Complaint: Judge ruled for Trump in Pulitzer case while seeking nomination

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: New York, May 19, 2026 — Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) filed a complaint today with the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission against Jeffrey Kuntz, chief judge of the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal. Last February, Kuntz ruled in President Donald Trump’s favor in Trump’s frivolous defamation lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board, even though he was seeking a nomination from Trump to the federal judiciary. He failed to recuse himself from the case or disclose his conflict of interest to the parties, in violation of ethical rules governing Florida judges. Two weeks after Kuntz ruled for Trump, the White House Counsel’s Office interviewed Kuntz regarding the judicial vacancy he sought to fill. He was nominated to the federal bench last month an…