courts and be upheld. After all, the law’s supposed to be a deterrent first and a means of enforcement second – simply having the Arizona’s Stolen Valor Act on the books (probably) makes it less likely for some asshole would claim to be a Navy SEAL with three Medals of Honor for heroic actions during super secret classified missions when running for a school board seat in rural Polygamyville. In real time we’ll soon get to see if it’s a fireable offense for an elected official to have lied about their resume during a campaign.
Yes, as noted here it’s a judicial disciplinary proceeding, not a criminal trial. Yes, it’d be happening anyway if Foxworth-Roberts’ had been honest about her military record while scamming the insurance company over the $19,000 ring and it’s unlikely the same could be said if it were the other way around. But the beauty of it is that if the commission finds she’s guilty of the offense, is removed, and that gets upheld through whatever no doubt lengthy appellate process where the courts along the way determine that such lies are not protected speech but fraudulent conduct then that opens the door for it to happen to another elected judge who lied about their military service.
And maybe not even in Louisiana. And maybe it’s not even about that judge’s military service but, say, the details of a major settlement they claimed to have secured while they were working in private practice. And then maybe it’s not even a judge but a district attorney who just spewed complete bullshit about something else relevant to the resume they sold to voters. And then maybe some lawmaker pulls a few all-nighters gaming this out and realizes that such precedent, previously limited to elected officials in court systems, has withstood repeated challenges in those venues and is ready for prime time in legislative and executive offices within that jurisdiction.
And then maybe some state Senator gets convicted of lying about having graduated from Yale, the Supreme Court upholds it, and suddenly there’s a groundswell of support for taking it further. Then maybe someday you’ll live in a world where politicians are effectively under oath at all times that they have a campaign or committee registered with the FEC, that aspirational bullshit, empty promises, and most importantly honest mistakes are still protected speech while knowing misstatements or any kind meant to influence the outcome of an election, ones that would rise to perjury in any depositional setting are investigated as such by a highly sophisticated team of Justice Department prosecutors with Fort Knox-level protections for their funding and independence.
If you wake up in that world 10 or 15 years from now be sure to thank disgraced former 19th Judicial District Judge Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts for setting it in motion for want of a little valor.