'Teetering on the brink of authoritarianism': Federal judge warns of 'risky business' for democracy

In a rare public speech, US District Judge Beryl Howell of the District of Columbia — who served as chief justice for seven years — recently warned of looming "authoritarian" threats to democracy.

While Howell didn't directly name former President Donald Trump, she alluded to him during the speech while quoting Heather Cox Richardson, author of the book Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America.Politico reported that Howell "approvingly quoted" Richardson's claim that the US "is at a crossroads teetering on the brink of authoritarianism" and that "big lies are springboards for authoritarians."

"My DC judicial colleagues and I regularly see the impact of big lies at the sentencing of hundreds, hundreds of individuals who have been convicted for offense conduct on January 6, 2021, when they disrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election at the US Capitol," said Howell, who oversaw trials for multiple January 6 defendants. "We are having a very surprising and downright troubling moment in this country when the very importance of facts is dismissed, or ignored."

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"That’s very risky business for all of us in our democracy," she added. "The facts matter."

Howell — an appointee of former President Barack Obama — gave the speech while accepting a "champion" award from the Women's White Collar Defense Association at their annual gala, which was held a hotel in downtown Washington, DC Tuesday night. Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch presented the awards to both Howell and former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. The group's mission is to promote diversity among white-collar law firms.

Lynch, for her part, appeared to reference the Supreme Court's 2023 decision that effectively eliminated race-based admissions at colleges, saying that there were "reactionary forces rising" in opposition to efforts to increase diversity. She added that the movement to diversify American institutions was being met with "incredible backlash."

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