[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1031 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1031

Impeaching G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., judge of the United States District 
   Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, for high crimes and 
                             misdemeanors.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 21, 2010

     Mr. Conyers (for himself, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr. Schiff, Mr. 
 Goodlatte, Ms. Jackson Lee of Texas, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Delahunt, 
Mr. Daniel E. Lungren of California, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Forbes, Mr. Johnson 
of Georgia, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Pierluisi, and Mr. Gonzalez) submitted the 
   following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Impeaching G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., judge of the United States District 
   Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, for high crimes and 
                             misdemeanors.

    Resolved, That G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., a judge of the United 
States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, is 
impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following 
articles of impeachment be exhibited to the Senate:
     Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in the name of itself and all of the 
people of the United States of America, against G. Thomas Porteous, 
Jr., a judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern 
District of Louisiana, in maintenance and support of its impeachment 
against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.

                               article i 

    G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., while a Federal judge of the United States 
District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, engaged in a 
pattern of conduct that is incompatible with the trust and confidence 
placed in him as a Federal judge, as follows:
    Judge Porteous, while presiding as a United States district judge 
in Lifemark Hospitals of Louisiana, Inc. v. Liljeberg Enterprises, 
denied a motion to recuse himself from the case, despite the fact that 
he had a corrupt financial relationship with the law firm of Amato & 
Creely, P.C. which had entered the case to represent Liljeberg. In 
denying the motion to recuse, and in contravention of clear canons of 
judicial ethics, Judge Porteous failed to disclose that beginning in or 
about the late 1980s while he was a State court judge in the 24th 
Judicial District Court in the State of Louisiana, he engaged in a 
corrupt scheme with attorneys, Jacob Amato, Jr., and Robert Creely, 
whereby Judge Porteous appointed Amato's law partner as a ``curator'' 
in hundreds of cases and thereafter requested and accepted from Amato & 
Creely a portion of the curatorship fees which had been paid to the 
firm. During the period of this scheme, the fees received by Amato & 
Creely amounted to approximately $40,000, and the amounts paid by Amato 
& Creely to Judge Porteous amounted to approximately $20,000.
    Judge Porteous also made intentionally misleading statements at the 
recusal hearing intended to minimize the extent of his personal 
relationship with the two attorneys. In so doing, and in failing to 
disclose to Lifemark and its counsel the true circumstances of his 
relationship with the Amato & Creely law firm, Judge Porteous deprived 
the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals of critical information for its 
review of a petition for a writ of mandamus, which sought to overrule 
Judge Porteous's denial of the recusal motion. His conduct deprived the 
parties and the public of the right to the honest services of his 
office.
    Judge Porteous also engaged in corrupt conduct after the Lifemark 
v. Liljeberg bench trial, and while he had the case under advisement, 
in that he solicited and accepted things of value from both Amato and 
his law partner Creely, including a payment of thousands of dollars in 
cash. Thereafter, and without disclosing his corrupt relationship with 
the attorneys of Amato & Creely PLC or his receipt from them of cash 
and other things of value, Judge Porteous ruled in favor of their 
client, Liljeberg.
    By virtue of this corrupt relationship and his conduct as a Federal 
judge, Judge Porteous brought his court into scandal and disrepute, 
prejudiced public respect for, and confidence in, the Federal 
judiciary, and demonstrated that he is unfit for the office of Federal 
judge.
    Wherefore, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., is guilty of high crimes 
and misdemeanors and should be removed from office.

                              article ii 

    G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., engaged in a longstanding pattern of 
corrupt conduct that demonstrates his unfitness to serve as a United 
States District Court Judge. That conduct included the following: 
Beginning in or about the late 1980s while he was a State court judge 
in the 24th Judicial District Court in the State of Louisiana, and 
continuing while he was a Federal judge in the United States District 
Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Judge Porteous engaged in 
a corrupt relationship with bail bondsman Louis M. Marcotte, III, and 
his sister Lori Marcotte. As part of this corrupt relationship, Judge 
Porteous solicited and accepted numerous things of value, including 
meals, trips, home repairs, and car repairs, for his personal use and 
benefit, while at the same time taking official actions that benefitted 
the Marcottes. These official actions by Judge Porteous included, while 
on the State bench, setting, reducing, and splitting bonds as requested 
by the Marcottes, and improperly setting aside or expunging felony 
convictions for two Marcotte employees (in one case after Judge 
Porteous had been confirmed by the Senate but before being sworn in as 
a Federal judge). In addition, both while on the State bench and on the 
Federal bench, Judge Porteous used the power and prestige of his office 
to assist the Marcottes in forming relationships with State judicial 
officers and individuals important to the Marcottes' business. As Judge 
Porteous well knew and understood, Louis Marcotte also made false 
statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an effort to 
assist Judge Porteous in being appointed to the Federal bench.
    Accordingly, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., has engaged in conduct 
so utterly lacking in honesty and integrity that he is guilty of high 
crimes and misdemeanors, is unfit to hold the office of Federal judge, 
and should be removed from office.

                              article iii 

    Beginning in or about March 2001 and continuing through about July 
2004, while a Federal judge in the United States District Court for the 
Eastern District of Louisiana, G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., engaged in a 
pattern of conduct inconsistent with the trust and confidence placed in 
him as a Federal judge by knowingly and intentionally making material 
false statements and representations under penalty of perjury related 
to his personal bankruptcy filing and by repeatedly violating a court 
order in his bankruptcy case. Judge Porteous did so by--
            (1) using a false name and a post office box address to 
        conceal his identity as the debtor in the case;
            (2) concealing assets;
            (3) concealing preferential payments to certain creditors;
            (4) concealing gambling losses and other gambling debts; 
        and
            (5) incurring new debts while the case was pending, in 
        violation of the bankruptcy court's order.
    In doing so, Judge Porteous brought his court into scandal and 
disrepute, prejudiced public respect for and confidence in the Federal 
judiciary, and demonstrated that he is unfit for the office of Federal 
judge.
    Wherefore, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., is guilty of high crimes 
and misdemeanors and should be removed from office.

                              article iv 

    In 1994, in connection with his nomination to be a judge of the 
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, G. 
Thomas Porteous, Jr., knowingly made material false statements about 
his past to both the United States Senate and to the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation in order to obtain the office of United States District 
Court Judge. These false statements included the following:
            (1) On his Supplemental SF-86, Judge Porteous was asked if 
        there was anything in his personal life that could be used by 
        someone to coerce or blackmail him, or if there was anything in 
        his life that could cause an embarrassment to Judge Porteous or 
        the President if publicly known. Judge Porteous answered ``no'' 
        to this question and signed the form under the warning that a 
        false statement was punishable by law.
            (2) During his background check, Judge Porteous falsely 
        told the Federal Bureau of Investigation on two separate 
        occasions that he was not concealing any activity or conduct 
        that could be used to influence, pressure, coerce, or 
        compromise him in any way or that would impact negatively on 
        his character, reputation, judgment, or discretion.
            (3) On the Senate Judiciary Committee's ``Questionnaire for 
        Judicial Nominees'', Judge Porteous was asked whether any 
        unfavorable information existed that could affect his 
        nomination. Judge Porteous answered that, to the best of his 
        knowledge, he did ``not know of any unfavorable information 
        that may affect [his] nomination''. Judge Porteous signed that 
        questionnaire by swearing that ``the information provided in 
        this statement is, to the best of my knowledge, true and 
        accurate''.
    However, in truth and in fact, as Judge Porteous then well knew, 
each of these answers was materially false because Judge Porteous had 
engaged in a corrupt relationship with the law firm Amato & Creely, 
whereby Judge Porteous appointed Creely as a ``curator'' in hundreds of 
cases and thereafter requested and accepted from Amato & Creely a 
portion of the curatorship fees which had been paid to the firm and 
also had engaged in a corrupt relationship with Louis and Lori 
Marcotte, whereby Judge Porteous solicited and accepted numerous things 
of value, including meals, trips, home repairs, and car repairs, for 
his personal use and benefit, while at the same time taking official 
actions that benefitted the Marcottes. As Judge Porteous well knew and 
understood, Louis Marcotte also made false statements to the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation in an effort to assist Judge Porteous in being 
appointed to the Federal bench. Judge Porteous's failure to disclose 
these corrupt relationships deprived the United States Senate and the 
public of information that would have had a material impact on his 
confirmation.
    Wherefore, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., is guilty of high crimes 
and misdemeanors and should be removed from office.
                                 <all>