Investigation: Federal judge in Alaska lied to investigators about sexual misconduct

Former U.S. District Judge Joshua Kindred was asked to voluntarily resign after a Judicial Council investigation found that he had an “inappropriately sexualized relationship” with a law clerk and repeatedly lied to investigators about it, according to an extraordinary and scathing ruling released Monday on charges of judicial misconduct.

Kindred resigned on July 3 without giving a reason. He still faces a rare impeachment process.

The 29-page order, filed in May but not released until Monday, states that “Judge Kindred’s misconduct was extensive and abusive, had the character of sexual harassment, and fostered a hostile work environment that caused personal and professional distress to many employees.”

“Judge Kindred’s conduct was neither courteous, dignified nor respectful – qualities we expect in a federal judge – and his treatment of his law clerks was abusive, oppressive and inappropriate,” the order states.

Kindred, 46, was nominated to the U.S. District Court in Alaska by former President Donald Trump in 2019 and confirmed in 2020. He was just 42 years old at the time – making him one of the youngest in a series of influential, lifetime federal judges appointed by the Trump administration.

With Kindred’s resignation, Chief Judge Sharon Gleason is the only active district judge in Alaska. The vast majority of Kindred’s 77 open criminal cases and 148 open civil cases were scheduled to be reassigned to Gleason on Friday.

Former Alaska Chief Justice Timothy Burgess retired at the end of 2021. Burgess has been in semi-retirement since then. Burgess’ seat on the court has been vacant since 2022.

The report describes in stark terms a chamber that had gone awry, in which the judge, among other things, sent text messages and spoke “unfiltered” about intimate aspects of his life, maintained a sexual relationship with a direct assistant and received flirtatious nude photos from a federal prosecutor whose office regularly appeared before him.

The judicial conduct report does not name Kindred’s former law clerk, who was the focus of the investigation. The report says Kindred and his law clerk had two inappropriate “sexual encounters” shortly after she began working as a federal prosecutor.

(Previous reporting: Federal Judge Joshua Kindred of Alaska abruptly resigns)

Kindred and his former employee exchanged 278 pages of text messages over an 11-month period, “only a small portion of which had any connection with their legitimate job duties,” the order states.

Investigators also found that Kindred had received “nude photographs” from another, more senior federal prosecutor and “exchanged flirtatious” text messages with a third local attorney, the order states.

Monday’s ruling states that the former employee with whom he had “an inappropriate sexualized relationship” never appeared in his courtroom as a federal prosecutor. However, that was apparently not the case with the other two attorneys.

“He took no steps to report these inappropriate interactions and relationships he had with these two attorneys who frequently appeared before him,” the report said.

“Seemed to have no filter”

Jamie McGrady, Alaska’s public defender, said Monday that the office is still “digesting the order” but will ask the U.S. attorney’s office for disclosure. The public defender’s office will also revisit cases involving Kindred and assistant U.S. attorneys with whom there may be potential conflicts of interest, McGrady said.

As described in the order, Kindred allegedly created a hostile work environment in his law firm by making inappropriate comments to his other law clerks about his sex life and the love lives of his law clerks and other issues. One law clerk resigned early.

“Judge Kindred appeared to have no choice in the topics he discussed with the clerks. He talked about his past love life, his romantic preferences, his sex life, the clerks’ friends and love lives, his divorce, his interest in and communication with potential romantic or sexual partners, and his disparaging opinions about his colleagues,” the report said.

“Again, there are many examples of these disturbing text messages, which increased in frequency and severity over time,” it says. “Examples ranged from Judge Kindred telling the law clerk, ‘You’re like a damn Disney princess… You’re special,’ to ‘You looked amazing as always,’ to ‘Those damn blue pants you were wearing. That always killed me.’ Other messages are much more graphic.”

In “highly inappropriate” text messages to his staff, “Kindred joked that he would ‘punch several Supreme Court justices’ and said he would bring Patrón, heroin and ‘Whip-Its’ to a dinner at the firm.”

Legal interns were encouraged to rate people based on their “fuckability.” Those who complained about Kindred’s alleged behavior were “degraded” or “ostracized,” and one intern resigned his job, the order says.

“He has taken all of these actions without considering the consequences and ethical issues raised by his conduct. He is conspicuously unaware that he was the cause of all of these problems,” the order continues.

‘False statements’

Chief Judge Mary Murguia of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals began investigating reports of possible misconduct by Kindred in November 2022. According to Monday’s order, Kindred repeatedly and willfully lied to investigators over the next 18 months.

“I believe my great sin was the fact that during that time I treated my law clerks more as friends than as employees,” Kindred told investigators at a hearing.

“It was only when questioned under oath during the April 5, 2024, meeting of the Judicial Council that he admitted that he had intentionally lied to the Select Committee,” the order states, going on to describe how Kindred was only candid when faced with “overwhelming contemporary evidence” and “pointed questions” from the Judicial Council.

The ruling concluded that making “false statements” to the Judicial Council could also be a federal offense. However, there was no evidence that Kindred obstructed the reporting of judicial misconduct, the ruling said.

In May, the Judicial Council of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ordered Kindred to be publicly censured, ordered him to resign voluntarily, and referred the complaint to the Judicial Conference of the United States for impeachment.

Kindred resigned on July 3. His resignation took effect on Monday.

In a prepared statement on Monday, Murguia said the judiciary is entrusted with self-government and that federal judges must be held to “the highest standards of integrity and impartiality.”

“By any measure, this was a serious and delicate matter. I thank the witnesses who provided information and fully understand how difficult this may have been,” Murguia said. “In my role as chief, I will continue to ensure that our judges meet the highest standards.”

Conventionally, home-state senators select potential nominees to the federal judiciary, who are then confirmed by the full U.S. Senate. U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan introduced Kindred at his 2019 Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing and was instrumental in his nomination to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for Alaska.

“Judge Kindred’s misconduct uncovered in the recent investigation is extremely disappointing,” Sullivan said in a prepared statement Monday. “I will continue to work with the Alaska Federal Judicial Council to appoint federal judges who understand Alaska’s unique role in our federal system. This is critical for our state.”

US Senator Lisa Murkowski said on social media that based on the Judiciary Council’s investigation, “it was more than appropriate for Mr. Kindred to submit his resignation.”

“Judges must hold themselves to the highest standards, and Mr. Kindred has fallen far short of those standards,” she said. “I will work quickly to submit a replacement candidate for consideration.”

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