House votes to impeach US judge from Louisiana accused of taking cash, lying to Senate

House votes to impeach US judge from Louisiana

WASHINGTON — The House has voted to impeach a federal judge from Louisiana. A House Judiciary Committee task force charged District Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. with a long-standing pattern of corruption.

The first of four impeachment articles was approved Thursday, 412-0. The second passed 410-0.

The case goes to trial in the Senate, where a two-thirds vote is needed to convict Porteous of high crimes and misdemeanors.

Porteous was accused of taking cash from lawyers and gifts from a bail bondsman; lying to the Senate and the FBI to win confirmation; and making false statements in his bankruptcy proceedings to hide financial problems and gambling debts.

If convicted in the Senate, Porteous would become the eighth federal judge in U.S. history to be impeached and convicted.