Maxine Waters Scoffs at Accusations of Jury Intimidation, Now Targeting Judge Who Initially Raised Concerns

 With the threat of House censure safely behind her, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California went on the offensive against a judge who took issue with comments she made about the Derek Chauvin trial.

Last weekend, during an appearance at a protest in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, Waters referenced the Chauvin trial prior to the guilty verdicts against the former Minneapolis police officer in the death of George Floyd last year.

She said at the time that if Chauvin was not found guilty, “We’ve got to stay on the street and we’ve got to get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.”

Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill, presiding over the Chauvin case, rejected a defense motion for a mistrial but said Waters could have created an opening for an appeal.

“I will give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned,” he said.

The remarks also led to a failed attempt by House Republicans to have Waters censured.

In an interview Saturday with CNN’s Jim Acosta, Waters claimed that Cahill walked his comment back when he later said that “a congresswoman’s opinion really doesn’t matter.”

She said the judge was “angry.”

“I think he may be frustrated with this case and how much world publicity is on it and all of that,” Waters said.

“I’ve talked with a lot of legal scholars and lawyers, and of course, he was way off track, and he knows that, in fact, the jurors were not in the room,” the congresswoman said.

“The jurors had been, had an oath not to look at television, not to read the newspapers, not to engage with people on this. And so he knows that there was no interference with the jurors,” she said.

Waters said that she agreed with a comment she heard that the judge was “off track.”

“Most of the time, when you have a case like this, they’re going to appeal it anyway. But to say that I’m going to cause an appeal really is not credible,” she said.

Cahill used the comments made by Waters as a chance to share his disdain for the politicking that surrounded the Chauvin trial.

“I wish elected officials would stop talking about this case, especially in a manner that is disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch and our function,” the judge said.

Cahill suggested if politicians have to say something, they watch their words.

“I think if they want to give their opinion they should do so in a respectful and in a manner that is consistent with their oath to the Constitution to respect a co-equal branch of government,” he said.

“Their failure to do so, I think, is abhorrent.”