IV 

House Calendar No. 170 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1031 

[Report No. 111–427] 

Impeaching G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., judge of the United States District 

Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, for high crimes and misdemeanors. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 21, 2010 

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. GOODLATTE, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. 

DELAHUNT, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

FORBES, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. PIERLUISI, and 

Mr. GONZALEZ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

MARCH 4, 2010 

Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed 

RESOLUTION 

Impeaching G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., judge of the United 

States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, for high crimes and misdemeanors. 

1 Resolved, That G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., a judge of 

2 the United States District Court for the Eastern District 

3 of Louisiana, is impeached for high crimes and misVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:06 Mar 04, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1031.RH HR1031

srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HRES 1031 RH 

1 demeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment 

2 be exhibited to the Senate: 

3 Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of 

4 Representatives of the United States of America in the 

5 name of itself and all of the people of the United States 

6 of America, against G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., a judge in 

7 the United States District Court for the Eastern District 

8 of Louisiana, in maintenance and support of its impeach9 ment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors. 

10 ARTICLE I

11 G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., while a Federal judge of 

12 the United States District Court for the Eastern District 

13 of Louisiana, engaged in a pattern of conduct that is in14 compatible with the trust and confidence placed in him 

15 as a Federal judge, as follows: 

16 Judge Porteous, while presiding as a United States 

17 district judge in Lifemark Hospitals of Louisiana, Inc. v. 

18 Liljeberg Enterprises, denied a motion to recuse himself 

19 from the case, despite the fact that he had a corrupt finan20 cial relationship with the law firm of Amato & Creely, P.C. 

21 which had entered the case to represent Liljeberg. In de22 nying the motion to recuse, and in contravention of clear 

23 canons of judicial ethics, Judge Porteous failed to disclose 

24 that beginning in or about the late 1980s while he was 

25 a State court judge in the 24th Judicial District Court 

26 in the State of Louisiana, he engaged in a corrupt scheme 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HRES 1031 RH 

1 with attorneys, Jacob Amato, Jr., and Robert Creely, 

2 whereby Judge Porteous appointed Amato’s law partner 

3 as a ‘‘curator’’ in hundreds of cases and thereafter re4 quested and accepted from Amato & Creely a portion of 

5 the curatorship fees which had been paid to the firm. Dur6 ing the period of this scheme, the fees received by Amato 

7 & Creely amounted to approximately $40,000, and the 

8 amounts paid by Amato & Creely to Judge Porteous 

9 amounted to approximately $20,000. 

10 Judge Porteous also made intentionally misleading 

11 statements at the recusal hearing intended to minimize the 

12 extent of his personal relationship with the two attorneys. 

13 In so doing, and in failing to disclose to Lifemark and 

14 its counsel the true circumstances of his relationship with 

15 the Amato & Creely law firm, Judge Porteous deprived 

16 the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals of critical information 

17 for its review of a petition for a writ of mandamus, which 

18 sought to overrule Judge Porteous’s denial of the recusal 

19 motion. His conduct deprived the parties and the public 

20 of the right to the honest services of his office. 

21 Judge Porteous also engaged in corrupt conduct after 

22 the Lifemark v. Liljeberg bench trial, and while he had 

23 the case under advisement, in that he solicited and accept24 ed things of value from both Amato and his law partner 

25 Creely, including a payment of thousands of dollars in 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HRES 1031 RH 

1 cash. Thereafter, and without disclosing his corrupt rela2 tionship with the attorneys of Amato & Creely PLC or 

3 his receipt from them of cash and other things of value, 

4 Judge Porteous ruled in favor of their client, Liljeberg. 

5 By virtue of this corrupt relationship and his conduct 

6 as a Federal judge, Judge Porteous brought his court into 

7 scandal and disrepute, prejudiced public respect for, and 

8 confidence in, the Federal judiciary, and demonstrated 

9 that he is unfit for the office of Federal judge. 

10 Wherefore, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., is guilty 

11 of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed 

12 from office. 

13 ARTICLE II

14 G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., engaged in a longstanding 

15 pattern of corrupt conduct that demonstrates his unfitness 

16 to serve as a United States District Court Judge. That 

17 conduct included the following: Beginning in or about the 

18 late 1980s while he was a State court judge in the 24th 

19 Judicial District Court in the State of Louisiana, and con20 tinuing while he was a Federal judge in the United States 

21 District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, 

22 Judge Porteous engaged in a corrupt relationship with bail 

23 bondsman Louis M. Marcotte, III, and his sister Lori 

24 Marcotte. As part of this corrupt relationship, Judge 

25 Porteous solicited and accepted numerous things of value, 

26 including meals, trips, home repairs, and car repairs, for 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HRES 1031 RH 

1 his personal use and benefit, while at the same time taking 

2 official actions that benefitted the Marcottes. These offi3 cial actions by Judge Porteous included, while on the 

4 State bench, setting, reducing, and splitting bonds as re5 quested by the Marcottes, and improperly setting aside or 

6 expunging felony convictions for two Marcotte employees 

7 (in one case after Judge Porteous had been confirmed by 

8 the Senate but before being sworn in as a Federal judge). 

9 In addition, both while on the State bench and on the Fed10 eral bench, Judge Porteous used the power and prestige 

11 of his office to assist the Marcottes in forming relation12 ships with State judicial officers and individuals important 

13 to the Marcottes’ business. As Judge Porteous well knew 

14 and understood, Louis Marcotte also made false state15 ments to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an effort 

16 to assist Judge Porteous in being appointed to the Federal 

17 bench. 

18 Accordingly, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., has en19 gaged in conduct so utterly lacking in honesty and integ20 rity that he is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, 

21 is unfit to hold the office of Federal judge, and should 

22 be removed from office. 

23 ARTICLE III

24 Beginning in or about March 2001 and continuing 

25 through about July 2004, while a Federal judge in the 

26 United States District Court for the Eastern District of 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HRES 1031 RH 

1 Louisiana, G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., engaged in a pattern 

2 of conduct inconsistent with the trust and confidence 

3 placed in him as a Federal judge by knowingly and inten4 tionally making material false statements and representa5 tions under penalty of perjury related to his personal 

6 bankruptcy filing and by repeatedly violating a court order 

7 in his bankruptcy case. Judge Porteous did so by— 

8 (1) using a false name and a post office box ad9 dress to conceal his identity as the debtor in the 

10 case; 

11 (2) concealing assets; 

12 (3) concealing preferential payments to certain 

13 creditors; 

14 (4) concealing gambling losses and other gam15 bling debts; and 

16 (5) incurring new debts while the case was 

17 pending, in violation of the bankruptcy court’s order. 

18 In doing so, Judge Porteous brought his court into 

19 scandal and disrepute, prejudiced public respect for and 

20 confidence in the Federal judiciary, and demonstrated that 

21 he is unfit for the office of Federal judge. 

22 Wherefore, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., is guilty 

23 of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed 

24 from office. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HRES 1031 RH 

1 ARTICLE IV

2 In 1994, in connection with his nomination to be a 

3 judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern 

4 District of Louisiana, G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., knowingly 

5 made material false statements about his past to both the 

6 United States Senate and to the Federal Bureau of Inves7 tigation in order to obtain the office of United States Dis8 trict Court Judge. These false statements included the fol9 lowing: 

10 (1) On his Supplemental SF–86, Judge 

11 Porteous was asked if there was anything in his per12 sonal life that could be used by someone to coerce 

13 or blackmail him, or if there was anything in his life 

14 that could cause an embarrassment to Judge 

15 Porteous or the President if publicly known. Judge 

16 Porteous answered ‘‘no’’ to this question and signed 

17 the form under the warning that a false statement 

18 was punishable by law. 

19 (2) During his background check, Judge 

20 Porteous falsely told the Federal Bureau of Inves21 tigation on two separate occasions that he was not 

22 concealing any activity or conduct that could be used 

23 to influence, pressure, coerce, or compromise him in 

24 any way or that would impact negatively on his 

25 character, reputation, judgment, or discretion. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HRES 1031 RH 

1 (3) On the Senate Judiciary Committee’s 

2 ‘‘Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees’’, Judge 

3 Porteous was asked whether any unfavorable infor4 mation existed that could affect his nomination. 

5 Judge Porteous answered that, to the best of his 

6 knowledge, he did ‘‘not know of any unfavorable in7 formation that may affect [his] nomination’’. Judge 

8 Porteous signed that questionnaire by swearing that 

9 ‘‘the information provided in this statement is, to 

10 the best of my knowledge, true and accurate’’. 

11 However, in truth and in fact, as Judge Porteous 

12 then well knew, each of these answers was materially false 

13 because Judge Porteous had engaged in a corrupt rela14 tionship with the law firm Amato & Creely, whereby Judge 

15 Porteous appointed Creely as a ‘‘curator’’ in hundreds of 

16 cases and thereafter requested and accepted from Amato 

17 & Creely a portion of the curatorship fees which had been 

18 paid to the firm and also had engaged in a corrupt rela19 tionship with Louis and Lori Marcotte, whereby Judge 

20 Porteous solicited and accepted numerous things of value, 

21 including meals, trips, home repairs, and car repairs, for 

22 his personal use and benefit, while at the same time taking 

23 official actions that benefitted the Marcottes. As Judge 

24 Porteous well knew and understood, Louis Marcotte also 

25 made false statements to the Federal Bureau of InvestigaVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:06 Mar 04, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1031.RH HR1031

srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HRES 1031 RH 

1 tion in an effort to assist Judge Porteous in being ap2 pointed to the Federal bench. Judge Porteous’s failure to 

3 disclose these corrupt relationships deprived the United 

4 States Senate and the public of information that would 

5 have had a material impact on his confirmation. 

6 Wherefore, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., is guilty 

7 of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed 

8 from office. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
House Calendar No. 170 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1031 

[Report No. 111–427] 

RESOLUTION 

Impeaching G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., judge of the 

demeanors. District of Louisiana, for high crimes and misUnited States District Court for the Eastern 

MARCH 4, 2010 

Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 

printed 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS