Montana Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull, a George W. Bush nominee, admitted on Wednesday that he forwarded a racially-charged email implying that President Barack Obama might have been the product of a sexual encounter between his mother and a dog.
“A little boy said to his mother; ‘Mommy, how come I’m black and you’re white?’” the email forwarded from Cebull’s official court email address on Feb. 20 read, according to the Great Falls Tribune. “His mother replied, ‘Don’t even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you’re lucky you don’t bark!’”
The federal judge’s email called the joke “a bit touching” and said he wanted all of his friends to feel what he felt when he read the email. “Hope it touches your heart like it did mine,” he wrote.
Cebull told the newspaper that his brother sent him the racist email which he then forwarded to six “old buddies” and acquaintances. A forwarded version of the email eventually made its way to a reporter at the Great Falls Tribune.
Cebull said he showed “very poor judgment” by forwarding the email and said it was “not intended by me in any way to become public.”
He added that he “did not forward it because of the racist nature of it” although he acknowledged it was racist.
“The only reason I can explain it to you is I am not a fan of our president, but this goes beyond not being a fan,” Cebull explained to the newspaper. “I didn’t send it as racist, although that’s what it is. I sent it out because it’s anti-Obama.”
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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