Judge’s rare media appear­ance on Trump gag order sparks con­tro­ver­sy

A sit­ting fed­er­al judge in Wash­ing­ton, D.C., appeared on tele­vi­sion Thurs­day night to opine on for­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump, an extra­or­di­nary move that prompt­ed back­lash from some who felt it crossed an eth­i­cal bound­ary.
Judge Reg­gie Wal­ton, an appointee of for­mer Pres­i­dent George W. Bush, spoke on CNN about com­ments Trump has made in recent days on the daugh­ter of a judge who is over­see­ing Trump’s hush-mon­ey case in New York.
“It’s very dis­con­cert­ing to have some­one mak­ing com­ments about a judge, and it’s par­tic­u­lar­ly prob­lem­at­ic when those com­ments are in the form of a threat, espe­cial­ly if they’re direct­ed at one’s fam­i­ly,” Wal­ton said.
Walton’s inter­view was par­tic­u­lar­ly unusu­al because Trump is also fac­ing crim­i­nal charges in Wash­ing­ton, Walt …