Samantha Markle questioned if Judge Charlene Honeywell would be able to rule fairly in her defamation case against Meghan Markle. According to Insider, Samantha attempted to have the judge dismissed because she had been appointed by former President Barack Obama. Samantha’s attorney filed the motion to remove the judge June 17, according to court documents. “The Obama family, Prince Harry, and Meghan are ‘allies’ and strong supporters of one another,” the motion said. However, it was denied June 21.
“President Obama appointed the undersigned [the judge herself] nearly 13 years ago,” Judge Honeywell wrote in the decision. “But the undersigned has never had any relationship, social or professional, with the Obamas. The undersigned has never spoken with the former president or the former first lady.”
This is the first legal loss for Samantha in her defamation case against the Duchess of Sussex. While it is surely not the outcome she had hoped for, her lawyer said “We trust the judge will be fair and impartial to our client, however we did feel it was necessary, being an Obama appointee and how close Meghan and Harry are to the Obama family,” according to The Independent.
