WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a formal judicial complaint against Rhode Island Federal Judge John McConnell, Jr., with Chief Judge David Barron of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, detailing serious apparent conflicts of interest and violations of judicial ethics requirements.
Judge McConnell currently presides over New York v. Trump, a case brought by 21 states and the District of Columbia to block a temporary freeze of certain federal funding. In February, Judge McConnell ordered that taxpayer dollars continue flowing to the states, and by extension, to a Rhode Island organization on whose board he sat for nearly twenty years.
In March, AFL revealed Judge McConnell’s apparent conflict of interest in this case, called for his immediate recusal, and launched an investigation. Today, AFL presented its investigative findings to Chief Judge Baron and formally requested that the First Circuit Court of Appeals open an investigation into Judge McConnell’s conduct.
AFL’s complaint alleges that Judge McConnell has violated multiple Canons of Judicial Conduct and may have breached his fiduciary duty as a longtime board member of Crossroads Rhode Island. Specifically:
- Judge McConnell holds a significant conflict of interest between his duty to the nonprofit whose board he sat on for decades and his obligation to avoid even the appearance of impropriety or bias in adjudicating cases.
- While Chairman of the Board of Directors at Crossroads Rhode Island, Judge McConnell oversaw the nonprofit’s purchase of two real estate properties from a sitting board member at prices far above fair market value, including one transaction that was never reported to the IRS.
- The properties purchased and the board member who sold them are both connected to two infamous Rhode Island public corruption scandals: the Governor Edward DiPrete bribery scandal and the Rhode Island Banking Crisis, raising questions about Judge McConnell’s judgment.
- Crossroads Rhode Island operates housing developments through for-profit subsidiaries, yet allocates 99 percent of its profits to unnamed “partners.”
- According to homeless individuals in Providence, Crossroads Rhode Island’s homeless facilities have been a haven for drugs and violence, thereby failing to serve this vulnerable community, all during the time Judge McConnell sat on the board and had an obligation to ensure the organization’s mission was upheld.
“At a time when the public is losing faith in the integrity and independence of the judicial system, it is incumbent on the First Circuit to objectively investigate the allegations in the complaint in a fair and transparent manner to help restore the public’s faith in the judicial system,” said Andrew Block, America First Legal Senior Counsel.
Read the judicial complaint here.
Follow us on social media for the latest updates on America First Legal’s fight to protect your constitutional rights.
X, Facebook, Instagram, Truth Social, YouTube
For press inquiries, please contact press@aflegal.org.
Photo Credit: Adobe Stock / acnaleksy
###
