Delaware's two U.S. senators have asked a federal appeals court to investigate one of its own judges, alleging that Jennifer Lee Mascott continued running her late husband's Washington public-relations firm for months after President Trump put her on the bench. Sens. Chris Coons and Lisa Blunt Rochester filed the formal ethics complaint asking the Third Circuit to determine whether Mascott violated the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, after she had spent a year on the 14-member, Philadelphia-based appeals court.
The complaint centers on two allegations first reported by Politico: that Mascott stayed deeply involved in day-to-day operations at Adfero, the public-affairs firm founded by her late husband, and that she engaged in political activity through the company while sitting as a federal judge. As reported by WHYY, Mascott had never served as a judge before Trump nominated her to the Third Circuit in 2025, arriving instead as a conservative legal scholar from Washington, D.C. who had previously served in both Trump administrations and owns a vacation home in Bethany Beach, Delaware.
Six Months Running a Firm From the Bench
According to a POLITICO report cited in the complaint, Mascott ran the Washington public-affairs firm for at least six months after taking the bench. A separate account from trade outlet Odwyer PR details the timeline further, alleging Mascott remained intimately involved in Adfero's day-to-day management for at least six months after receiving her judicial commission on October 10, 2025, working one day a week in the firm's office while spending the rest of her time on judicial duties in Wilmington and at Third Circuit headquarters in Philadelphia. That complaint was filed October 2 and sent to Margaret Wiegand, the Third Circuit's executive in Philadelphia, who was asked to review whether Mascott violated rules on outside work and political activity.
Politico's earlier reporting also found that Mascott brought on consultants with strong MAGA credentials during Adfero's final months, a shift from a firm that had historically operated as a nonpartisan public-relations and marketing business for clients such as PhRMA and the National Retail Federation. At least two Adfero clients reportedly severed ties with the firm because they believed Mascott was steering it in a more partisan direction, and the firm's website featured examples of marketing campaigns designed to influence elected officials, per Politico's account. Adfero ultimately went out of business at the end of June after an exodus of staff and clients, and closed entirely on June 30, according to press accounts relayed by WHYY.
What the Judicial Code Actually Allows
The Code of Conduct for United States Judges does permit a federal judge to work for a closely held business controlled by the judge's family. But that same code may prohibit family-business work if it takes too much time or involves misuse of judicial prestige, and it separately states that judges should refrain from political activity. The senators' complaint argues that Mascott's reported day-to-day management of Adfero would seem to take too much time and thus exceed what the code permits, according to WHYY's review of the filing.
Since joining the Third Circuit, Mascott has written only three opinions, two of them barely a page long, the outlet reported. Mascott did not respond to a request for comment from Politico, and Wiegand declined to comment, citing rules that bar court officials from disclosing information about judicial complaints.
Reactions Split Along Partisan Lines
Coons said the complaint raises a potential violation of the federal judicial code of conduct. Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who studies the federal courts, told WHYY that judicial ethics rules are not entirely clear but that Coons had legitimate questions about Mascott's conduct; Tobias also said he suspected Third Circuit Chief Judge Michael A. Chagares would ask Chief Justice John Roberts to refer the matter to another one of the court system's 12 regional circuits.
Not everyone agrees there is a problem. Tom Neuberger, a Wilmington lawyer and former member of the Third Circuit's advisory committee, said he doubted Mascott violated the ethical rules and accused Coons and Blunt Rochester of making a partisan attack.
A Seat With Delaware Roots
Mascott succeeded Kent Jordan on the appeals court. Jordan, a longtime Delaware corporate lawyer, federal prosecutor and U.S. District Court judge, announced his retirement six months before Trump's second-term inauguration in January 2025. Tamika R. Montgomery-Reeves is the other Delaware-based judge currently serving on the Third Circuit; Mascott herself is not a member of the Delaware bar.
The dispute arrives amid broader friction between the Trump administration and the federal judiciary. In a separate matter, the Justice Department filed its own ethics complaint against Minnesota federal judges, alleging they showed bias when they spoke to The New York Times about the administration's immigration-enforcement efforts, according to a Politico report. Federal guidance from the U.S. Courts system states that judicial-conduct complaints must be filed in the appropriate court office under Rule 7 of the Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings, and that the Code of Conduct's family-business provisions, under Canon 4D(2), extend to a person other than a spouse with whom a judge maintains both a household and an intimate relationship.
