Roy Moore: Impeach Judge Who Blocked Trans Military Ban

Roy Moore, who was removed twice as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, is calling for impeachment of the federal judge who blocked Donald Trump's trans military ban Monday.

Moore, the well-known homophobe and transphobe who is the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Alabama in a special election, issued a statement Monday night condemning Judge Colleen Kollar-Kottelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In a lawsuit filed by transgender military members, she issued a preliminary injunction against the ban, which means it cannot be enforced while the case makes its way through the courts.

Moore's full statement, as reported by AL.com, a site for several Alabama newspapers:

"The decision of a federal judge in the District of Columbia enjoining President Trump's executive order on transgenderism in the military is absolutely ridiculous and is a perfect example of the outlandish doctrine of judicial supremacy whereby judges exalt themselves over the Constitution they are sworn to uphold. As recently as 2013, the American Psychiatric Association considered transgenderism to be a mental disorder. And only in 2016 did the Obama administration attempt to impose that delusion upon our fighting forces. To say that President Trump cannot prohibit transgenderism in the military is a clear example of judicial activism. Even the United States Supreme Court has never declared transgenderism to be a right under the Constitution.

"Judge Kollar-Kotelly should be impeached by the House of Representatives for unlawful usurpation of power (Article II, SS 4) and lack of good behavior (Article III, SS 1), and referred to the Senate for a vote on removal. Not only has she placed herself above the Constitution in finding such a nonexistent right, but she has also interfered with the powers of the President as Commander in Chief of the armed forces under Article II, SS 2, of the Constitution.

"Unless we return to faithful obedience to the Constitution and the separation of powers set out therein, our form of government and our liberties will be in dire jeopardy. Congress should not turn a deaf ear to this flagrant usurpation of executive authority."

Battles with other courts are nothing new to Moore. He claimed that Alabama was not bound by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 marriage equality ruling (actually, it was); his attempts to enforce his stance got him charged with ethics violations and resulted in his removal from the Alabama Supreme Court. He had been removed once before, in 2003, for refusing to move a Ten Commandments monument from the state courthouse grounds after a federal court ordered him to do so, as it had ruled that the monument was an unconstitutional establishment of religion.

Moore has a long history of anti-LGBT positions, such as saying homosexuality should be illegal, that same-sex marriage will destroy civilization, and that transgender people are mentally ill.

He also made anti-trans statements in a campaign speech Saturday near Decatur, Ala., AL.com reports. "We don't need transgender bathrooms and we don't need transgender military and we don't need a weaker military," Moore said. "We need to go back to what this country is about."

Speaking with reporters at the campaign event, Moore dismissed reporting by The Washington Post and AL.com about financial improprieties by his Foundation for Moral Law, including that he had been paid more than $1 million by the foundation, including a $540,000 promissory note that he did not report for tax purposes. He said the articles are not accurate and has called on the Post to retract its "hit piece," but the newspaper has stood by its reporting.

And visiting Capitol Hill today, Moore declined to comment when a reporter confronted him about his statements that homosexuality should be illegal and Muslims should not be allowed to serve in public office, MSNBC reports.

Moore will face Democrat Doug Jones in the special Senate election December 12. In September, Moore bested interim Sen. Luther Strange in a primary runoff. Strange had been appointed by Alabama's governor when Jeff Sessions resigned the seat to become U.S. attorney general.