Judge Zia Faruqui apologized in open court to the man accused of trying to kill President Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Now conservatives are asking how a judge like this ends up overseeing a presidential assassination case.
What they found about Faruqui's record before this case should disqualify him from ever sitting on a federal bench again.
Judge Faruqui's Record on Trump Threat Cases
In September 2025, a DC man named Edward Dana was arrested after threatening to kill President Trump and the Metro officer who detained him.
Faruqui erupted from the bench when the DOJ dismissed the case and apologized to Dana in open court — the same month he told a separate hearing that DOJ's handling of Trump-related prosecutions was "embarrassing for the government."
Two men who threatened or targeted Trump. Two apologies from the same judge.
Seven months after Dana, Cole Allen – a man who signed his final email to his family "Friendly Federal Assassin" – crossed state lines with a shotgun, a pistol, and three knives, sprinted through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, and shot a Secret Service officer in the chest.
Faruqui is the judge assigned to that case too.
He issued a court order expressing "grave concerns" about Allen's jail conditions, then told Allen directly in a hearing: "Whatever you've been through, I apologize for the prior week."
And also told the court that January 6 defendants were treated better than Allen – putting an armed, self-described assassin above Trump supporters who walked through open Capitol doors on his personal sympathy scale.
The DC Federal Bench That Gave Faruqui His Seat
Faruqui was appointed in September 2020 and sworn in by Obama-appointed Chief Judge Beryl Howell – the same judge Trump allies have repeatedly criticized for anti-administration rulings.
Fox News reviewed his record and found a consistent pattern: Faruqui has been one of DC's sharpest critics of Trump-era federal prosecutions, declaring last fall that Jeanine Pirro's office had "no credibility left."
He hosts a podcast called Grab the Gavel and is celebrated as the first Pakistani-American magistrate judge in DC federal court – the kind of "first" Democrats care about far more than judicial temperament.
This is the judge now presiding over a man charged with attempting to assassinate the president – facing life in prison for a manifesto that targeted "administration officials, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest."
Why Removing Judge Faruqui Is Almost Impossible
Conservatives nationwide are calling for Faruqui to be removed from the bench.
It is not going to happen.
Magistrate judges serve eight-year terms and can only be removed by the district court's Article III judges – the same bench that's 11-to-4 Democrat – under standards requiring incompetency, misconduct, neglect of duty, or disability.
Apologizing to an alleged assassin doesn't clear that bar.
The realistic path is congressional pressure, public scrutiny, and making sure every American knows Faruqui's name.
Fox Business host Larry Kudlow put the outrage exactly right: "The judge apologized to this guy, who would've sprayed the whole audience? And killed God knows how many people?"
This is not one judge having an unusual moment of compassion.
Faruqui apologized to a Trump threat defendant in September 2025, blasted the DOJ for prosecuting that case, and is now running the same playbook for a man who fired a weapon at a Secret Service officer while targeting the president of the United States.
The DC federal bench has been running a two-tier justice system in plain sight for years – the Kavanaugh assassination plotter got eight years when prosecutors demanded thirty, J6 defendants got iron fists for walking through open doors, and now the judge assigned to Trump's would-be assassin is more concerned with cell conditions than with the Secret Service officer who took a round to the chest.
Faruqui is not an anomaly.
He is the system.
Sources:
- "Judge Faruqui apologizes to suspect accused of plotting Trump attack at White House dinner," Fox News, May 5, 2026.
- "New details emerge on activist judge who apologized to Trump's would-be assassin," Revolver News, May 5, 2026.
- Department of Justice, "Suspect in White House Correspondents' Dinner Shooting Charged with Attempt to Assassinate the President," DOJ.gov, April 27, 2026.
- "Judge upbraids prosecutors for handling of DC surge cases, saying they have 'no credibility left,'" AP, 2026.
- "Kavanaugh assassination plotter sentenced to 8 years," The Hill, October 4, 2025.
