Nude photos, lewd texts: Trump-appointed judge forced to resign after sexual misconduct investigation

Joshua Kindred, a federal judge in Alaska nominated to the bench by former President Donald Trump, has resigned after an investigation into misconduct allegations against him found that he had an inappropriate relationship with a female law clerk, lied to investigators, and created a hostile environment for staff by making graphic sexual remarks in the workplace.

The US district judge, 46, was asked to resign voluntarily by the Judicial Council of the 9th Circuit in May and did so on July 3, submitting a formal letter of resignation to Trump’s White House successor Joe Biden last week.

The allegations against Kindred date back to 2022 and were compiled in a 32-page court order by a special committee appointed to investigate them by Chief Circuit Judge Mary Murguia.

The order was made available publicly on Monday as Kindred’s resignation came into effect and accuses the justice of carrying on an “inappropriately sexualized relationship” with the unnamed clerk that continued into her time as an assistant US attorney.

In one incident from October 2022, Kindred is alleged to have invited her out for drinks, kissed her and grabbed her rear shortly before she ended her tenure working in his office.

In a second incident, the justice is accused of groping the clerk and performing oral sex on her at an associate’s apartment.

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

The report also cites investigators’ interviews with clerks and judiciary employees who worked for Kindred, as well as text messages in which he talked about his dating life and made disparaging remarks about