sibel / walton

* moonietimes:

WASHINGTON, March 24 (UPI) --

FBI Whistleblower asks judge to withdraw

An FBI whistleblower is calling on the judge in her case to recuse himself, because his decision to keep his financial disclosure information private creates the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI contract linguist who revealed the parlous state of the bureau's translation unit, filed her motion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Wednesday.

Citing the provision of the U.S. code that requires a federal judge to disqualify himself "in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned," Edmonds' motion asks for District Judge Reggie Walton to withdraw and another judge to be assigned to the case.

The case in question -- a suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act -- is the latest in a series that Edmonds has fought against the FBI in furtherance of her claim that she was retaliated against by managers after raising serious questions about security in the bureau's Washington translation unit.

Wednesday's motion cites Walton's decision to exercise a rarely used privilege and redact from public disclosure the entirety of his annual statement of financial interests, and what it calls "the convoluted movement of (Edmonds') cases among courts all leading back to Judge Walton."

The motion says that Edmonds first case -- a suit under the Freedom of Information Act -- was assigned to one judge, Ellen Huvelle, in July 2002. Her second case later that month -- a suit alleging violations of the Privacy Act and First Amendment -- was randomly assigned to a different judge, James Robertson.

The following year, in February 2003, her second case was moved from Robertson to Walton, "without explanation," according to the motion. Her lawyers filed a request that the second case also be heard by Huvelle, on the grounds that it was a "related case." DC Court rules require that related cases are heard by the same judge.

The court first granted the request for a transfer to Huvelle, but then -- just two days later -- transferred it back to Walton.

Finally, Edmonds third case -- under the Federal Tort Claims Act -- was filed in March last year. It was randomly assigned to Robertson, but then reassigned to Walton five days later."

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