4+ Reference of charges of T. A. Brown, United States attorney, northern district of West Virginia, to the Judiciary Committee... Page ON SIXTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION CHARGES AGAINST WILLIAM E. BAKER, UNITED STATES The Speaker (by request) referred the petition of T. A. Brown, United States district attorney for the northern district of West Virginia complaining of the official conduct of William E. Baker, judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, praying that the subject of his complaint might be inquired into by Congress, to the Committee on the Judiciary. The communication and charges referred to are as follows: DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Hon. FREDERICK H. GILLETT, Parkersburg, W. Va., April 19, 1924. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. 1 you a short time since. I am sending these charges direct to you, hoping that you may find some way whereby action may be taken thereon. The conditions existing in this judicial district have become a notorious scandal, not only a disgrace to the judiciary but a disgrace to the country that "smells to heaven." I will not attempt to review these charges in this communication; I only ask you to read them. They speak for themselves. I believe you will agree with me that if these charges are true and can be sustained by proof that Judge Baker should be impeached and removed from office. If they are not true and are falsely made against him, then I as a public official should be unceremoniously dismissed from the office that I now hold. If Judge Baker is an innocent man, he and his friends at this moment-in fact long ago-should have demanded a hearing on these charges, to the end that he might be vindicated; but instead of them pursuing this course they have been moving heaven and earth to prevent a hearing. These charges, in the form of a report on conditions in this district, were filed by me with the Attorney General more than a year ago. The Department of Justice regarded the document with such seriousness that it was transmitted to the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, the Attorney General saying at the time, as I am informed, that the Department of Justice would not take the responsibility of withholding the report from Congress. What recommendation or what communication accompanied my report when the same was filed with the Judiciary Committee I am unable to say, as I have never seen it, nor have I had any intimation as to its contents. The Department of Justice took the position that the only power that could act in a matter of this kind affecting a Federal judge was through Congress. I am therefore formally calling your attention to these charges, which can be established by competent evidence. As United States, attorney it is my duty to enforce the Federal laws to the best of my ability in this judicial district against all offenders, high and low, rich and poor, and the powerful as well as the weak. In presenting the case of Judge Baker to the Congress of the United States, I am appealing to the only tribunal that possesses the power, under the Constitution, to enforce the law against a Federal judge as to offenses of the kind and character involved in these charges. The substance of these charges is generally known and discussed not only throughout this judicial district but throughout the State of West Virginia. From time to time they have been mentioned and in a veiled way discussed in the public press of the State. If they are untrue and can not be substantiated by competent evidence, and investigation of them can in no way injure Judge Baker, but under the circumstances a vindication will relieve him of the stigma under which he now rests. On the other hand, if they are true, his punishment should be speedy and decisive. When I felt compelled from a sense of duty and decency to file with the Department of Justice a report as to conditions in this judicial district involving the judge of the district court, it was not a pleasant task; it is not a pleasant task on my part now to formally file these charges with you, but as an officer of this Government it is my duty to do so, and that duty is now performed. Respectfully, T. A. BROWN, United States Attorney. United States of America v. William E. Baker, judge of the United States Court for the Northern District of West Virginia UPON IMPEACHMENT IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES The following are some of the facts known to exist relative to the conduct of William E. Baker, judge of the United States Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, which show him to be guilty of drunkenness when in the discharge of his official duty; confiscation and consumption of intoxicating liquor seized by prohibition agents; the imprisonment of a citizen without the color and justification under the circumstances which constitute a flagrant violation of his oath of office; and the commission of other high crimes and misdemeanors, and also, as well, unfitness and incompetency to fill the judicial position now held by him, and to which he was appointed about the latter part of March or the early part of April, 1921. DRUNKENNESS AND VIOLATION OF THE LIQUOR LAWS First. At the city of Wheeling, W. Va., at the May term, 1922, of the United States district court, and while Judge Baker was then and there holding said term of court, a State prohibition officer, one Fred E. Clayton, personally delivered a quart of bonded liquor to Judge Baker, which Judge Baker opened in the presence of the prohibition officer and drank therefrom, and the said liquor was delivered by the said agent at and upon the solicitation of the said judge. Second. That upon the evening of October 26, 1922, while the said Judge Baker was holding the term of said court in the city of Wheeling, he appeared in the dining room of the McLure Hotel, in the city of Wheeling, under the influence of liquor, his intoxicated condition being perfectly noticeable and apparent, and he indulged in talking in an unusually loud tone of voice and was boasting loudly of his wealth, and with a profane expression stated that he did not care anything about his position, and that he had money enough without it. He was then and there in a grossly inebriated condition. Third. That after the first term of court held by Judge Baker after his appointment, at Clarksburg, in the month of April or May, 1921, he indulged in drinking intoxicating liquor to such an extent that upon one occasion he became so grossly intoxicated that he was unable to appear in the court room upon the following morning and open court until after he had secured a drink of whisky; that one George L. Hannen, then and there a Federal prohibition agent, was apprised of the condition of Judge Baker and was asked to furnish the whisky then thought to be necessary for the judge, and that Mr. Hannen refused to furnish the whisky, but referred the request to a Mr. Lohm, then United States commissioner in Clarksburg, and that Mr. Lohm, in answer to the request, furnished the desired half pint of whisky; that later in the morning Judge Baker finally appeared in court, and many persons there noticed his intoxicated condition, and also detected the fumes of whisky on his breath. Mr. A. T. Barrett, who was then clerk of the United States district court, and Mr. George L. Hannen, who was then Federal prohibition agent, have personal knowledge of these facts, and the names of others who were also present and saw the situation can be supplied. Fourth. While Judge Baker was holding the June term, 1922, of the United States district court in the city of Parkersburg he procured a quart of liquor from one of the State prohibition agents; the liquor was concealed by being tied up in a shoe box which Judge Baker carried away from the Federal building under his arm. J. F. Clayton, a State prohibition agent; Charles K. Welch, deputy United States marshal; and William Gutman, then an Ohio County prohibition. agent, know of these facts. Fifth. At Wheeling, W. Va., during the October term, 1922, of the Federal court, Judge Baker was drinking liquor in his room in the McLure Hotel in the company of two prohibition agents; Jonathan Paul, a Federal prohibition agent, whose headquarters are in Washington City, knows of this fact. During the same term Judge Baker entered the dining room of the McLure Hotel on Sunday morning and his breath was strong with the odor of whisky; on the same morning he appeared in one of the churches of the city of Wheeling and delivered an address on law enforcement, in which address, among other things, he said, in substance: "If I am talking to men or women who have home brew or other intoxicants in their cellars, I am speaking to hypocrites." Mr. A. T. Barrett, his wife, and daughter know of the odor of Judge Baker's breath on the occasion referred to and the Wheeling newspapers carried an account of his address at the church. It was at that time common knowledge in the town of Elkins and the judge, himself, claimed the fact to be that he had a private stock of liquor of his own, stored in the cellar of his home. Sixth. Upon innumerable occasions from the time of the appointment of Judge Baker, and while at various and different places where the Federal court sits in the northern district of West Virginia, and while the judge was holding court, his breath carried fumes of intoxicating liquor, and at times might be said to fairly reek with the odor; upon all of these occasions the judge, too, by his flushed face, his demeanor, and his talk gave evidence of the use of intoxicating liquor. These facts are known to A. T. Barrett, present deputy United States marshal; G. L. Hannen, former Federal prohibition agent; Charles J. Schuck, former special assistant to the United States for the northern district of West Virginia: T. A. Brown, United States attorney for the northern district of West Virginia, and many others. Seventh. While holding terms of court in the city of Parkersburg, in the city of Wheeling, and other cities in the northern district, it has been the practice of Judge Baker to visit the various churches on Sunday and deliver temperance and law-enforcement lectures, teach Sunday school classes, and later and thereafter upon the same days visit private houses, drink liquor and other intoxicants, some of which have been procured for him by prohibition agents. On three different occasions T. A. Brown, United States attorney, has been present and personally saw the judge partake of whisky in private |