Sen. Tom Cotton Calls for Investigation into Judge’s Sentencing
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) has suggested that judges appointed by President Biden may warrant investigation or even impeachment. This statement follows the sentencing of Nicholas Roethke, who received an eight-year prison term for an attempt on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s life in 2022.
During a recent interview on Fox News, Cotton criticized Judge Deborah Boardman for her ruling. Notably, Roethke, who now identifies as transgender and goes by “Sophie,” will serve 97 months in prison. Cotton expressed that Roethke “should be in prison for life, or at least much longer than eight years.”
He stated, “This individual—because let’s be clear, he’s a man—traveled across the country intending to kidnap and murder conservative Supreme Court justices. He was outside Kavanaugh’s home and had the means to break in, restrain him, and ultimately end his life. He deserves to stay behind bars forever.”
Cotton acknowledged that attempts to impeach federal judges are generally unproductive and often lead nowhere. Nonetheless, he contended that the House should investigate whether the judge’s actions could justify impeachment.
“When the judge blatantly refused to impose a fitting sentence because he disagreed with the Trump administration’s stance on keeping men out of women’s prisons, I believe that warrants scrutiny for potential impeachment,” Cotton remarked.
Reports indicate that this judge “questioned whether Roethke would receive sufficient mental health care in federal prison” while considering Roethke’s identity as a transgender woman in the decision-making process for his sentence.
In a statement shared with Breitbart News, Cotton emphasized that judges ought to follow the law as it is written, without political bias. “Judges must apply the law as intended, not make exceptions based on their own extreme political views,” he noted. “This judge should be investigated and potentially impeached.”
Roethke’s conviction came after he pleaded guilty to attempting to murder Kavanaugh in April 2025. Under the plea deal, he admitted to flying from Los Angeles to Dulles International Airport in June 2022 with a firearm and ammunition in his luggage, ultimately traveling to Montgomery County, Maryland, with the intention of killing Kavanaugh.
